New York City is being required to distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits a lot faster under a settlement deal.
Federal law requires the city to move forward with a SNAP application 30 days from the date it was submitted. But Legal Aid Society attorney Emily Lundgren says the city has been way too slow to act for thousands of New Yorkers.
"We were seeing folks that were waiting 60 days, 90 days, in some instances 150 days, you know many many months."
The lawsuit settlement requires the city to basically overall the SNAP program. That includes making it easier to upload documents, better communication which should lead to benefits being doled out faster for scores of low income New Yorkers.