SNAP Benefits 2023: Thousands of Alaska Residents Await Food Stamps

Thousands of residents from Alaska are still waiting for the arrival of their SNAP benefits 2023. The Department of Health Commissioner blamed the delays on the cyberattack in May 2021.

Thousands of residents from the state of Alaska are still waiting for the arrival of their SNAP benefits 2023. This left the residents in debt for several months without the SNAP benefits. Some residents relied on their credit cards while awaiting for their SNAP benefits just to survive.

According to Nesbit, in August 2022, an influx of 8,000 applications for renewal had arrived after Alaska’s health emergency failed. Heidi Hedberg, the Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner, stated in the legislative briefings in January that the delays are the result of the cyberattack that happened in May 2021.

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Processing Delays in SNAP Benefits 2023

According to Lisa, the federal law states that the DOH must issue the SNAP benefits 2023 to eligible recipients no more than 30 days after the application was submitted. The Alaska Legal Service filed a case related to SNAP against the state in January and is working on 200 cases this month as well.

Nonetheless, SNAP employees are reportedly working faster by skipping mandatory federal requirements for the SNAP benefits 2023. This means that the staff now approves or rejects applications without validating the applicants’ employment or income. The validation typically involves contacting the employer or landlord for verification.

In addition, the DOH also hired 53 new employees and is looking for contract workers to answer inquiries so that highly trained employees can concentrate on recertifications for the SNAP benefits 2023. The SNAP employees focused on the oldest applications first. To date, applications from October are under review. Furthermore, the DOH has also decided to modernize their technology to speed up processing.

READ ALSO: Stolen SNAP Benefits To Be Replaced With Funds Under Federal Bill