Correction to food assistance error in process

Lansing – The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) is continuing work to resolve an error that impacted 85,000 food assistance recipients and their families.  As of noon today, nearly 50,000 of the impacted Bridge Cards have been restored, and work is continuing through the day to restore the remaining cards as quickly as possible.  The error occurred due to a failure within DTMB to provide a required file that is needed to ensure the benefits are loaded on the card.

Only those clients with an identification number ending in “0” are impacted.  The client identification is different than the number appearing on the front of the Bridge Card. Approximately 10 percent of the total cards were impacted.

“We are continuing to do everything possible to ensure all of the cards are loaded with their benefits as soon as possible,” said DTMB spokesperson Kurt Weiss.  “We are nearly halfway to completing the process and we understand the urgency to get this fixed.”

An exact time as to when the correction will be fully completed is dependent on the processing speed of the file, but DTMB expects the majority of the impacted cards to be completed today.

Recipients of food assistance can contact the customer service number at 1-888-678-8914 and enter their client identification number to obtain automated information about their account balance.

DTMB will work to prevent a similar error from occurring in the future.  An investigation into the error is in process and future safeguards will be put in place.