How Failures Can Block Access to SNAP Benefits
For many of Nashville’s most vulnerable residents, the path to housing and stability is lined with challenges. The Contributor, a nonprofit organization empowering unhoused individuals to earn an income and regain stability through newspaper sales, has evolved over the years. As needs have arisen, the paper has moved toward a model that serves both as a way for people to make a living and as a connection point for much-need services and community.
In January, The Contributor joined a class action lawsuit filed by the Tennessee Justice Center, Hogan Lovells, MAZON, Inc., and others, against the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) alleging systemic failures in administering Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, also known as food stamps.
The lawsuit, Bull v. Carter, alleges and highlights widespread delays and errors in determining SNAP eligibility experienced by members of The Contributor staff while applying for benefits, which violate federal law and result in significant harm to vulnerable households.
Carli Tharp, an outreach employee at The Contributor, outlined the delays in a filing in late January, offering a firsthand account of how critical SNAP benefits are for the paper’s vendors and what the delays can mean in tangible terms.
“Ensuring a stable source of nutrition significantly improves a client’s prospects of staying housed,” Tharp says. “But disruptions to those benefits can destabilize them and jeopardize everything they’ve worked for.”
These failures have caused hunger, malnutrition and financial hardship among applicants and participants, according to The Contributor’s complaint. The class action suit seeks declaratory, injunctive and other relief to ensure the timely and accurate processing of SNAP applications and appeals.
“For our street newspaper vendors and the people we serve, SNAP benefits are essential for addressing food insecurity and freeing up limited resources for other necessities, like rent and utilities,” said Will Connelly, executive director of The Contributor, in a press release. “Delays or denials in SNAP benefits can jeopardize housing stability and overall well-being, pushing individuals closer to crisis. By participating in this lawsuit, The Contributor affirms its commitment to advocating for systemic change that directly impacts the people we support.”
Navigating a Broken System
Tharp, who serves as SNAP Coordinator and Housing Stability Guide, spends half their time helping vendors navigate Tennessee’s SNAP application process. For vendors — who often lack access to phones, internet, or even a fixed address — applying for benefits is a near-impossible task without assistance. Most also face additional barriers, including disabilities and the lasting effects of trauma, not to mention the ongoing trauma of living outside in some cases.
In the filing, Tharp describes the state’s SNAP system as riddled with inefficiencies. Applicants can submit their documents online, by mail or via hand delivery, but each method presents its own obstacles.
While touted as the quickest option, Tharp’s affidavit says the state’s online portal frequently malfunctions, losing critical documents or rendering uploads impossible after initial logins. Tharp says mail delays and processing backlogs often lead to unjust denials, even when documents are sent on time. Tharp recounts spending months appealing such cases, with some taking upward of six months to resolve. While the most reliable option, hand delivery requires vendors to travel to the DHS office during limited hours or Tharp to deliver them, taking away from time that could be used providing in-person services to people who them. Many vendors cannot afford to take time away from selling newspapers, nor the transportation costs involved.
Even after submitting their applications, vendors must complete a phone interview with a caseworker — another hurdle in the process. Interviews are often scheduled without considering the applicant’s availability, and notices of the call times frequently arrive late in the mail or not at all, according to Tharp. Tharp, acting as an authorized representative for the vendors, must remain on constant alert for caseworker calls, which are often misidentified as spam and sometimes sent straight to voicemail.
Missed calls result in further delays, requiring applicants to navigate long wait times at the DHS Family Assistance call center to reschedule.
“Hold times average an hour, but they used to be as long as four,” Tharp says in the filing. “For vendors on tight budgets, the cost of cell phone minutes can exceed the value of their SNAP benefits.”
Systemic Failures with Real Costs
Since June 2023, Tharp has filed over 150 SNAP applications on behalf of vendors, many requiring multiple attempts due to DHS errors.
“I’ve documented every interaction because DHS records are so unreliable,” Tharp notes.
Despite best efforts, the system’s inefficiencies often place insurmountable burdens on vendors attempting to access basic nutritional support. The impact goes beyond lost benefits. The Contributor must divert significant resources to mitigate these systemic failures.
“If SNAP were administered effectively, I could dedicate more time to helping vendors transition into permanent housing,” Tharp says. That includes cases where vendors were denied SNAP benefits when Tharp says they had compelling proof DHS had made an error.
“I have appealed approximately 20 cases on behalf of vendors who were denied SNAP benefits and I had compelling proof that DHS had made an error,” the filing reads. “Some of the appeals were resolved by DHS in my vendors’ favor before the hearing. I attended about 10-12 hearings as my vendors’ representative. All of the hearings were conducted by phone. My vendors won in almost all of the cases. However, they all took more than 60 days, and often months longer than that.”
In one case, Tharp applied for benefits for a vendor on June 30, 2023 and says they never received a call for an interview and instead, DHS denied the application within a month for failure or refusal to cooperate in establishing eligibility.
Tharp appealed in August 2024, and the client received a hearing on January 17, 2024, Tharp says in the filing. The client was ultimately approved on March 12, 2024, for a retroactive award from the date of application through May 2024 in the amount of approximately $2,500, or 11 months’ worth of benefits, but, of course he had been without SNAP assistance during that entire period.
The filing also outlines alleged issues with the state’s expedited service for applicants who qualify. While DHS grants expedited EBT cards where funds are loaded to purchase food to those who are in dire need, Tharp noted that many need a card issued first, and delays in card issuance sometimes mean long delays with food insecurity. In one case, Tharp said a client applied in early November of 2024 and didn’t receive a loaded EBT card until mid-December.
Tharp’s complaints outline that SNAP barriers are about more than benefits, they’re about survival and dignity. Timely and accurate SNAP benefits are essential for food security, housing access, and financial stability.
“Our vendors are working tirelessly to rebuild their lives,” Tharp says. “But the system that’s supposed to help them is instead putting up roadblocks at every turn.”