Pennsylvania’s unsent mail backlog now totals 3.4 million letters, including SNAP eligibility and health benefit info, officials say

Approximately 3.4 million state agency letters intended for Pennsylvania residents — including some detailing whether they are eligible for health benefits or food assistance, or need to renew them — were not delivered to residents from Nov. 3 through Dec. 3, officials said Friday.

Late last week, Pennsylvania state officials discovered that a month’s worth of mail had never been sent to residents by a government-contracted vendor, resulting in a pileup of millions of unsent state communications. Once the issue was discovered, the state fired the vendor, Harrisburg-based Capitol Presort Services, and hired another vendor for a $1 million emergency contract to work through the backlog.

On Tuesday, officials estimated 2.7 million agency letters, mainly from the Department of Transportation and Department of Human Services, went unsent due to the lapse. But by Friday, the state said that number had grown, totaling 3.4 million.

Now, the state says 1.7 million letters sent by DHS, which oversees the care of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable residents and the delivery of critical public benefits, were not delivered because of the vendor issue, said spokesperson Brandon Cwalina.

Residents may not have received letters detailing whether they need to renew their health benefits or if they are required to submit additional information to continue receiving SNAP food assistance, Cwalina confirmed. Administrative hearing notices — which could determine someone’s eligibility for public benefits, appeals about alleged elder abuse, or approvals of new foster homes — as well as child abuse clearances were also among the affected mail, he said.

Cwalina said the contents of some of the letters were also communicated to some intended recipients virtually, if they had opted to receive email or text notifications. Child abuse clearances are available online.

SNAP cutoffs, which are administered by DHS, were set to begin under the federal government’s new work requirements in December and must be appealed within 15 days. The federal government has said it will not count the month of November as part of its three-month timeline to implement SNAP cutoffs, so eligibility didn’t “occur during the period affected by the mail delay,” Cwalina added.

It remains unclear whether any Pennsylvania residents lost access to their benefits due to the vendor issue that went unnoticed for a month, or if they are at risk of missing deadlines to maintain their benefits. It’s also still unclear how many DHS hearings had to be rescheduled — and the impact of those delays on the care of Pennsylvania’s most at-risk residents.

Another 1.6 million letters from the state Department of Transportation were not delivered last month, including driver’s license and vehicle registration renewal invitations, driver’s license camera cards, vehicle registration cards, and address card updates, said Paul Vezzetti, a spokesperson for the Department of General Services.

Driver’s license suspensions were not impacted by the stalled mail. Vehicle registration and license renewal registrations are sent three months in advance, so anyone who was due to receive one at the start of November will have until February to submit it, Vezzetti said earlier this week.

All of the unsent letters from PennDot and DHS were successfully mailed by a new vendor this week and should reach residents within a few days, Vezzetti said.