Nassau County’s food stamp and Medicaid programs will receive additional federal oversight by order of a federal court judge, in the latest chapter of a class-action lawsuit filed by two social justice nonprofits.
U.S. District Court Judge Sandra Feuerstein appointed attorney Grace Moran to help the Nassau Department of Social Service address what advocates have described as persistent delays in the county’s processing of food stamp and Medicaid applications, reports Newsday.
The National Center for Economic Justice and the Empire Justice Center filed suit in 2010 alleging that the county routinely missed deadlines for handling Medicaid, food stamp and cash assistance applications.
Feuerstein approved a consent decree requiring Nassau to meet the deadlines and establishing oversight over the programs in 2011, according to a National Center for Law and Economic Justice release.
In Feburary of this year the plaintiffs filed a motion for enforcement and contempt, alleging that the county had continued to miss deadlines and requesting, among other rulings, the appointment of a special master – a request now met with the appointment of Moran.
“Plaintiffs claimed that month after month, eligibility determinations were delayed beyond the mandated time limits in more than half of all applications for each program, leaving hundreds of desperately needy individuals and families suffering hardships as they waited far too long to receive much-needed benefits for which they were eligible,” wrote the National Center for Economic Justice in a release about the 2010 suit.
According to Newsday, further filings in 2012 cited county reports to argue that Nassau did not meet notification deadlines for up to 43 percent of food stamp and 37 percent of Medicaid applicants.
Nassau Social Services Commissioner John Imhof, who was named as the defendant in the 2010 suit, told Newsday that the department welcomed Moran’s appointment but could not comment further due to the ongoing nature of the case.
Reach reporter Dan Glaun by e-mail at dglaun@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516.307.1045 x203 or on Twitter @dglaun. Also follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
