|
October 12, 2009 · In this economic downturn, a growing number of Texans are asking for help feeding their families with food stamps. But according to the federal government, the state agency in charge of the program isn’t doing a very good job.
When a person applies for food stamps under federal law they are supposed to get the assistance in less than 30 days.
But in Texas – the families are being told they have to wait.
“Some areas of Texas especially Houston and Dallas are seeing exceedingly long periods of time before clients can receive the benefits – up to 5 months,” said William Ludwig, a regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service.
The USDA provides the funds for the food stamps – but it’s up to the states to administer the program to the public.
Ludwig wants Texas to examine its food stamps application process and get rid of the kinks.
“Its not just one particular problem – it’s a whole lot of issues that need to be corrected and looked at,” said Ludwig.
If Texas doesn’t fix the problem it could see fines from the federal government or even a cut off of funds.
And the state isn’t just slow in processing – it also leads the nation in the rate of payment errors.
Stephanie Goodman is a spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She says the agency is simply overwhelmed by rising unemployment.
“It is a resource issues – we are dealing with an incredibly high volume of applications,” said Goodman.
Goodman said they are responding by hiring more workers to process applications.
But Ludwig says that’s not going to fix the problem.
He’d like to see the end of finger printing applicants. Texas is only one of 4 states that require finger prints for food stamps.
Goodman says that’s something one the legislature can change.
“That is specified in state law – but it comes in really on the back end of the process – it’s 30 seconds – we don’t feel that this helps address this immediate issues of workload anyway,” said Goodman
Texas wasn’t always so slow when it came to food stamps. From 1998 to 2004 Texas received bonus payment as recognition for excellence.
But in 2005 former Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins restructured the eligibility system. He fired 3-thousand state workers and hired a private contractor to do the job.
Ludwig said the food stamp application process has been in disarray ever since.
“We didn’t get here overnight – and its going to take some time to correct the situation,” he said.
Ludwig recommends the state work closely with the federal government to so how other states are doing their food stamp programs and incorporate their best practices.
In the mean time families that need food assistance need to look to their local food bank and charities for relief. |
