The U.S. Food and Nutrition Service wants more information before it can approve a plan to turn around the state’s troubled benefits system, UHIP. The feds want more detailed plans for how the state can reduce wait times for benefits like food stamps.
The federal agency want the state to specify how it will register all new applications for food stamps within the required two days. Right now there’s a UHIP glitch that could result in a back up.
The FNS is also concerned some applications were never entered into the system at all, and want clarification for how the state plans to find them.
At a recent hearing, state child care and nursing home care providers said the system had caused them to receive late or incorrect payments. The feds want more details on how the Department of Human Services plans to fix those problems, too.
These are some of the latest in a long list of glitches that have resulted in Rhode Islanders not receiving benefits on time, being turned away for scheduled appointments at a field office, or having to resubmit paperwork. The revised fix-it plan is due in late January.