BALTIMORE (AP)- Advocates for the poor have filed suit on behalf of thousands of recipients of state aid they say have been waiting longer than the 30-day limit required under federal law.

The advocates aren't looking for a protracted legal battle, but a way to improve the delivery of aid, said Debra Gardner of the Public Justice Center, one of the groups that filed suit.

Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald said her department's response to record-high applications has been "slower than normal" and the department is trying to speed the process by taking steps such as accepting some applications over the phone rather than in person.

Laura Redman, an attorney with the New York-based National Center for Law and Economic Justice, said her group has also sued over delays in Indiana and in several New York counties. The center is also involved in the suit against Maryland, which she said "has a long history of not addressing delays."

"Things are only getting worse," Redman said.

As of March, there were about 7,100 overdue medical assistance applications from children and parents, and 4,100 backlogged food assistance requests in Maryland, officials at the Human Resources department said.

"We take it very seriously to be responsive to people who apply," Donald said. "They don't come in because they want to. They come because they have needs."

Miracyle Thompson, a Baltimore County mother, said she waited two months for approval, learning the day the suit was filed last month that she had been approved.

Thompson, a pregnant Baltimore County mother of two little boys who have sickle cell disease, said she had skipped meals and was battling angry doctors over unpaid bills. Her husband's sales job wasn't bringing in enough money to support the growing family.

The mother said she constantly worried about when her public assistance approval would come.

"I'd go to bed thinking about it and wake up thinking about it," Thompson said.