{"id":2250,"date":"2025-05-15T08:52:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T12:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/?p=2250"},"modified":"2025-05-15T08:52:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T12:52:15","slug":"new-report-reveals-systemic-barriers-in-monroe-countys-public-assistance-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/?p=2250","title":{"rendered":"New Report Reveals Systemic Barriers in Monroe County\u2019s Public Assistance System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart has released a new report, <a href=\"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Access-Denied.pdf\"><em>Access Denied: Monroe County\u2019s Benefits System<\/em><\/a>, showing that the County\u2019s public assistance programs are riddled with barriers that delay, deny, or cut off essential support to residents. Drawing on state data, budget documents, and open records requests, the report details persistent and troubling trends\u2014including excessive denials, procedural case closures, and long delays in application processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis report shows that Monroe County\u2019s benefits system isn\u2019t just inefficient\u2014it\u2019s actively difficult to navigate,\u201d said Barnhart. \u201cAnd even worse, the County knows this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key findings include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In 2024, 81.5% of applications for Temporary Assistance in Monroe County were denied\u2014the fourth highest rate in the state, and the highest among peer counties.<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monroe County processes more applications than any other county outside NYC, suggesting many residents are forced to reapply multiple times.<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>75% of case closures are due to procedural issues like failure to recertify\u2014compared to 51% in Erie and 62% in Onondaga.<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Over 1,300 households in 2024 waited more than 60 days\u2014double the legal limit\u2014for a decision on their application.<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sanctions are down but increasing again, with no one tracking how many families are barred from shelter simply because they couldn\u2019t find housing in a limited timeframe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The report also reviews the County\u2019s $2.8 million Community Integration Initiative, which aimed to improve access through neighborhood-based service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMonroe County is wildly different from nearly every other county in the state. From the number of people applying, to how many are denied, to how many are cut off for paperwork issues, the data shows a system that\u2019s fundamentally out of step with how public assistance is administered elsewhere in New York,\u201d said Barnhart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report calls for increased transparency, a reevaluation of cost-avoidance metrics, and reforms to ensure residents are supported\u2014not shut out\u2014by the systems designed to help them.<strong>The full report, Access Denied: Monroe County\u2019s Benefits System, is available <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Access-Denied.pdf\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart has released a new report, Access Denied: Monroe County\u2019s Benefits System, showing that the County\u2019s public assistance programs are riddled with barriers that delay, deny, or cut off essential support to residents. Drawing on state data, budget documents, and open records requests, the report details persistent and troubling trends\u2014including excessive&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/?p=2250\">Continue Reading<span> New Report Reveals Systemic Barriers in Monroe County\u2019s Public Assistance System<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"spectra_blocks_featured_image_url":null,"spectra_blocks_author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Barnhart","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8668089d3b1c60b2b1f51f9c490f09dbcbed1353b6c7df228edda0e90124e38d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_link":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/?author=1","description":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2251,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions\/2251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}