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Concerns about individuals with guardians losing benefits
0:46:28
ยท
4 min
Council Member Diana Ayala raises concerns about individuals with legal guardians losing benefits due to communication issues. She discusses a specific case involving a constituent with mental health issues who lost benefits because recertification documents were sent to her instead of her guardian.
- Ayala emphasizes the need for a better system to handle cases involving individuals with guardians.
- Administrator Scott French explains the existing authorized representative system but acknowledges the need for improvements.
- French suggests looking into specific cases to understand what may have gone wrong and how to address it.
- Ayala proposes brainstorming ways to improve the system, possibly through legislative action.
- The discussion highlights the challenges in managing benefits for individuals with mental health issues or legal guardians.
Diana Ayala
0:46:28
Yeah.
0:46:28
I mean we wanna prevent people from losing their benefits and we wanna Absolutely.
0:46:32
You know speed up the the time frame in which they're able to access them if they need them.
0:46:36
Is there a is there a process within the the system that alerts the staff when there's an individual that has maybe like a legal guardian whenever like recertification?
0:46:51
So I I recently had a constituent case that I handled myself The person has serious mental health issues and has a guardian that handles all of their finances and she was frantic because she didn't have any money to eat and you know she had her food stamp card and she didn't have any money on it.
0:47:11
When we called what happened was that she lost them because she didn't recertify.
0:47:15
So when I asked who the recertification you know package go to, it had gone to her.
0:47:20
But she has a guardian for that very reason, so I'm not sure, you know, why does does that information get communicated to you guys?
0:47:31
Is there a system where you're working within the the, you know, the networks for the guardianship program so that you are aware of who's, you know, who to pay closer attention to because they may have a specific circumstance that prevents them from filling out the application or recertifying on their own?
Scott French
0:47:50
There is the opportunity for individuals to have sort of an authorized representative that works on their behalf.
0:47:56
We need to look in that specific case to see what may have happened in that instance.
0:48:01
In most cases, right, the information and such is provided to the individual.
0:48:06
You know, we are looking at ways in which we can try to improve that sort of communication or track things.
0:48:13
You know, through those who do utilize Access HRA and have accounts with Access HRA, right, they are able to see both information on their recertification, right, when that's due, where that went, as well as documents
Diana Ayala
0:48:26
that they Well, I'm individual that has, like, I'm telling you she has serious mental health issues.
Althea V. Stevens
0:48:30
Right.
Diana Ayala
0:48:30
And luckily within, you know, her limitations, she's you know savvy enough to know that she needs help and come to our office.
0:48:41
But I had a similar issue with her two months prior she was delinquent and rent for like over $34,000.
0:48:50
She has city thefts, the city thefts was about to expire and she has a guardian that is responsible for all of this.
0:48:59
But the information is not getting to the guardian and the guard or the guardian is not communicating with you guys.
0:49:04
So I'm trying to figure out where is is there a process?
0:49:06
And maybe we can help you.
0:49:07
I don't know legislatively.
0:49:08
I don't know if this is an internal thing that, you know, we can put in some sort of practice that ensures that that doesn't happen because in her case she didn't she doesn't get a lot of money.
0:49:17
Right?
0:49:18
And so after her bills are paid, she has to still wait until you know the the rest of the of the money sent to her.
0:49:26
And if she doesn't have access to food stamp benefits and she's not eating, and she's may not be, you know, in this case, she's able to self advocate enough, right, like you have to be patient and sit there and kind of like try to decipher what she needs, but not everybody's that patient.
0:49:42
I'll tell you that right now.
0:49:43
And most people would just be like, oh, you know, this person has problems and we're not.
0:49:47
Like we don't know what they want and just, you know, dismiss them.
0:49:51
We need to create a better system when there's a when there's a person that is completely relying on on on you to receive their full time benefits every month, and they have a proper they have a guardian, there has to be a network.
0:50:05
Like she's not gonna sign a paper that says, oh I'm gonna assign x y and z to be my representative.
Scott French
0:50:10
Yeah.
0:50:10
In instances where there is actually a legal guardian for someone, and happy to talk more about specifics as well on that because the legal guardian is responsible, right, for managing, right, the finance for that individual and making sure that they have everything, you know, set up and have access to the information they need.
0:50:28
So would want to definitely look a little bit further into that and happy to discuss further ways
Diana Ayala
0:50:32
in which we can maybe brainstorm a little bit on how we can figure that out so that we're not, you know, necessarily losing people.
0:50:39
Alright.
0:50:39
I'm gonna just hand it over to my colleagues for a little bit, and then I'll be back.
0:50:44
Council member Kaban.