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You are here: Home > Food Stamp Program > Government
Food Stamp Program

Promising Practices

Authorized Representatives Increase Access to Food Stamps for Residents in Department of Mental Health Group Homes
Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and the Department of Mental Health (DMH) have developed a partnership that focuses on improving assess to food stamps. In April 2004, the DTA trained DMH staff statewide to act as authorized representatives for their clients for the purposes of applying and recertifying for FS benefits. DTA staff work with DMH staff to resolve problems and enroll DMH clients in the FSP. DTA intends to make minor policy changes to simplify the reporting requirement for group home providers.

The original training was geared to SSI recipients (no asset test/SSI amounts verified by DTA through SDX file) when in fact a large number of the clients received RSDI with no SSI amount. Many of the RSDI-only clients were denied for failure to provide verification. This problem was resolved when the process was expanded statewide expansion included RSDI-only clients.

Approximately 3,500 DMH clients have been enrolled in the FSP as a result of this initiative.

For more information, contact:

Lauren Arms
FSP Outreach and Participation Director
717-348-5452
Lauren.arms@state.ma.us


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