Deborah Berkman, Director of NYLAG’s Shelter and Economic Stability Project, told the City Council Committee on General Welfare that New Yorkers are all too often denied public benefits like cash assistance and SNAP after being told they did not submit documents that they had, in fact, already submitted.
The proposed “Receipts Act” would require timely notice and confirmation of receipt for submitted documents. This would make it easier for applicants to follow up on their applications and help bridge the access gap for public benefits:
Deborah Berkman, the Director of the Shelter and Economic Stability Project at New York Legal Assistance Group, says the proposed bill would make it easier for clients to follow up on their applications.
“So many times NYLAG clients visit DSS offices and attempt to apply or recertify or otherwise change their public benefits and they come away empty handed,” Berkman said during a committee hearing.
“Clients are later told that documents are needed when they were already submitted or that clients’ applications are denied for “failure to submit documents” when in fact they did include those documents with their application or submitted them within the time frame required.”
Read the full story in PIX 11, originally published on May 27, 2025.
