Special message: Commissioner McCue leaving DTA

Commissioner Jeff McCue is leaving DTA in mid-October. MLRI and other advocates for low-income people in Massachusetts deeply appreciate and respect the Commissioner and the work he and his team have done since he became Commissioner in early 2015. 

Commissioner McCue put a stop to harmful SNAP policies in 2015. When Commissioner McCue joined DTA in the spring of 2015, the SNAP program was in crisis. The SNAP caseload had declined by 10%. Tens of thousands of families had been incorrectly terminated. DTA had a massive processing backlog, resulting in delays and denials of SNAP across the state. Commissioner McCue quickly put the brakes on policies that harmed low income households and his leadership helped right the ship.

Commissioner McCue and his team improved access to SNAP:

• Established the Senior Assistance Office, EDSAP, and improved medical expense policies - helping over 135,000 senior households! 
• Simplified verification procedures, improved SNAP applications & forms, and simplified reporting for all SNAP households. 
• Improved customer service through DTA Connect, reduced wait times on the phone, and implemented other services to help households get in touch with DTA and get information about their case. 

Commissioner McCue supported and implemented improvements to TAFDC (the cash assistance program for families):

• 100% disregard from earnings for 6 months
• Increase in the TAFDC asset limit
• Allowing TAFDC households to have a car that doesn’t count towards the asset limit
• Removing the TAFDC reduction for families in shelter
• Eliminating lower TAFDC grants for families subject to the time limit

Commissioner McCue fostered a culture of transparency and stakeholder involvement at DTA, including:

• Posting DTA scorecards online
• Inviting advocates to join DTA working groups
• Participation in SNAP Coalition meetings

Please join us in thanking Commissioner McCue for his work. We have created a google form (click here) where you can share your thanks. MLRI will compile the responses and share them directly with the Commissioner. If you wish to share a note with him in this way, please fill out the form by next Wednesday, October 9.   
 
Commissioner McCue has been an important partner in working to end hunger in Massachusetts and improving benefits for very low-income people. The MLRI Benefits team will sincerely miss his leadership. But he has left DTA in good hands and in much better shape than when he started. We look forward to continuing his work with the next DTA Commissioner.