Meeting Basic Needs
Center and Colleague Achieve Favorable Settlement In Arizona Food Stamp Application Delay Case (2005)
In the fall of 2005 the Center reached a very favorable settlement agreement in our federal class action challenging the Arizona welfare agency's failure to act on food stamp applications within the time required by federal law. To end the lengthy delays, which kept food off of the tables of thousands of needy Arizona families, the state agency has agreed to process applications in compliance with federal law, to have the case certified as a class action, to maintain an 800 number for individuals to call if their application has not been acted on promptly, to provide information to applicants about the timely processing requirements, and to provide plaintiffs with extensive monitoring data. We were co-counsel with the William E. Morris Institute for Justice. (Brancatelli v. Berns)