WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE -
According to the Hunger Task Force, the state of Wisconsin is falling behind in helping Milwaukee County residents applying for food assistance.
By federal law, most FoodShare applicants are supposed to get their benefits between seven and 30 days. Last May, the state took over Milwaukee County's FoodShare program.
"We've seen the state criticize Milwaukee county's operation on a lot of levels for a lot of reasons, the state hasn't done any better, if anything the phones are crashed, and what we're seeing right now is up to 65% of the people not getting their benefits in time," said Sherrie Tussler, from the Hunger Task Force.
The backlog means charities like Hunger Task Force are on overdrive, keeping up with demand from folks who haven't gotten their food stamps.
In response to the accusations, Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake issued the following statement Monday: "...received an unprecedented 95,000 total applications in a four month period from people all over the state. This overwhelming demand caused an unacceptable backlog in FoodShare applications. We have already implemented a plan to elimiated this backlog over the next eight weeks..."
By federal law, most FoodShare applicants are supposed to get their benefits between seven and 30 days. Last May, the state took over Milwaukee County's FoodShare program.
"We've seen the state criticize Milwaukee county's operation on a lot of levels for a lot of reasons, the state hasn't done any better, if anything the phones are crashed, and what we're seeing right now is up to 65% of the people not getting their benefits in time," said Sherrie Tussler, from the Hunger Task Force.
The backlog means charities like Hunger Task Force are on overdrive, keeping up with demand from folks who haven't gotten their food stamps.
In response to the accusations, Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake issued the following statement Monday: "...received an unprecedented 95,000 total applications in a four month period from people all over the state. This overwhelming demand caused an unacceptable backlog in FoodShare applications. We have already implemented a plan to elimiated this backlog over the next eight weeks..."
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