Alaska Department of Health sued over cash assistance delays for blind, disabled and elderly Alaskans

JUNEAU — An Anchorage civil rights law firm filed a class-action lawsuit Monday against the state Department of Health over delays processing applications for a program that provides assistance for thousands of vulnerable Alaskans.

State officials have been scrambling to clear a backlog of applications for state assistance, including those submitted by thousands of Alaskans who have waited months for food stamp benefits. Since December, the director of the Division of Public Assistance has been replaced, and 10 Alaskans have filed a lawsuit alleging that the food stamp delays were a violation of federal law. The federal government warned the state last month that penalties could follow if prompt action was not taken.

The state’s adult public assistance program pays an average of $308.20 per month, and is often supplemented by federal assistance programs, according to the Department of Health. During the last fiscal year, there were an average of 15,385 Alaskans receiving the monthly aid, alongside a separate transition program.

To be eligible, applicants must be Alaska residents who are blind, disabled or aged 65 or older. There is also a low-income threshold to receive assistance: Monthly income for an individual must be below $1,276 per month, and below $1,899 for a couple. Individual applicants must have less than $2,000 in assets, excluding a home, a car and a burial fund. For couples, the asset limit is $3,000.

Monday’s lawsuit, filed in Anchorage Superior Court by the Northern Justice Project, asserts that the Department of Health violated state law by not processing a “vast majority” of applications within the 30-day limit set out in state regulations. State statute says that applications must be processed “promptly.”

Natilia Edwards, a 24-year-old Anchorage resident who grew up in the state’s foster care system, said she applied for adult public assistance on Feb. 3. By the time the lawsuit was filed April 17, she still had not received an eligibility determination, according to the complaint.

Nicholas Feronti, an attorney who filed the lawsuit and works with the Northern Justice Project, said Edwards came to the law firm looking for help. He said that Edwards had been found to be disabled, and that she has been undergoing chemotherapy.

“She doesn’t have much else to rely on,” Feronti said. “And she really needs this.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Edwards, and thousands of low-income Alaskans who have experienced application delays. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Una Gandbhir has not yet scheduled a hearing.

Patty Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Law, declined to comment to the Daily News about the lawsuit. The department had just become “aware of this complaint and as of this morning was waiting to be served with the court documents,” she said by email Tuesday.

At least 8,532 Alaskans had applied for adult public assistance between July 1 of last year and April 3 of this year. The state Division of Public Assistance’s data — included in court documents — showed that in 2020, 81.4% of applications for adult public assistance were being processed within 30 days. By March of this year, that had dropped to 37.1%.

Feronti said that “it’s becoming clear” that there should be court oversight over the state’s public assistance programs, and potentially financial penalties until the state improves its processing rates. The Northern Justice Project was involved in the separate lawsuit challenging the food stamps delays in federal court, and reached a settlement with the state in 2020 over a Medicaid backlog.

State officials have attributed application delays for state assistance to staff shortages, and a 2021 cyberattack that disrupted online services for months.

Shirley Young, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Health, said that the agency “takes its responsibility to serve the needs of those who qualify for public assistance extremely seriously.” She said that the state recognized the importance of adult public assistance benefits for vulnerable Alaskans.

“The Department also acknowledges that it is currently not processing applications within the timeframes we would like and continues to implement updated systems and processes to improve these critical services Alaskans need,” she said.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration requested $54 million in the capital budget to overhaul the state’s antiquated IT system used for processing applications. The Department of Health has moved to hire dozens of contract workers to help clear the backlog, but insiders said that the state agency’s problems stretch back long before Dunleavy took office in 2018.

In January, the Alaska ombudsman cited the Division of Public Assistance’s failure to increase staffing — the public assistance program lost 100 positions in 2021 — even after a 2018 investigation found similar complaints about the state agency, including lengthy delays and spotty communication.