County Systems From The 90s Are Finally Getting Modernized

New technology is coming to counties in Minnesota but it will take awhile.  Stearns County Human Services Administrator Melissa Huberty joined me on WJON.  She is pleased the Minnesota legislature allocated $90 Million in the next biennium to upgrade their technology.

Timeline for Upgrade

Huberty says is takes quite awhile to implement these systems so it will take a couple of years before county staff will see significant change.  She indicates the technology they are currently using is late 1980s/early 1990s technology with green screen monitors.  Huberty says this is good news because the legislature saw this as a serious issue and they did appropriate some funding for it.

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SNAP Benefits

The amount of people requesting and qualifying for SNAP benefits has been on the rise in Stearns County.  Huberty says any public assistance program has many rules and regulations and different rules and regulations which can make it confusing.  She says SNAP eligibility is primarily based on household income, size and certain allowable expenses.    Huberty says there are some medical expenses for older adults and for  disabled adults that factor into someone's SNAP eligibility.

How Long Can Someone Use SNAP?

Huberty says if someone is not working they can only receive SNAP for 3 months within any 36 month rolling period.  If someone is working at least 80 hours a month, they would have access to SNAP indefinitely if they fit the lower income guidelines.  Huberty says there are exceptions to this which include being pregnant, caring for children under age 14 or being physically or mentally unable to work.

Increase in Public Assistance

Huberty says Stearns County is seeing an increase in requests for assistance in all areas and this has been going on for the last 4 years.  She says since COVID ended, there is an enormous need for assistance.  These government assistance programs are all funded with Federal dollars and are administered by counties.

Demographics

The county doesn't break down the amount of public assistance requests based on demographics.  Huberty says they don't have the ability to do that based on their outdated systems.  She suggests doing a search on the state's department of youth and family website.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Melissa Huberty, click below.