ORLANDO, Fla. — More than a year ago the Florida Department of Children and Families launched a new website that was supposed to streamline the application process for people who rely on SNAP and Medicaid.
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However, Channel 9 found the online system has been riddled with glitches that have cost many Floridians their benefits leaving them without grocery money or health care.
Since the “My Access Portal” was launched in December of 2023, multiple users have told Channel 9 the system was not working properly.
However, the state has never admitted any problems with the website instead saying issues were due to “user error.”
For the last week, Channel 9 has heard from several viewers who said the system has been down for maintenance multiple days in a row.
Channel 9 has repeatedly asked the Department of Children and Families (DCF) what maintenance was being done but never heard back.
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Since January, Channel 9 has shared multiple stories of Central Floridians who lost benefits due to glitches, upload errors, and an inability to get through to DCF over the phone for often mandatory phone interviews.
Mother of two Megan Cooper is a diabetic who told Channel 9 was denied both Medicaid and Snap, until we contacted the state on her behalf.
One Orange County mother told Channel 9 her benefits were delayed for weeks because of an upload issue that required her to fax in records.
A caretaker told 9 Investigates her 84-year-old mother with dementia would have lost Medicaid if not for Channel 9′s help.
And a non-profit told Channel 9 they temporarily shut down SNAP services because of the glitches.
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Since January, Channel 9 has emailed DCF more than 27 times asking what it is doing to fix the glitches.
In February, DCF confirmed it received our reporter’s records request for internal emails about this problem.
In August, Channel 9 paid more than $177 for those records, but four months later, Channel 9 is still waiting for the records.
" I 100 percent believe that it is in their hands to fix it,” said Community Advocate Vanessa Brito.
Brito said she’s heard from nearly two-thousand people dealing with this over the last year, she’s continued to call for accountability.
“The ball is in their court to be honest with people, transparent with people,” said Brito.
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