Missouri illegally denied food assistance to low-income residents, federal court rules

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Missouri’s Department of Social Services has been illegally denying tens of thousands of residents access to food assistance benefits.

Due to extremely long wait times at the DSS call center, many eligible residents are unable to get help applying or schedule interviews, which the state requires in order for applicants to qualify for assistance.

“The evidence is undisputed that the telephone system utilized by DSS to handle SNAP applications is overwhelmed,” wrote federal judge Douglas Harpool of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. “The evidence reflects unacceptable wait times and thousands of calls that cannot be completed.”

The Kansas City-based food bank Harvesters helps residents apply for SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps. The group’s policy adviser Karen Siebert told The Star that some clients reported waiting on hold for hours to speak with DSS, including those on prepaid phone plans who got disconnected when their limited minutes expired.

“We would definitely hear from applicants that we were helping that they were not getting responses from the state,” she said. “We would hear their frustrations, but we’re not in a place to do anything about it.”

Now the DSS has 30 days to present a report on changes needed to ensure all residents are given a fair chance to apply for benefits and 90 days to present an action plan on how it will implement those changes.

The department must also send monthly reports to the court and many state government offices about its wait times, call disconnections and people denied aid based on failure to schedule an interview.

How do I apply for food assistance in Missouri?

Applying for SNAP benefits involves a paper or web application that requires proof of your identity, residency and income. Applicants also must undergo an interview with DSS officials to determine their eligibility. But Missouri’s system differs from federal guidelines by requiring applicants to schedule their own interviews, rather than the DSS scheduling them automatically.

If applicants don’t schedule their interviews within five days of sending in their applications, they are given 30 more days to schedule an interview before their application is automatically rejected. Last year alone, nearly 60,000 were denied for failure to complete an interview.

“An alarming number of eligible applicants are denied based on (DSS)’s failure to make timely interviews available,” Judge Harpool wrote. “When applicants who are otherwise eligible for benefits are denied those benefits for failure to interview, due to no fault of their own, (DSS) has violated its obligations under the law.”

In July 2023, the average wait time to speak with the DSS call center was 50 minutes, the ruling states. And nearly one-third of calls to the call center division that handles SNAP applications were abandoned before they could be answered.

When Kansas City area applicants got turned away, Siebert said, they turned to nonprofit groups like Harvesters in order to feed themselves and their families.

“Those federal dollars that should be flowing into the state to help feed folks are not coming in, (so) they’re turning to the charitable sector,” she said. “We just simply don’t have enough food to feed all these people who should be getting federal benefits but aren’t.”

What should I do if my SNAP application was denied?

Thursday’s ruling doesn’t include any special recourse for applicants who were rejected from SNAP benefits by no fault of their own. Instead, the ruling aims to improve Missouri’s application system so eligible residents aren’t turned away unfairly in the future.

That means the best option for eligible residents who have been rejected in the past is to simply keep applying until the state is able to accommodate them for an interview.

In order to qualify for SNAP benefits in Missouri, you must be a resident making below the annual income limit based on the size of your household. Everyone in your household must have, or agree to apply for, a Social Security number. You also can’t have more than $2,750 available to spend — or $4,250 if at least one household member is over 60 or disabled.

If you have been rejected from Missouri’s SNAP program, you must restart your application with new documents, like updated pay stubs. Groups like Harvesters and Feeding Missouri can help you with the initial application — but once that is submitted, securing an interview is still in your hands.

Do you have more questions about government benefits in Missouri or Kansas? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.

The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed reporting to this piece.