Plaintiffs in our lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Social Services have received interviews and started receiving benefits after months of being unable to get through to the State Agency’s failing call center— a barrier that has caused thousands of eligible households to be unlawfully deprived of their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits each month.
At the temporary restraining order hearing last week, the court urged the parties to reach a practical solution to the Agency’s interview problems, noting that one plaintiff, Ms. Holmes, “had to starve for the last 60 days”. The court also told the defendant that the call center wait times were unacceptable.
"It's wonderful that Ms. Holmes and L.V. are receiving their SNAP benefits once again and that the Court recognizes the importance of SNAP access. We will continue to fight to ensure that all Missourians who rely on SNAP have meaningful access to this essential program," said Katharine Deabler-Meadows, Staff Attorney, NCLEJ.
Individuals who have applied for SNAP and been unable to complete the required interview portion of the application process can continue to contact Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) for help documenting the problems with the Department of Social Services and seeking resolution of their cases.
TAKE ACTION TODAY: JOIN US FOR EQUAL PAYDAY
Today, March 15, we highlight the work that (still!) needs to happen for women to be paid as much as men. For NCLEJ, we start by centering seasonal, gig, and part-time workers, especially women of color, whose lives have been upended by the pandemic and who are often left out of Equal Pay conversations. Here are two things you can do to support this work:
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Watch this powerful talk celebrating the legacy of Pauli Murray, a brilliant legal scholar whose legacy includes arguing that separate was inherently unequal.
"I thought I had immersed myself in the full narrative of how Brown v. Board of Educationwas decided and how Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned. Murray's name never came up. But Murray had proposed a paper that was laughed at by the professor in the class. Ten years later, the professor would borrow Murray's arguments in Brown, without making an attribution," remarked Dennis Parker, executive director of NCLEJ.
WE'VE MOVED
NCLEJ's new home is at 50 Broadway, Suite 1500, built on the unceded, ancestral homeland of the Lenape people. We have started going back to the office and will be open to visitors soon. Please adjust your address books accordingly.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice advances racial and economic justice through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. We have provided legal representation and support since 1965.
