From October 2020 to February 2022, Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) conducted research on SNAP disputes and the processes and outcomes of the administrative hearing process in Colorado. CCLP staff combed through over two thousand pages of 2019 hearing decisions, analyzed state and federal data, and heard directly from Coloradans who experienced challenges with their SNAP benefits and the administrative hearing process firsthand. CCLP found that many SNAP beneficiaries encounter problems but do not successfully access hearings, and when they do, lose their hearings at rates that are much higher than national averages. Beneficiaries reported difficulty navigating the appeal process, a finding that was unsurprising given the technical and dense information provided to beneficiaries in notices and on websites. Vanishingly few beneficiaries have legal representation, and some who had limited English proficiency appeared without the benefit of trained interpreters.
