A change in how the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHD) processes applications for benefits like food stamps and emergency heating assistance was supposed to increase efficiency and ensure that clients get processed more quickly.

But as Patrick Sullivan writes in this week's Northern Express - sister publicaton of The Ticker - the new system, which was rolled out last year to rural counties first, has caused processing times to lag, or come to a screeching halt.

The problems became evident just as winter approached. And they were of particularly concern Up North, where the seasonal economy and high heating costs make the cold months the most difficult for people who are struggling to survive.

Changes at DHHS mean that across northern Michigan, the people who are most vulnerable are being failed by the system that’s supposed to be their safety net, says Matthew Bush, a volunteer with the Char-Em United Way in Petoskey who helps connect low-income folks with necessary services. Bush started working with an 18-year-old homeless high school student last year, and when he discovered that she could qualify for Medicaid and food stamps, he helped her apply. Even though her hardship looked fairly clear-cut, Bush said her application was delayed and then rejected.

Bush said it looked to him like her case was rejected not on its merits, but because of bureaucratic failings within DHHS. The young woman has a part-time job, he said, but the income from that job is not enough to disqualify her from receiving benefits. Instead, he said, the benefits were declined because a caseworker determined that the pay records submitted with her application were incomplete. “The story is bleak,” Bush says. “We’ve been trying to get her Medicaid and SNAP benefits, which is food stamps, since September.”

Bush says that in the dealings he’s had with DHHS offices, he’s found a system that’s broken.
“I was on the phone [with DHHS] for three and a half hours, just waiting to talk to someone, and that’s pretty typical,” he says.

Read more the new “universal caseload” system, critics' concerns about its implementation, and response from lawmakers and state leaders in this week's Northern Express story, "Northern Michigan's Safety Net Is Broken." The Northern Express is available to read online, or pick up a free copy at one of nearly 700 spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan.