Lawsuit Settlement Helps Disabled and Elderly Floridians Re-Apply for Disaster Food Assistance

Officials and community groups settle lawsuit that claimed that long outdoor lines that the state oversaw for food assistance in the aftermath of Irma discriminated against persons with disabilities and the elderly.

May 4, 2018

Miami, FL - Over 150,000 Floridians who started, but did not complete, pre-registration for the federal disaster food assistance program known as D-SNAP in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma last fall will now get an opportunity to apply for food assistance, thanks to a lawsuit settlement between state government officials and community groups.

Last October, tens of thousands of Floridians waited for hours in long outdoor lines to be interviewed for the food benefits. Lawyers from Florida Legal Services, the University of Miami’s Health Rights Clinic, and Community Justice Project sued DCF and the USDA, on behalf of the Miami Workers Center, New Florida Majority and individuals with disabilities claiming that the system discriminated against persons with disabilities who could not endure these conditions.

As a result of the settlement with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), over 158,900 Floridians with incomplete registrations will receive a text message from DCF with a time, date and phone number to call in for a telephonic interview.  During the interview, the person will be asked about their disability, whether their disability prevented them from applying, their identity, income and resources during Irma, and the expenses they had due to Irma, like food that went bad.  If a disability prevented them from attending an in person application site, they will be able to apply for the benefits over the phone.

"This settlement is a good first step in improving the state's emergency response systems," said Andrea Mercado, Executive Director of the New Florida Majority (NewFM). "The ability of our communities to successfully bounce back from disasters like Hurricane Irma depend on our most vulnerable neighbors getting the resources they need to recover."

“Every Floridian deserves to be treated with dignity, especially after something as traumatic as Hurricane Irma. This victory moves us closer to that goal.” said Marcia Olivo of Miami Workers Center

In December, more than 4,400 persons with disabilities were awarded disaster food assistance through a first-ever telephonic interview process for the benefits.  Advocates estimate that the relief awarded as a result of the two-day telephonic interviews is approximately $3.7 million. That first round of interviews were held on December 2-3, 2017, for individuals and heads of household who had pre-registered for benefits but had disabilities that prevented them from lining up and waiting at a central location to be interviewed in person.

“I was so happy and relieved to be able to get this emergency food help,” stated Fulgencio Gallo, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. A former Cuban political prisoner and torture victim, Gallo suffers from multiple disabilities. “My family needed the food so badly that even with my health problems, I tried to go to the interview site. I stood in line for about seven hours in October in the heat and bad weather. I started to get very sick and I knew I would pass out, so I had to leave. Getting the food we needed has really helped my family recover from the Hurricane Irma.” 

“We are proud to stand with everyday Floridians, like Shaina Barbosa, a Marine veteran and mother, who suffered a broken back and two traumatic brain injuries. Thanks to this settlement she will be able to put food on the table for her family,” said Huddleston.

Community organizations file lawsuit after Floridians denied access to food assistance
Lawyers ask for reasonable accommodations for disabled and vulnerable applicants to Disaster SNAP program

November 3, 2017

Miami, FL - The Miami Workers Center, New Florida Majority, and individuals with disabilities filed a class action lawsuit yesterday challenging the roll-out of disaster food assistance (D-SNAP) across the state of Florida. Almost two months after Hurricane Irma disrupted life for low-income and vulnerable residents, many eligible Floridians are still without food assistance.

After multiple requests for accommodations were denied, lawyers for the plaintiffs from the Health Rights Clinic at the University of Miami, Community Justice Project, and Florida Legal Services are asking a federal judge to keep the program open, implement best practices, and offer alternatives to those who cannot make it to application sites or stand in long lines. The Department of Children and Families (DCF), who is responsible for administering the program in Florida, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which funds and regulates the program, are among the defendants named in the lawsuit.

Florida’s implementation of the program has been fraught with problems.  In Broward, overwhelming turnout forced site closures just hours after opening. In Miami, there were reports of applicants fainting in line. In Jacksonville, lines reportedly formed by 3 A.M.. Applicants were forced to stand in hours-long lines in the sweltering heat, regardless of age or ability. DCF demanded in-person interviews, refusing to request waivers to conduct telephone interviews or operate out of community centers, instead launching costly mass sign ups as residents tried to get back on their feet. Florida already allows telephone interviews for regular food stamp applicants.

Media Contact:
Elizabeth Taveras, (305) 721-9661, elizabeth@theworkerscenter.org
Renee Mowatt, (407) 575 - 3094 , press@newfloridamajority.org

NOVEMBER 3 UPDATE

Less than a day after the lawsuit was filed, DCF responded to the community demand for telephone interviews for the D-SNAP program by requesting a federal waiver. Elderly and disabled applicants unable to make it to in-person registration events may be able to apply by phone on November 11-12. The fight continues for full accesibility. 

NOVEMBER 20 UPDATE

After a federal court hearing on the issue, USDA approved DCF's request for a waiver to allow some Floridians with disabilities will be able to apply for food assistance by phone Dec 2 & 3. 

To be eligible you:

  • Must have preregistered online by November 9, and
  • Must be head of household 60 years of age or older or disabled, and
  • Must have valid identification. Identity will be verified during the interview.

Others who weren't able to pre-register are still left out. We will continue the fight for access and equity with our partners!

November 27 update

DCF provided the following updated information:

"Phone interviews will take place between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST, on December 2 and 3, toll free at 855-278-7136. Qualifying individuals who provided cellular phone numbers with their preregistration may also receive direct communication from DCF. 

Requirements to participate in a DSNAP phone interview on December 2 and 3:

  • Must have preregistered online by November 9, and
  • Must be head of household 60 years of age or older or disabled, and
  • Must have valid identification. Identity will be verified during the interview.

Individuals who meet the above criteria with last names beginning with A-L should call 855-278-7136 on Saturday, December 2. Individuals who meet the above criteria with last names beginning with M-Z should call 855-278-7136 on Sunday, December 3. Callers should have their Florida driver license or identification and social security number ready. Callers will be asked questions to verify identity."

Please note a social security number is not necessary, but if you have one it will expedite the process.

JANUARY 10 update

Thousands of Floridians with Disabilities Receive Over $3 Million in Disaster Food Assistance as a Result of Lawsuit

According to information released last week by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), more than 4,400 persons with disabilities were awarded disaster food assistance in December through a first-ever telephonic interview process for the benefits.  The interviews were held on December 2 and 3 for individuals and heads of household who had pre-registered for benefits but had disabilities that prevented them from lining up and waiting at a central location to be interviewed in person.

Last October, tens of thousands of Floridians waited for hours in long outdoor lines to be interviewed for the food benefits, known as D-SNAP. On November 2, lawyers from Florida Legal Services, the University of Miami’s Health Rights Clinic and Community Justice Project sued DCF and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), on behalf of the Miami Workers Center, New Florida Majority and a class of individuals with disabilities claiming that the system discriminated against persons with disabilities who could not endure these conditions. On November 3, DCF requested that USDA waive its in-person D-SNAP interview requirement to allow telephone interviews for elderly applicants or applicants with disabilities who had completed a pre-registration application online. USDA granted this waiver – the first ever – on November 16.

“I was so happy and relieved to be able to get this emergency food help,” stated Fulgencio Gallo, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. A former Cuban political prisoner and torture victim, Gallo suffers from multiple disabilities. “My family needed the food so badly that even with my health problems, I tried to go to the interview site. I stood in line for about seven hours in October in the heat and bad weather. I started to get very sick and I knew I would pass out, so I had to leave. Getting the food we needed has really helped my family recover from the Hurricane Irma.” 

Advocates estimate that the relief awarded as a result of the two-day telephonic interviews is approximately $3.7 million. “We’re obviously pleased with this result,” stated JoNel Newman, of UM’s Health Rights Clinic, “but concerned about the persons with disabilities that still haven’t been helped. Pre-registration was never required to receive D-SNAP, and now our clients who couldn’t pre-register have been left out of this relief.”

The groups are continuing the case on behalf of persons with disabilities who could not pre-register. “We have amended the complaint to seek the same relief for persons who couldn’t pre-register, like Shiana Barbosa, a Marine veteran and mother, who has suffered a broken back and two traumatic brain injuries. She tried to pre-register, but was unable to do so. Simple justice requires that she be treated fairly,” stated Cindy Huddleston of Florida Legal Services.

News Coverage

Featured
Qualified Applicants Will Get Phone Interviews For D-SNAP As Suit Continues
Qualified Applicants Will Get Phone Interviews For D-SNAP As Suit Continues

There is still a chance for some people to sign up for D-SNAP disaster food assistance in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

Originally, registration for D-SNAP — short for the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — required an in-person interview. But hundreds of thousands of hopeful applicants statewide showed up looking for help paying for food staples after damage or other losses due to the hurricane. Lines grew hours long and prohibitive for many, according to a lawsuit against the state and federal governments which together run the D-SNAP program.

Now, some elderly and people with disabilities who were not able to stand in hours-long lines will have the opportunity to phone in their registration if they pre-registered by Nov. 9.

The Florida Department of Children and Families administers the D-SNAP program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which ultimately calls the shots. The suit is being brought by a coalition of community organizations including the Miami Workers Center and the University of Miami Health Rights Clinic.

During an emergency hearing earlier this month, the federal government agreed to consider allowing telephone interviews for the elderly and disabled who pre-registered. Phone interviews with those individuals will be held on Dec. 2 and 3.

Irma food-aid program to offer phone interviews to seniors, disabled
Irma food-aid program to offer phone interviews to seniors, disabled

Seniors and people with disabilities who couldn’t appear in person to receive Hurricane Irma emergency food assistance will be able to complete a phone interview instead, state officials said Friday.

The federal government granted the state’s request to allow people with disabilities and those older than 60 to skip a required face-to-face interview and complete their application on the phone, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Applicants must have pre-registered online as of Nov. 9 to qualify. DCF officials say the phone interviews will be offered Dec. 2 and Dec. 3 to those who meet the criteria, and additional details will be released next week.

Need To Register For Disaster Food Stamps? Prepare To Wait In Line (And In Court)
Need To Register For Disaster Food Stamps? Prepare To Wait In Line (And In Court)

On the first day of make-up registration for disaster food assistance, lines were long, while lawyers who were suing over how the program has been rolled out hashed things out in court.

People in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have through Thursday to sign up for the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) after the federal government granted extra days due to demand and safety concerns at some of the registration sites. But lawyers in federal court Tuesday argued that there had not been enough accommodation made for disabled people.

People with disabilities have been waiting in long lines in the sun and rain to register, a process that has to be done in person. While most registration sites did have separate lines for people who needed accommodations or pulled people out of line and used golf carts to bring them to a specific tent, many others were unable to wait even in those lines.

It hasn’t been easy to get food aid after Irma. You now have a second chance
It hasn’t been easy to get food aid after Irma. You now have a second chance

By mid-morning, a line of thousands had assembled outside the stadium, as the Department of Children and Families began to process a second round of applications for emergency food assistance after Hurricane Irma. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 11,700 applications had been processed, Miami-Dade DCF spokeswoman Beatriz Lopez said.

At the BB&T Center in Sunrise, the wait was similarly long, with lines forming in the hot sun. Jude Bernardain, standing outside for more than two hours, said it was his fourth time trying to apply for the emergency food assistance program in person.

Tens of thousands of people showed up last month when the agency opened four assistance centers in Miami-Dade and three in Broward, overwhelming the sites to the point of closing early on some days.

To satisfy the still unmet need for food assistance, DCF said it would reopen two sites — one in Miami-Dade and one in Broward at the BB&T Center — for a second round Tuesday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

DCF said it was taking some efforts to alleviate the long waits this time around, including special accommodations for people with disabilities and workers to direct traffic control. The agency said it would also assign specific days for registering based on a person’s last name. But the agency applied the same staggered strategy during the first round to its Broward sites, which also had to shutter because of the outsized demand.

Several legal groups, including the University of Miami Health Rights Clinic, sued DCF over the accessibility of the lines for those with disabilities. Advocates want people homebound by their disabilities to have the option to do the benefits interview over the phone.

DCF, USDA failed to accommodate the disabled for food stamp distribution, suit alleges
DCF, USDA failed to accommodate the disabled for food stamp distribution, suit alleges

The Department of Children and Families and the USDA violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it failed to make accommodations for disabled people during its emergency food stamp distribution earlier this month, the University of Miami Health Rights Clinic alleges in a lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of two local advocacy groups and two men with disabilities.

The 45-page suit, filed in federal court Thursday afternoon, asks for the agency to implement the USDA’s best practices and offer alternatives for people who cannot wait in long lines to apply for much-needed assistance.

The federal department that handles food stamps offers several alternatives for those with disabilities or the elderly other than the large sites that garnered thousands of people in October. The law clinic is proposing smaller, satellite application sites in neighborhoods, special public transportation, home visits and Skype interviews.

“We want people to be treated humanely and with dignity,” JoNel Newman, director of the UM law clinic, said.

The plaintiffs are: Miami Workers Center, New Florida Majority, Fulgencio Gallo and Richard Caldas, two men who represent a class of individuals with disabilities. The listed defendants are: Mike Carroll, in his official capacity as secretary of DCF; Sonny Perdue, in his official capacity as secretary of the USDA and the USDA itself.

Could hurricane food assistance have been handled over the phone? Some say yes.
Could hurricane food assistance have been handled over the phone? Some say yes.

They lined up by the thousands and wilted for hours in the scorching South Florida sun in hopes of getting Hurricane Irma food assistance.

Traffic snarled roads. People fainted in the heat. Tempers flared. Scuffles broke out. Police abruptly shut down jammed-packed relief sites citing safety concerns, leaving people empty-handed, frustrated and confused.

Some applicants and advocates say those problems could have been avoided if people had been allowed to submit documents online and skip a federally required “face-to-face interview.”

The federal government has given Florida permission to conduct phone interviews instead of in-person interviews for people applying for regular food stamps. But those who don’t normally get food stamps must line up at relief sites to receive assistance after a disaster.

...

In a letter sent to DCF, Newman’s group and other advocacy organizations called the state’s efforts “wholly inadequate on every level.” Among their concerns voiced in the letter: Too few sites were open for too-limited of a time. (Miami-Dade had four sites scheduled to be open for five days to serve a county with a population of 2.7 million people). Police abruptly shut down sites in Broward and Miami-Dade counties because of health and safety concerns. The elderly and people with disabilities weren’t accommodated, the letter read. People were forced to stand in the sun.

After Receiving Emergency Food Assistance, Some Report That Their Cards Don't Work
After Receiving Emergency Food Assistance, Some Report That Their Cards Don't Work

This is the latest frustration in what some have described as a disorganized and chaotic process to get food assistance in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Some of the centers closed abruptly because they were overwhelmed with thousands of people seeking assistance. Among the concerns was safety after police noted fights breaking out and people fainting in lines that stretched for blocks. 

The University of Miami Health Rights Clinic along with several nonprofits wrote a letter to DCF criticizing the process.

“As you are no doubt aware, the failures of the D-SNAP program in Miami-Dade County created public health concerns, hardship and risk to vulnerable populations,” the letter states. “It also failed to serve innumerable eligible individuals who need food. The roll-out of D-SNAP in Miami-Dade County was wholly inadequate on every level.”

Crowds, long lines raise questions on Florida hurricane voucher program
Crowds, long lines raise questions on Florida hurricane voucher program

Paralyzed traffic. Long lines in sweltering heat. And this is from a program intended to speed aid to victims of hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The state’s distribution of special federal food-stamp aid to victims of Hurricane Irma in Palm Beach County required thousands of applicants to wait hours in the hot sun Tuesday, in a repeat of a problem that attended the events in Broward and Miami-Dade counties last week.

“This is unacceptable,” U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said in a tweet Tuesday. “The state should’ve been prepared for this.”

Why did thousands wait hours in hot sun for post-Irma food stamps?
Why did thousands wait hours in hot sun for post-Irma food stamps?

Figueroa was among tens of thousands of people — 50,000 people showed up at just Tropical Park alone — over the last few days who camped out in snarling lines, braved the heat and in some cases, left empty-handed, after state officials closed food assistance centers.

The makeshift facilities were propped up to provide benefits for those who do not qualify for regular food stamps, but suffered a disaster-related loss because of Hurricane Irma.

The overwhelming response forced DCF to shut down several centers after law enforcement workers raised concerns about people suffering heat exhaustion and losing their tempers. The closures, however, left thousands in the lurch — angry, confused and wondering why DCF didn’t have a better system.

Food assistance centers close after people suffer heat exhaustion in line
Food assistance centers close after people suffer heat exhaustion in line

Police had to shut down food assistance centers in Broward Saturday after various people waiting in snarling lines suffered heat exhaustion, officials said. They will remain closed on Sunday.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office would not immediately disclose which centers were closed off to those arriving Saturday afternoon, but did say police had to break-up arguments caused by frustrated participants, as well as help alleviate gridlocked streets. Those who were overwhelmed by the heat were given medical attention.

In recent weeks, the Department of Children and Families opened up several food assistance centers in South Florida after the state activated its Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — also called D-SNAP.