The Alaska Division of Public Assistance is set to rely on out-of-state contractors to process food assistance applications amid a yearslong staffing shortage, Department of Health officials confirmed this week.

Under a longstanding federal statute, applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program must be reviewed by state employees. That is because "outsourcing functions of the SNAP intake and application process has resulted in more complex and cumbersome enrollment procedures," federal officials wrote in 2009.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday approved the state's request to use existing contract staff, who until now operated a virtual call center for the Division of Public Assistance, to also conduct SNAP eligibility interviews and perform other tasks they w

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