Republished from the Las Vegas Optic. See the original column here.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 6:30 pm (Updated: July 19, 6:42 pm)
U.S. Magistrate Judge Carmen Garza has concluded that the New Mexico Human Services Department should have someone looking over its shoulder to help ensure that it complies with court orders and federal law in the administration of federally funded benefits.
According to The Associated Press, Garza is also recommending a contempt finding against the agency, which oversees the distribution of federal food aid and Medicaid health care benefits to the poor.
To be sure, those are merely proposals at this point; the department has 14 days to file its objections, and the department is already saying that it doesn’t agree with everything in the judge’s decision.
Still, it’s unfortunate — though not surprising — that such extreme measures are necessary to get the department to follow the law and to finally comply with court orders that have gone unfulfilled.
The harsh measures being recommended are not surprising because of the striking testimony presented during the court proceedings in the case.
“Caseworkers’ sworn testimony that they were instructed by managers to fraudulently alter applicant information has essentially not been refuted,” Garza said. According to The Associated Press, Garza also noted that managers overseeing supplemental nutrition benefits invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during the proceedings.
The Human Services Department’s office of inspector general and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are investigating that part of the case.
We don’t doubt that the state Human Services Department has a difficult job with tight deadlines and large caseloads.
But it’s also important to remember that the agency exists to serve as a safety net for our state’s most vulnerable residents.
The aid this agency provides helps our state’s poor put food on the table for their families and get medical care for them. Playing games with that aid is unconscionable and wrong.
If it takes a special master looking over the agency’s shoulder to force it to do the right thing, then so be it.
According to The Associated Press, the special master would have expertise in determining eligibility for Medicaid and food aid. That individual would also be knowledgeable with the organizational and computer systems used to manage the state’s caseload.
The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, which brought forth the federal lawsuit on behalf of aid beneficiaries, was pleased with Garza’s decision, which was issued Monday.
“The things we have been asking for are very simple,” attorney Sovereign Hager told AP. “Train your workers on what the law requires, make sure the IT system does what it’s supposed to, make sure notices are intelligible and make sense.”
That seems reasonable to us.