PLAINTIFFS FIRST SUPPLEMENT TO ORIGINAL PETITION FOR MANDAMUS, INJUNCTION AND REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY RELIEF

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1 No. D-1-GN OCTAVIA GONZALEZ, et al., ) IN THE 345th DISTRICT COURT ) Relators/Plaintiffs, ) ) V. ) ) OF THOMAS SUEHS, in his official capacity ) as the Executive Commissioner of the Texas ) Health and Human Service Commission, ) and the TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN ) SERVICES COMMISSION, ) ) Respondents/Defendants. ) TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS PLAINTIFFS FIRST SUPPLEMENT TO ORIGINAL PETITION FOR MANDAMUS, INJUNCTION AND REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY RELIEF Plaintiffs 1 supplement their original petition as follows: 1. Plaintiffs add the following parties to their original petition: a. Plaintiffs Jesee R. Gill and James E. Oliver, are residents of the State of Texas who applied for SNAP assistance from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and are awaiting a decision on their applications beyond the time allowed by state law. Plaintiff Jesse R. Gill, Sr., a 74-year-old retired resident of Bexar County, applied for food stamps on August 24, 2009, on behalf of himself and his 69-year-old wife. Mr. Gill is retired, living on Social Security, and in need of assistance to purchase food. The San Antonio Food Bank assisted Mr. Gill with the cumbersome process of filling out the complicated forms for food stamps. Since August 2009, Plaintiff Gill has not received notice of either an interview regarding his application, nor a written decision 1 For convenience, Plaintiffs/Relators and Respondents/Defendants are referred to as Plaintiffs and Defendants respectively. First Supplement to Original Petition, p. 1

2 on his application for SNAP. He has been waiting 138 days for a decision that Defendant was required by law to reach in 30 days. b. Plaintiff James E. Oliver, Sr., a disabled resident of Bexar County, lives with his wife and granddaughter. Plaintiff Oliver had been receiving SNAP benefits, which were due to expire in July 2009, and he applied for a recertification of benefits on or about July 31, It would seem that recertification would be less bureaucratic, but Defendant has not streamlined the complicated process. Plaintiff Oliver was scheduled for a telephone interview on October 27, 2009, however, his telephone was disconnected on that date. To avoid missing his interview, Plaintiff Oliver went to the local HHSC office and waited from before 10:00 a.m. until almost 5:00 p.m. to meet with his caseworker for an interview. At approximately 4:45 p.m., Plaintiff Oliver met with his caseworker. At that time, the caseworker reviewed the application of Plaintiff Oliver, which he had in his hand, and told Plaintiff Oliver that all he needed to provide was the Social Security number for his wife. (Remarkably, this information was not in the already existing file of Plaintiff Oliver who had been receiving food stamps previously.) Plaintiff Oliver provided the information within hours; however, Plaintiff Oliver has not received any notice regarding his application for recertification of SNAP benefits since his interview. Mr. Oliver and his family have been waiting 162 days for a decision. c. Plaintiff Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend ( FCCBB ) is a charitable, non-profit Texas corporation headquartered in Alpine, Texas that provides services to residents in Brewster and Presidio counties. FCCBB s mission is to strengthen communities by empowering individuals. It operates two domestic violence shelters, and provides food to families who are living in the shelters. FCCBB also provides food to First Supplement to Original Petition, p. 2

3 hungry families in the surrounding community by giving out food baskets and holding several large group lunches per month. In recent months FCCBB has become increasingly strained for resources, as there has been a marked rise in the number of families requesting food baskets. Many of these families have applied for SNAP benefits and have not received them. FCCBB does not have adequate resources to assist all the families in Brewster and Presidio counties whose SNAP benefits have been delayed. Plaintiff FCCBB as an organization has been harmed by HHSC s failure to administer a state agency that can make eligibility decisions on applications for SNAP assistance within the time allowed by state law. The harm to the organization is in the form of costs incurred, redirection of efforts, and/or harm to its mission and purpose. 2. Plaintiffs demanded that Defendants comply with state law, and Defendants failed to do so. See Letter to Defendants attached as Exhibit 5. 2 Respectfully submitted, TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID, INC. By: Robert W. Doggett State Bar No N. IH-35 Austin, Texas Telephone (512) Fax (512) rdoggett@trla.org Attorney in Charge 2 As in the past, Defendants expedited decisions on applications that are included in the demand letter sent by counsel for Plaintiffs. Exhibit 5 is a demand letter sent to Defendants dated January 5, 2010 that requests decisions be made by January 7, 2010 on 19 individual SNAP applicants including Plaintiffs Gill and Oliver (the remaining 17 applications have been decided by Defendants as of the date of the filing of this First Supplement to Plaintiffs Original Petition). First Supplement to Original Petition, p. 3

4 Amy R. Johnson State Bar. No N. IH-35 Austin, Texas Telephone (503) Fax (512) Reneé Treviño State Bar No North Main Avenue San Antonio, Texas Telephone (210) Fax (210) David G. Hall State Bar No S. Texas Blvd. Weslaco, Texas Telephone (956) FAX (956) First Supplement to Original Petition, p. 4

5 LAW OFFICE OF TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID, INC. Austin Office 4920 N. I-35 Austin, TX Telephone (512) Toll Free (800) Fax (512) January 5, 2010 URGENT BY Thomas M. Suehs Executive Commissioner c/o Carey E. Smith General Counsel Texas Health and Human Services Commission Brown-Heatly Building 4900 N. Lamar Blvd. Austin, Texas Dear Mr. Suehs: As you know, we represent nonprofit organizations and low-income Texans in a lawsuit filed against the Commission and you (in your official capacity only) because thousands of needy families are being harmed by the widespread delays in the SNAP eligibility process that have been institutionalized by the Commission long ago. We had previously asked to meet with you regarding this issue before filing this suit but were denied that opportunity. The purpose of this letter is to notify the Commission and you of additional individuals that are in need of a decision on their SNAP application we are aware of and renew our offer to assist the Commission in any way we can to resolve the problem. In our previous letters to you and in our petition, we state that an emergency exists in the food stamp program. That claim is not mere hyperbole. When you learn of the circumstances of many Texas families, particularly those whose children get their only hot meal at school, we think that you will have to acknowledge the urgent nature of this situation. We again urge you to use your emergency authority to take immediate action to get desperately needed nutrition benefits to our fellow Texans. The purpose of the litigation is to require the Commission to comply with state laws that mandate decisions on food stamp applications within certain deadlines. Those laws are grounded in enlightened public policy, recognizing that the failure to provide essential nutrition, particularly to our most vulnerable children, has not only a profound and immediate impact on each of them individually, but has long-term, costly impacts on our society as a whole. We commit to work professionally with the Commission to do everything we can to make sure that every deserving Texan receives the benefits they are entitled to as soon as possible. As you know, Texas has the highest number of residents eligible for food stamps in the nation and ranks at the bottom of indicators that measure effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of those benefits. We are aware of some of the activities that you and the Commission Exhibit 5

6 have taken to address the problem, and the sacrifices made by caseworkers to assist as many people as possible. We also wish to reiterate that we understand that you have inherited a program plagued by problems you did not create. But unfortunately, Texas continues to let thousands of men, women and mostly children go without food in violation of our laws. While change takes time, deserving Texans struggling through the current economic crisis should not be forced to wait any longer. In human terms, the Commission s non-compliance with state laws means that thousands of people who have the right to receive assistance for food, did not receive that assistance, and thousands more, who should have been able to continue in the food stamp program, were cut off. Thus, we demand that Commission cure its non-compliance with the mandatory 30-day determination and recertification deadlines in state laws. Again, we welcome an opportunity to meet with you to discuss the situation more fully in hopes that additional litigation can be avoided, minimized, or settled quickly. On behalf of the applicants below, we request that you make a determination on their applications by 3:00 o clock p.m. (CST), Thursday, January 7, Alcoy, Jesus del Carmen Bean, Jamie Garza, Jessica Gavin, Dottie Gill, Jesse R. Guerrero, Rosalinda Koslow, Teresa Lara, Liliana Marinez, Melissa K. Montelongo, Gloria C. Ramos, Dora Elia San Nicolas, Agapitus A Sibley, Brenda G. Valenzuela, Maria de Jesus Oliver, James E. Del Carmen Martinez, Maria Nolaceo, Veronica A Tovar, Victor Zavala, Kathy Please contact me should you need additional information. Sincerely, TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID, INC. Robert W. Doggett Exhibit 5

7 cc: Eric Vinson, Office of the Attorney General, State of Texas Mishell Kneeland, Office of the Attorney General, State of Texas Exhibit 5