PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice have sued the state Department of Human Services alleging that its failure to promptly process food stamp applications has left thousands of Rhode Islanders hungry and suffering in the midst of the worst economy in decades.

The suit, filed Monday morning in U.S. District Court, accuses the state of an “ongoing and persistent failure to timely process applications for Rhode Island’s poorest families.” That delay, it alleges, “means that thousands of households are denied desperately needed assistance to help them feed their families, and suffer hunger as a result.”

Under federal law, states are required to process food stamp applications within 30 days and to provide expedited help to the poorest families within a week.

The suit, filed on behalf of all affected applicants, cites the case of Shalonda Spruill, a Warwick resident who lost her job in January. According to the complaint, Spruill applied for food stamps for herself and her 8-year-old daughter in mid-May. Because she had no income, no savings and no money for groceries, she should have been eligible for an expedited one-week processing. Instead, her application interview has been scheduled for July 15, a full two months after she applied.

In the interim, the suit says, Spruill relies on family to give her food for her daughter while she forgoes meals to save money.

“Statistics show that this is a widespread problem in this state and hundreds of people are being adversely affected by the delays in processing,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU.

Monday was a state holiday in Rhode Island and a spokeswoman for Governor Carcieri declined comment on the suit or on Spruill’s case, saying lawyers for the state had not yet had a chance to review them. Calls made to the cell phone of DHS Director Gary Alexander, who is named in the complaint, were not returned.

In an interview this spring, DHS officials reported that the department processes about 85 percent of applications for the federally funded, state-administered program within the 30-day deadline. At least some of the processing delays are due to the applicants’ inability to produce necessary documents, they said.

But lawyers for Spruill say that compliance rate demonstrates that the state “is failing to process hundreds of applications in a timely manner.”

DHS officials said they recognize that they are overburdened. Most caseworkers are carrying client loads of 1,000 or more.

That number has continued to rise as Rhode Island has slipped further into recession and the unemployment rate has climbed to a high of 12.1 percent in May.

According to state statistics, more than 1 in 10 Rhode Islanders participates in the food-stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Donalda Carlson, administrator of child and family support services at DHS, has acknowledged that many of the people who are signing up are first-time enrollees. Since early 2008, well over 20,000 Rhode Islanders are enrolled in the food-stamp program.

Having once claimed some of the lowest participation rates nationwide, the state reported this spring that it was taking steps to handle the influx. It hired nine new case workers, modified its eligibility requirements and made simpler application forms for elderly people. The governor’s spokeswoman, Amy Kempe, said Monday that she believed most of the new hires were now on the job, though she could not say for sure.

An additional $947,000 in federal stimulus money was earmarked for Rhode Island’s food stamp program, including funds for more than a dozen new food stamp workers, according to officials.

It remains unclear how much, if any, of that money has been put to use.

“We are talking about a basic [service] that is being provided to individuals because their income is so precarious that help is needed,” Brown, of the ACLU, said. “When you see so many people facing delays, it can have serious consequences.”

cneedham@projo.com