R.I. ACLU announces hotline for SNAP complaints amid UHIP snafu

GOV. GINA M. Raimondo speaks at a press conference Jan. 12 about personnel changes after the botched rollout of the state’s new health and human services eligibility computer system, known as UHIP. / PBN PHOTO/EMILY GOWDEY-BACKUS
GOV. GINA M. Raimondo speaks at a press conference Jan. 12 about personnel changes after the botched rollout of the state’s new health and human services eligibility computer system, known as UHIP. / PBN PHOTO/EMILY GOWDEY-BACKUS

PROVIDENCE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has set up a hotline for residents who are having trouble applying for food stamp benefits amid a monthslong breakdown of the state’s new eligibility software system. The ACLU announced the hotline on Wednesday.

The ACLU in a prepared statement says the hotline is a supplement to a pending class-action lawsuit filed last month by the ACLU and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. The lawsuit alleges that ongoing failures of the system, known as UHIP, “violate the constitutional and statutory rights of Rhode Islanders entitled to timely decisions on their SNAP applications under the law.”

The ACLU says that federal law requires the state to decide SNAP applications within 30 days from the date the application is submitted.

The ACLU says complaints will be forwarded to attorneys for the plaintiffs to possibly expedite a resolution. The hotline is only for complaints regarding SNAP application processing delays and is not intended for unrelated complaints about SNAP or UHIP.

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The UHIP system was designed to streamline applications for and enrollments in state aid programs, including Medicaid and SNAP, and to comply with federal requirements to upgrade the state’s technology. It cost the state $80 million.

The system’s rollout in September was marred by technical difficulties resulting in persistent long wait times for people who apply for benefits.

The hotline phone number is (877) 231-7171.

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