Governors in 47 states received a letter from the federal government earlier this month, calling for improvements to how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is administered in their states.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul received the letter in which Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack highlighted several areas of concern, including delayed and/or inaccurate benefits.

New York is the fifth worst when it comes to application processing timeliness. Only six states managed to process its applications on time, or with a 30-day window.

When it comes errors in payment, New York ranks closer to the middle of the pack, with about 13% of all payment having an error, most of which involving an overpayment.

The issues cause some stress on the system, preventing families in need from getting assistance.

Claudette Senior handles community resources at Unity House in Rensselaer County, an agency specializing in human services. She says there have been shortfalls with SNAP for years.

In addition to addressing delays and inaccurate benefits, expanding the benefits SNAP offers should be a priority too.

“I would want to look at how do SNAP benefits allow families to get the other things that they need,” she said. "SNAP is dealing with the food portion, but there are other needs that the family needs,” she said. “Who is dealing with the household supplies? Toilet paper, tooth paste, deodorant, lotion, soap, that are not covered and you can’t use your food stamp benefits for that?”

There are various organization like Unity House across the state, but the U.S. Agriculture Department has a comprehensive website with information about SNAP.