Alaska has extended its enrollment deadline for a supplemental food assistance program for children which would provide $458 per month per child to families in need, the Associated Press reports.
Approximately 44,000 children in the state qualify for the additional payment available through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding. This additional supplemental money is targeted at children who had previous received meals through their schools.
A technical shortfall reportedly caused thousands of Alaskan families to miss enrollment notifications, pushing state officials to extend the enrollment deadline.
The state did not have the resources to create an online system to allow people to enroll. Instead, tens of thousands were sent paper applications, which many people thought were a scam or did not understand were government forms. The application then had to be completed and mailed back to enroll recipients.
“I think all of us have experienced that mail delay issue, whether you’re in Juneau or Anchorage or anywhere else in the state,” said Shawnda O’Brien, director of the state Division of Public Assistance, according to the AP. “It’s considerably more challenging the further away you are from main hubs.”