In response to The Independent’s records request, the state said wait times are lower when applicants answer the state’s call made from an automated system.Īpplicants generally receive a call from DSS for an interview from an automated dialer within a few days of submitting an application, and if they pick up, have to wait only around two minutes to connect to staff, according to the data provided.Īccording to the federal lawsuit, however, applicants often miss those calls because they do not know when to expect them, at which point they must go to an in-person office or use the call center.ĭSS also emphasized that some callers mistakenly enter the queue for the general questions section of the call center rather than the specific SNAP queue, which could provide an incomplete picture of the data - but DSS did not provide the data for the tier they claimed was relevant or quantify how common this might be. The June, July and August wait times were turned over to The Independent on Monday in response to a public records request filed with DSS in September. More recent wait-time data was not made available by DSS. When the call volume is too high, SNAP applicants cannot even enter the queue: the call is automatically ended. Officials also point to staffing shortages and high turnover within the Missouri Department of Social Services, which oversees the program. The state has attributed long SNAP wait times over the summer to an influx of applicants and a worsening economy. The latest data reveals that trend did not last, even as another social safety net program, Medicaid, became more timely. Douglas Harpool, called the then-56 minute wait time “still unacceptably long and particularly burdensome for financially struggling Missouri citizens in need of SNAP benefits.”įrom February to May, the state noted a “substantial decrease” in SNAP wait times. The judge overseeing the federal lawsuit, M. The situation prompted a federal lawsuit in February alleging Missouri is wrongly denying thousands of low-income residents food assistance and violating federal SNAP law. In 2014, the Department of Social Services reprimanded its then-contractor for SNAP call centers because wait times were in excess of 6 minutes.Īpplicants are required to complete an interview to receive SNAP benefits, and be interviewed for recertification every 12 to 24 months, but long wait times can make it difficult to get through. The wait times exceeded an hour in both June and July.
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