NCLEJ and Colleagues Secure Settlement with Nassau County, NY, to Speed Provision of Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Cash Public Assistance

In 2010 NCLEJ and the Empire Justice Center filed Dowdell v. Imhof, a class action lawsuit challenging Nassau County’s failure to process more than half of all food stamp (SNAP), Medicaid, and cash public assistance applications in a timely manner. The case was filed in the Eastern District of New York and assigned to the Hon. Sandra Feuerstein.

Plaintiffs claimed that month after month, eligibility determinations were delayed beyond the mandated time limits in more than half of all applications for each program, leaving hundreds of desperately needy individuals and families suffering hardships as they waited far too long to receive much-needed benefits for which they were eligible.

NCLEJ and its partner sought to require the County to adhere to federal and state law and determine eligibility and issue benefits to eligible families promptly for food stamps (30 days except for certain very poor households for which 5 days is required), Medicaid (45 days), and cash assistance (30 or 45 days, depending on the program).

On March 12, 2011, the Court approved a consent decree which requires Nassau County to process all applications within the prescribed time limits; issue benefits timely to eligible families; set up a mechanism to handle individual complaints by dissatisfied applicants; and provide plaintiffs with extensive and detailed monitoring of its performance. The order also provides plaintiffs with reports and other information sufficient to monitor the county's compliance until February 2014 and establishes a mechanism for expedited informal review of individual cases of delay.

For more information contact the following at NCLEJ: Marc Cohan, cohan(at) nclej.org, Tedde Tasheff, tasheff(at)nclej.org, or Laura Redman, redman(at)nclej.org.