PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state on Friday over the troubled rollout of a new $364-million benefits system, which has caused what it called a "Kafkaesque" process that resulted in thousands of delays in giving residents food stamp benefits.

The class-action lawsuit says the state is failing to process food stamp applications and issue benefits within the time frames mandated under federal laws and regulations: within 30 days of the application or within seven days for households that qualify for expedited food stamps. It blames the state's inadequate and faulty implementation of the Unified Health Infrastructure Project, also known as UHIP, which went live in September.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Administration said Friday it was doing "everything in our power to meet the needs of the people we serve."

One of the named plaintiffs in the case, Mea Martinez, submitted an application for benefits Aug. 31 and was still waiting this week, relying on food pantries to get by in the meantime, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said the disabled Woonsocket mother of three tried for months to get her benefits, including waiting in line for four hours without getting to see anyone at the Department of Human Services office. After finally hearing back from the department this week, the lawsuit said, she was told to go there that day with her paperwork or start the process over. When she got there, she was told she could not get her benefits because of a computer issue.

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo said this week that the state is hiring 35 eligibility technicians for temporary jobs and opening two more field offices on Saturday mornings to reduce backlogs.