Deadlines and the Department of Human Services

A circuit court judge in Genesee recently made a ruling, stating that the Department of Human Resources is going to have to provide information as to whether or not the department did, in fact, meet the deadline that was imposed by the court when it came down to reviewing a number of submitted applications from the general public for cash assistance. People often apply for cash assistance if they are out of work or unable to afford certain living expenses. However, it is believed that the Department of Human Services may not have met the deadline for reviewing the applications for this specific form of public assistance.

The executive director for the Center for Civil Justice, Terri Stangl, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Human Services in the state of Michigan, appealing the act of cutting off cash assistance for a number of different families in the Michigan area. The Center for Civil Justice believes that there were at least 10 applicants whose application was not even reviewed before the deadline of August 10^th, which is why some of these individuals are not receiving the cash assistance. The center also has concerns that there are other applications that continue to remain under pending status because they have yet to be reviewed. It is believed that DHS may be in contempt of court because they are not reviewing these applications by the deadline and because of that; it is causing a major inconvenience for those who truly need the assistance.

The Department of Human Services was given until the 10^th of August to review and process at least 5,000 of the applications that were currently pending for those who applied for cash assistance. Some of these individuals did not receive the benefits, as their benefits ended because of a 60-month limit that has been put into place. However, Terri Stangl says that her organization has proof and knows of nearly a dozen applications that simply were not even reviewed before the August 10^th deadline, which has caused the center to be concerned.

The Department of Human Services claims, as of the 15^th of July, that they did process thousands of applications and approved at least 2,300 of those applications that were submitted for cash assistance. At this point in time, a hearing is scheduled for September 24^th, in which the decision will be made as to whether or not DHS is in contempt of court because of not meeting the specific deadline that was set for processing the applications.