DCF promises food-stamp help to come in next two weeks in Miami-Dade, Broward

The Department of Children and Families still doesn’t have a specific date for when people will see post-hurricane food stamps.

Over the weekend, officials told WLRN that a three-day, sign-up event will be held in Miami-Dade and Broward within the next two weeks. On Monday, the agency referred people to its website for updates. Applicants are being encouraged to preregister online.

Earlier in the month, tens of thousands of people across South Florida waited for hours in the heat to get D-SNAP, the emergency food stamps of the federal Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The program is offering food benefits in 48 counties in Florida to households that sustained disaster-related losses after Hurricane Irma hit last month.

The program gives applicants who qualify under the program’s income limits — and don’t have regular SNAP benefits — EBT cards with funds that activate within two to three days so they can buy groceries for the upcoming month.

About 1 in 4 households in Miami-Dade live below the poverty level, according to the United Way’s 2017 ALICE Report — which uses 2015 data to establish a county income threshold based on a family’s “household survival budget.” About 37 percent of households have little or no savings and are one emergency away from falling into poverty, the report said.

Critics have blasted the state agency for not being prepared and for not making special accommodations for the elderly and disabled.

DCF, which administers the federal DSNAP program, said Tuesday the agency distributed more than $199 million in total disaster benefits in Miami-Dade County since Hurricane Irma. In Broward, DCF said it helped more than 600,000 people, or more than a third of the county’s population, giving out $92.8 million in assistance.

Meanwhile, the University of Miami Health Rights Clinic, and other local advocacy groups are still waiting for a response to a letter they wrote demanding a more efficient way of helping those in need. The letter asked the agency to open more sites for longer periods and waive the requirement that registrants appear on-site.

A DCF spokeswoman said Tuesday the agency can’t waive the federal requirement of in-person interviews. The USDA, the federal department that handles food stamps, said telephone interviews “are not an option’’ for DSNAP recipients, said DCF Jessica Sims.

Advocates asked for a response by Oct. 18, which was last Wednesday — but have not heard back from DCF.

“I believe the fact that they didn’t respond at all, means they don’t care,” said Thomas Voracek, a second-year UM law student who works with the clinic and tried to get benefits on behalf of two clients. “I hope they make it right.”

When asked if the agency would respond to the UM letter, Sims said she didn’t “have the letter handy.”

Voracek said he only got an answer after calling the agency and speaking to Jeri Flora-Culley, the agency’s assistant secretary of Economic Self Sufficiency, who told him the agency planned on opening one site for three days in Miami-Dade.

“There’s no way that that’s going to cut it,” he said. “DCF is playing the same record that didn’t work last time.”

A previous version of this story misstated how DCF staffers were shifted to Palm Beach County. There were no DCF staffers that were removed from Miami-Dade to work in Palm Beach County.

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 7:17 PM with the headline "DCF promises food-stamp help to come in next two weeks in Miami-Dade, Broward."