A new legislative audit laid out more problems for Maryland’s Department of Human Services, this time regarding the administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Most eye-popping among the findings was the state’s failure to terminate SNAP benefits for a person who won a $2 million lottery prize in July 2023. The computer systems of the state gaming commission and the Department of Human Services are supposed to cross-reference lottery winners and those receiving federal benefits, according to the audit.
Federal regulations require benefits to be terminated within 10 days after a household wins a “substantial” lottery prize, but Maryland awarded SNAP benefits to the individual through February 2026, according to the report.
Winners of smaller prizes also continued to receive benefits. In response, the department is automating its systems to close people’s cases once it is notified a person is no longer eligible because of lottery winnings.
Auditors also found 1,858 instances of incarcerated people continuing to receive SNAP or temporary cash assistance benefits between June 2021 and February 2025. The human services department said it would work more closely with the state corrections department, which has its own data collection problems, to ensure future lapses don’t happen.
Human services officials wrote to state auditors that efforts to recoup overpayments for all erroneously awarded benefits are underway.
“We are committed to ensuring findings are fully resolved and are used to strengthen the integrity and performance of the programs we administer,” acting Human Services Secretary Stacy Rodgers wrote in response to the auditors’ findings.
Despite the shortcomings, the human services department has made significant strides in reducing its SNAP error rate in recent years.
Error rates measure how accurately state agencies determine household eligibility and benefit amounts. This includes both households receiving more benefits than they are entitled to and households receiving fewer benefits than they are entitled to, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the 2022 budget year, the state recorded a 35.6% error rate; in 2024, the most recent budget year for which data is available, the state reported a 13.6% error rate — still higher than the national average.
New federal regulations will penalize states with error rates above 6%, requiring them to pay a share of SNAP costs. States with fewer errors will pay a smaller share, and in some instances will pay nothing at all.
Monday’s audit is the latest in a series of poor reports for the human services department.
In September, auditors cited widespread issues with the state’s foster care system, a problem that has lingered for decades. Among those findings were a lack of access to medical care for children in foster care and repeated instances of children being improperly housed in hotels instead of licensed settings.
A lawsuit against the Department of Human Services has been ongoing for four decades as the state struggles with its treatment of foster youths in what’s known as “out-of-home care.” There’s been a shortage of appropriate facilities, and children in state custody with complex behavioral and mental health issues often ended up staying in hotels or hospitals for extended periods.
Later in September, a 16-year-old girl in foster care was found dead in the hotel where she had been living. An autopsy determined she had died by suicide, and the state later found that her one-on-one caregiver had failed to lock up medications as required.
The human services department later moved to end the practice of housing children in hotels, implementing a statewide policy to ban it.
Gov. Wes Moore’s appointed department secretary, Rafael López, resigned in February for health reasons. López had pleaded guilty in December to a charge of driving under the influence in Washington, D.C.
Moore named Rodgers acting secretary, effective April 1. Rodgers previously worked in Baltimore County government.
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