Richmond moms frustrated by the time it takes to replace stolen SNAP benefits

RICHMOND, Virginia. As growing reports of food benefit theft affect hundreds of families across the Richmond area, numerous victims say they are waiting too long to get their aid back.

Last week, CBS 6 reported that there was an incident in Richmond. 2000% increase in stolen SNAP benefits. Low-income families rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed their families.

“I need to take care of my children, pay bills and still have time to buy food. Sometimes I don’t eat because my kids have to eat and it’s not fair to everyone,” Richmond mother Mushira Towns said after she reported her benefits had been stolen several times over the past few months.

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After this story aired, several people reached out to CBS 6 with concerns that their social services department was not replacing their benefits quickly enough.

“Pain and Suffering”

They reported that food assistance worth between $600 and $1,000 was received almost immediately after the funds were deposited into their accounts.

The fraudulent transactions appear to have occurred outside the state.

“It’s hard, it’s frustrating, it’s frustrating, it’s generally extremely inconvenient. I feel like it’s pain and suffering,” said Teisha Smith, a mother of two from Richmond who has also been affected by the issue. “What are we going to eat until we get the benefits back? Are we going to get them for Thanksgiving? ?

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For Richmond mother Mekel Johnson, who has three children in her family, she said she went to the grocery store on the day her benefits usually arrive. But at checkout, she learned that the $867 benefit had been completely spent.

“I was hungry. I allowed the children to eat before I did, but we all suffered because we grew weaker from lack of food. We didn’t even have bottled water,” Johnson said. “We just used what was left in the refrigerator. We just ate very rarely.”

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All of the mothers who shared their stories with CBS 6 said they received help from local food banks while they waited for replacement benefits; however, they stated that these resources are overstretched.

“Imagine when we get to the food bank, the food bank is around the corner. And when you get there, everyone has already eaten the food, so you get a little bag of food,” said the mother from Richmond Cottage. Brown, who said she had four children to feed.

Replacing stolen benefits

A law passed by Congress in 2022 allows stolen benefits to be replaced with federal funds. It was originally due to expire in September this year, but was extended until December 20.

Under this program, states are required to submit benefit replacement plans to the USDA, which administers SNAP.

Virginia Department of Human Services plan states that it has 10 business days to reissue benefits if the theft claim is confirmed.

However, those who spoke to CBS 6 said their benefits were not replaced during this period.

“It just takes a long time. It’s been 20 days and I still haven’t received my benefits and I have two boys to feed,” Smith said. “It’s just a waiting game.”

“I had to wait a whole month. So when it was picked up last month on the 7th, I had to wait until the 7th of this month to get the stamps,” Towns said.

Richmond Completion Time

Richmond Human Services spokeswoman Tamara Jenkins said the department received 534 reports of EBT fraud during the first half of November.

Jenkins said RDSS reviewed 303 claims within the required 10-day period, verifying all but 12. She said another 231 claims were still pending.

About 10% of claims received contained incomplete information.

“Incomplete forms, verification of a claim when it does not match the information in the system, latency issues in the system and a significant increase in the number of theft reports increase the time required to assess credibility,” Jenkins said.

She said one fraud manager typically handles about 20 cases a week, but with the recent surge, the department has reassigned five employees and a manager to focus on claims processing.

“While the team was surprised by the 2,000% increase in theft reports, they quickly adapted to the increased workload and reprioritized their tasks to cope with the surge in reports as they realized the impact of those falling victim to these scams,” Jenkins said.

Statewide Impact

This problem is not unique to Richmond. Henrico and Chesterfield also saw significant increases this month, according to data provided by local officials.

Chesterfield Colonial Heights Social Services received 234 reports of theft this November. In September there were 15 of them.

Henrico Social Services said it received 289 reports of thefts this November and the number continues to rise. In September there were 64 of them.

Henrico Social Services Director Gretchen Brown said the local area is responsible for replacing benefits, and the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) is tracking the data and helping to implement preventative measures.

CBS 6 reached out to VDSS on Nov. 13 with questions about statewide data and response to the increase in stolen benefits, but we have yet to hear back.

However, according to information provided by Hanover Human Services Director Darica Jones, since July 2023, VDSS has processed 9,696 benefit replacements totaling $4.6 million.

Nationwide, there have been more than 117,000 approved benefit replacement applications totaling more than $53 million, according to the USDA’s dashboard.

“There is something terribly wrong with the system,” Mekel Johnson said.

As these local moms face a difficult financial situation right before the holidays, they’re calling on government agencies to implement security and prevention measures to prevent theft from happening again.

“Something needs to be done because it’s not fair to the community,” Towns said.

“Whether it’s chip, fingerprint, Face ID, there definitely needs to be more security measures in place with the benefits of SNAP. Because if they could do it from another city, just imagine what else they could do,” Smith said.

The USDA and Gov. Glenn Yankin’s office detailed their efforts to protect beneficiaries and investigate those responsible for benefit theft.

CBS 6 will cover that part of the story next week as we continue to look into the matter.

CBS 6 is committed to sharing the community’s views on this important topic. Send your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom..

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