End threat to food program

Thousands of Long Island seniors shouldn’t go hungry because of a bureaucratic maze of rules and regulations, unnecessary changes, and poor communication in the handling of one of the state’s food supplement programs.

Yet that’s what could happen if the state Department of Health doesn’t take the lead and find a permanent solution to the local lapse of the Commodity Food Supplement program.

The federal program has served about 4,000 seniors in Nassau and Suffolk counties, providing them with milk, meat and canned goods several times each month. The state administers it specifically for Long Island and New York City; upstate areas use other funding sources.

But last year, the state’s thresholds apparently changed to require its vendors to serve at least 8,000 clients, and Catholic Charities of the Rockville Centre Diocese, the nonprofit that previously administered the program, decided it couldn’t comply. So, Catholic Charities didn’t bid on a new request for providers last year.

But no one else did, either. Other nonprofits apparently had assumed Catholic Charities would hold onto the program, and didn’t bid because they informally try not to step on one another’s toes. While Catholic Charities says it conveyed some concerns before the bidding process began, no one communicated adequately during it. Health Department officials say they were surprised when the bidding closed without a bid from Catholic Charities or other Long Island providers.

By then, the damage was done. This program’s Long Island component — and the thousands of seniors who need it — fell through the cracks. The result: a federal program that provides New York with $21.5 million over five years suddenly can’t serve Long Island.

Now, two other organizations are temporarily providing food to Long Island’s seniors, but their contracts expire at the end of March.

What happens come April 1 is anyone’s guess.

The Health Department’s responses so far have been insufficient. Officials have said they recognize the problem, but don’t yet have a solution. More urgency is needed to determine how to fill the gaps and make sure Nassau and Suffolk seniors have the food they need. While this isn’t the only program that tackles local residents’ hunger, it’s important to many.

Part of the solution may lie in a more permanent arrangement with existing nonprofits that serve New York City, including New York Common Pantry, which is one of the Island’s temporary vendors, currently helping parts of Nassau County. But it’s also important for providers to know and understand the region. The other temporary contract went to Long Island Cares, one of the area’s largest food banks. Extending or expanding Long Island Cares’ contract would make the most sense. State officials also must keep pressing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to see whether there’s a way to cut through the bidding bureaucracy.

State officials have to move quickly to have a clear answer by next month. Consulting with, and informing, providers and seniors will be key.

After that, the state must step back and review the administration of its supplemental food programs. Long Island’s seniors should know the food they depend on will be there when they need it.

— The editorial board