NCLEJ and Colleagues Sue Columbia County, NY for Systemic Failure to Process Food Stamp, Medicaid, and Cash Assistance Applications in a Timely Fashion

On April 5, 2011, NCLEJ and the Empire Justice Center filed Travis v. Mossman, a federal class action, in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of New York to challenge Columbia County’s pattern and practice of failing to timely process applications for food stamps, Medicaid and cash assistance.

The parties have now settled the action and the court has approved the settlement. Under the terms of the settlement, the county must accept Food Stamp, Medicaid, and cash assistance applications for processing and must process those applications timely. In addition, the county has agreed to provide detailed monitoring, including new reports generated by this litigation.

When fully implemented this settlement will benefit low-income New Yorkers in Columbia County who file benefit applications each month. In addition, the settlement sends a message to the other counties throughout the rest of the state.

For more information contact Marc Cohan, cohan(at)nclej.org, or Tedde Tasheff, tasheff(at)nclej.org.