Applying for government benefits just got much easier in Maryland

Applying for authorities assistance can be hard stressful and a long ordeal not to mention embarrassing Maryland is trying to make the process easier and cut down chosen of the red tape It is extremely stressful to sit here and have to go over and over and meet different people and have to sit there and tell everybody your story Aquitia Nixa Harley explained It s hard You don t want to keep telling people how messed up your life is how much you re struggling and the things that you need when you feel like as a parent you should be able to be there and provide for your kids For the mother of four it s meant hauling strollers onto buses traipsing through rain and snow and sitting around governing body offices waiting for her turn Her two youngest children have special necessities Just waiting alone hours sitting on the phone could take minutes to an hour depending on wait time she revealed regarding how long it often takes her to apply for certain benefits That s why the state of Maryland is streamlining the process of applying for benefits such as Medicaid SNAP TANF and WIC not to mention resource and exigency assistance programs Rather than make those calls and visit different offices there s one online application that can be filled out on a computer or over the phone in much less time state officers disclosed Oftentimes if their situation merits them being qualified for one generally it means their situation merits them being qualified for others as well mentioned Maryland Gov Wes Moore who released the unveiling of the Maryland Benefits One application during a visit to the United Communities Against Poverty in Capitol Heights But here s what society does We ask them to keep on reminding us about your situation We ask them to keep on reminding us about your financial distress tell us about your poverty over and over and over again Tell us Remind us Remind yourself he added Moore disclosed there s a double standard when it comes to the procedures federal and state governments bend over backward to help the wealthy versus how those who are living in poverty are being sought to bend over backward Harley fought back against critics of welfare programs saying multiple recipients genuinely need help and aren t gaming the system People who really need them are not lazy they re not incompetent they just need the help And a lot of times it s complex for people to get the services that they really need she explained WTOP In the long-term the state hopes to let assistance recipients handle more of the administrative procedures needed to apply for and maintain assistance through that same portal The Maryland Benefits platform used to be known as MD THINK The new application has been live for about two weeks and Moore announced residents have already filled it out And he explained the state has slashed the amount of time it takes to fill out those applications We have cut down the average application time by nearly a full hour from minutes for SNAP alone to minutes for all benefits all at once Moore announced Harley is one of those people who applied through the new system and revealed it much easier to use Oh so much faster I did it perhaps in less than a half hour Source