Nebraska Appleseed has been watching carefully the implementation of ACCESS Nebraska, our state’s new way of managing public assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid.
Some of you may be wondering: how is it going?
This article from the Omaha World Herald provides an update on ACCESS Nebraska from multiple perspectives: “Nebraska’s Food Stamp Errors Carry High Cost”
In summary, we see improvements, challenges, and continued possibilities.
Some aspects of ACCESS Nebraska are improving, such as decreased call wait times and fewer people dropping off of the call system entirely.
Other aspects are still challenging, such as document processing for folks who need to verify their income or other information.
And even other outcomes remain to be seen. LB 825, legislation that Nebraska Appleseed supported to provide more caseworkers and help for community based organizations, has not yet been implemented.
Assistance systems can be complicated, and change does take time. At the same time, our state can never forget the responsibility we have to our children, families, elderly, and disabled residents.
Rest assured that Nebraska Appleseed will continue to watch out for the interests of the people, and do our part to make our assistance programs the best they can be.