Two food insecurity nonprofits have sued Los Angeles County alleging that they discriminate against homeless people when distributing food stamps.
“People living in these communities, black and brown, are suffering,” said Todd Cunningham, organizer and team leader for the Los Angeles Community Action Network (CANGRESS). “They are disproportionately the ones who are suffering the most from disease and early death.”
Hunger Action Los Angeles, CANGRESS, and Peter Jeovanny Torres Gutierrez allege in their complaint that the County, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and Department of Public Social Services Director Antonia Jimenez failed to perform their ministerial duty Under 7 U.S.C. § 2020(e)(9) and Welfare and Institutions Code § 18914.
“Each month, thousands of destitute individuals and families in Los Angeles County are placed at risk of going hungry because the County fails to process applications for emergency CalFresh food assistance benefits within the expedited timeframe required by state and federal law,” wrote Lena Silver, an attorney with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles, which is representing the plaintiffs, in the Nov. 22 complaint. “Recognizing the vital importance of CalFresh benefits, formerly known as Food Stamps, for those facing severe economic hardship, the Legislature has mandated that counties provide CalFresh benefits within three calendar days when applicants have extremely low income and resources or cannot meet their monthly housing expense.”
According to CANGRESS data, in September 2021, the County failed to meet the three-day deadline for 29% of eligible applications, impacting more than 4,900 needy individuals and families. That same month the County also failed to meet the seven-day deadline under federal law for 20% of eligible applications, impacting more than 3,300 individuals and families.
“People’s lives are at stake,” Cunningham told Southern California Record. “COVID revealed the kind of food and health inequities that have long existed for low-income and houseless individuals on skid row and in communities across the city of Los Angeles. When they're faced with unparalleled challenges and barriers to accessing healthy foods, the result is most often chronic disease and, and increasingly, early deaths. On skid row, in particular, access to healthy food has already been this more difficult than ever. Some places didn't open back up. We find that healthcare and food and water and hygiene facilities are actually vanishing."
Plaintiffs seek a writ of mandate ordering defendants to comply with their duties by issuing CalFresh benefits to all applicants who qualify for expedited service within three calendar days of application and within seven calendar days of application.
"Housing insecurity and food insecurity go hand in hand," Cunningham added. "People who work in housing insecurity are the same people that working in food insecurity in terms of the county allocations. They are all part of the same decision tree."