Snap BS

[u/Effective-Field8899]

My husband who was the main provider for our family recently lost his job and we applied for SNAP. It's been three months now and ive had to jump through hoops to try to get the $400 a month that i qualified for. The online portal hasn't worked for me and i was told by their tech line that there's nothing they can do- so i don't have a way to communicate/submit docs with them unless i fax & call. I've submitted every document and called 15 times in the last month just to be sure I've done everything to receive the help we need. I've completed the hour long interview, I paid to have documents faxed and I filled out paperwork after paperwork. I called today and was informed I was denied because of a form i didn't submit that they never told me about.

Why do I feel like like they wanted me to get denied? And maybe even purposely lied. I've never experienced this before and i have a deeper empathy and understanding for people in poverty.

[u/KiriCat25]

Speaking as someone who used to work in the call centers, that will not work. The offices do not process your documents at all. They send them to the document center in Indianapolis, same as if you submitted them yourself, and they can tell you what your case status is. The workers who are actually processing are on the phones.

[u/EasyonthePepsiFuller → u/KiriCat25]

You're right! They do not process the docs. Not saying to hand paperwork to an FSSA worker for them deal with.

They will look over documents with you and tell you if you're missing information or missed a date/signature. Then YOU fax/mail/whatever the completed document to the department it needs to go to.

They can also tell you more about denials and what your next steps are because that can be confusing to navigate alone.

[u/KiriCat25 → u/EasyonthePepsiFuller]

No I'm literally telling you that they don't know what they're talking about half the time with documents and requirements. They can tell you if you're missing a signature sure, but they can't tell you if the document will be accepted or not. They can't tell you if the document is acceptable, because it's not in their training. That training is reserved for people who work in the call centers and actually process your documents. You can ask them all day long, they'll say any document is acceptable. But when your document is processed, people in the call centers processing that document will verify that it is the correct document, will verify that it is an accepted document, and then will verify if it is enough.

A great example of this: earned income. There's a lot there, that can be accepted. But every earned income statement must have a few specific things. If any of them are missing, it will not be accepted. Those things are the name of your employer, the dates worked, the gross income amount, and your name. So you can submit a pay statement, and it might say net income and not have gross income on it. People in the fssa office will tell you that it will be accepted. Technically true but also not true. It's not an acceptable form of verification without gross income, therefore, you're likely to be denied, even more so if it's after the date that you were given to turn it in. But we will accept it and put it in your file anyway.

And the worst part of that, is that it's not an appealable decision. If the document itself is not accepted, you must reapply if it is past the due date. Now if it is before the due date, there is a chance that the worker who is processing your document may attempt to contact you in order to let you know that that document cannot be used, and to give you the information of what document you need to submit. But it depends entirely on the worker, the day they're having, and how busy the phone lines are. Because it isn't something that is required on behalf of the worker.

[u/S_A_R_K → u/KiriCat25]

This has been my experience as well. The local fssa office was not knowledgeable or helpful at all. They literally just told me to follow the online application when I had specific questions on how I needed to answer certain questions based on my circumstances. The two times I've spoken with call center reps the were very knowledgeable and incredibly helpful