State caseworkers and supervisors have testified that they falsified income information on emergency applications for people seeking food assistance, resulting in some of New Mexico’s most needy being denied help.
The testimony came Thursday in a case in which lawyers are challenging whether the state Human Services Department is meeting certain requirements. At the hearing, a number of employees testified that they altered the requests to show that those applying had up to $400 in assets that did not exist, which lead to the applications being denied.
The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty is arguing that the state has been failing to comply with several court orders on how it notifies welfare beneficiaries of the status of their requests for assistance, leading to delayed or denied benefits.
