Ind. judge approves grocery aid dispute settlement

INDIANAPOLIS — A judge has approved a settlement in a lawsuit over a state grocery benefit that was formerly paid to hundreds of developmentally disabled Indiana residents.

The suit filed on behalf of an autistic Indianapolis man said the state had violated federal law by cutting grocery aid to the needy because they received food stamps. The Family and Social Services Administration stopped the practice last fall, while also ending the grocery benefit.

Attorney Steven Dick says the state agreed to pay his son $2,500, which Dick says represents the amount his son had been shorted on the grocery allowance over about two years. The settlement approved Monday by a Marion County judge includes the state agreeing to no longer violate federal law.

A spokesman says FSSA has made the necessary changes.