ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — For more than a year, 9 Investigates has reported on the problems with an online system that has caused some families to go hungry and others to lose healthcare.
There now seems to be a fix for one of the many procedural issues that’s cost Floridians both food stamps and their Medicaid.
The Florida Department of Children and Families, which oversees the MyACCESS system for applicants, has launched a new website that streamlines the mandatory interview process for benefits seekers.
A separate website also now allows users to schedule in-person appointments at a regional ACCESS Centers where people can get case updates and in-person help with their application.
People who receive SNAP or Medicaid have always been required to complete mandatory interviews. They’re also asked to upload documents verifying they really need the state’s help.
However, for months, 9 Investigates has brought you story after story of Floridians who lost health care and had to stretch the food in their fridge because they couldn’t get past those two critical steps, due to issues with the MyACCESS portal, which launched in December of 2023…,
Since then, Channel 9 has reported on the disconnecting phone lines, the website repeatedly down for maintenance, and user’s documents disappearing after they’ve been uploaded.
Now, instead of endlessly calling the state to try and complete mandatory interviews, Floridians can bypass some of that frustration and use this link to schedule their interview slot.
Via the website, users get a time and date for their interview. They’re told what number will contact them and get reminders until the interview happens.
Community advocate Vanessa Brito has helped about 2 thousand people who have struggled with the call center and technical issues. She believes the new interview scheduling site will help those applying now.
“This is redeeming moving forward, but what are we going to do to deal with what has happened in the past and help those folks, who have already been affected and quite possibly lost benefit?” said Brito.
Since Channel 9 began reporting on this issue over a year ago, the Department of Children and Families has stated that issues were due to “user error.”
However, in April, Channel 9 uncovered documents showing DCF has known about issues from the beginning.
Channel 9 is still waiting for DCF’s comment on that reporting. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, 9 investigators reached out to DCF to ask them about the new websites. Channel 9 did not hear back before news time. the
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