Advocates for Massachusetts’ food assistance program are urging the state to significantly increase funding to address ongoing staffing shortages and access issues at the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). The concerns come amid a class-action lawsuit challenging the agency’s handling of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Governor Maura Healey’s recent closeout supplemental budget proposal includes $26.6 million aimed at retaining 78 new DTA employees hired earlier this year and adding 10 more staff members. The proposal also allocates about $15 million for technology upgrades and additional support designed to improve payment accuracy and meet federal compliance requirements. However, advocates say these measures fall short of what is needed to resolve the agency’s persistent access problems.
The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI), which filed the lawsuit on September 21 in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that DTA unlawfully reduced or terminated SNAP benefits for residents who were unable to reach caseworkers by phone. The complaint details that between January and June 2026, an estimated 74 to 81 percent of incoming calls to the agency’s assistance line were automatically disconnected. This failure in communication is linked to a sharp 18 percent decline in households receiving SNAP benefits since August 2024.
The lawsuit names DTA Commissioner Michael Cole as the defendant and accuses the agency of systemic failures that have left thousands of eligible families without timely access to food assistance. Vicky Negus, a senior economic justice advocate at MLRI, said the lawsuit and the supplemental budget address the same core issue: ensuring all eligible Massachusetts residents can obtain the benefits they need. She added that the current funding proposal is insufficient and does not provide a sustainable solution to the access crisis.
“The only systemic solution to the access crisis that we are in is more staff. Period,” Negus said, emphasizing that a larger investment in personnel is necessary beyond the 10 additional workers proposed by the governor.
In response, a DTA spokesperson acknowledged the ongoing challenges but attributed much of the disruption to changes in federal policy. The agency pointed to actions by former President Donald Trump and Congress that have made it harder for families nationwide to maintain SNAP benefits. “No one in Massachusetts should go hungry,” the spokesperson said, stressing that the state has hired 76 additional frontline caseworkers in January and 42 more in recent months. The statement also noted Governor Healey’s support for further hiring to ensure vulnerable populations—including families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities—can access necessary food assistance.
Although the specific case of a plaintiff with delayed benefits was resolved recently, MLRI confirmed that the lawsuit will proceed to seek relief for numerous others still affected by the systemic problems. Negus warned that without substantial staff increases, families already harmed remain at ongoing risk of losing critical support.
The dispute highlights the tension between state efforts to manage administrative capacity amid tight budgets and advocates’ demands for more robust funding to safeguard food assistance access for Massachusetts residents in need.