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Eligibility staffing cuts and call-center funding threaten benefit processing, DHHS official warns
Summary
Karen Hebert, director of the Division of Economic Stability at DHHS, told the Senate committee that 69 eligibility positions were unfunded in recent budget proposals and that losing or failing to renew the division’s Tier 1 call-center contract would force staff from processing to phones, increase waits and raise the risk of SNAP errors.
Karen Hebert, director of the Division of Economic Stability, told senators the division delivers cash assistance, child support, SNAP and childcare programs and depends heavily on personnel to make eligibility determinations. She said personnel account for roughly 35% of the division’s budget and roughly 56% of its funding is federal.
Hebert summarized daily workload and the magnitude of demand: “There are about 204,000 individuals who receive services through our bureau. There are about 21,000 applications received and processed each month. We receive about 30,000 incoming phone calls through the current tier 1 call center now,” she said.
The division told the panel that the governor and House proposals unfund 69 positions — roughly 24% of eligibility staff — leaving the bureau with a current vacancy rate of about 22.5% and an attrition rate near 10%. Hebert said about 27% of filled positions are in training and not yet making determinations. She said an expected Medicaid policy change effective July 1 will increase workload by roughly 36,000 cases a year.
Hebert said the division’s prioritized need is a continuing Tier 1 call center to maintain capacity. Without the call center, she said, staff would have to divert about 7% of their time to answer phones, increasing wait times, call abandonment and processing backlogs. “Not having the call center also creates a risk of financial penalties due to the increase in SNAP errors,” she said.
Senators asked operational questions about how quickly a call center could be stood up; Hebert said a call center currently exists but the contract expires June 30. She said ServiceLink could play a larger role in on-the-ground client support.
Why this matters: Unfunding eligibility positions and losing call-center capacity could slow determinations for Medicaid, SNAP and TANF, increase complaints, raise error rates and create financial penalties the state would face under federal rules.
The division asked the committee to consider funding for the call center and for technical or organizational changes to protect processing capacity while system changes and workforce recruitment proceed.
