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DSS: ARPA-funded call center staff cut from 125 to 40 after federal dollars sunset, wait times rise
Summary
Department of Social Services officials told the Appropriations Committee the agency reduced its ARPA‑funded Tier 1 call center staff from about 125 to 40 after pandemic‑era ARPA dollars expired. The agency said weekly call volume averages roughly 41,000 calls and that wait times and service gaps have increased.
Department of Social Services officials told the Appropriations subcommittee that ARPA dollars previously funded a large Tier 1 call center team and that the sunset of that money required the agency to reduce that staff from roughly 125 people to 40.
DSS said the ARPA dollars helped build a Tier 1 workforce — vendors and state hires — who handled basic inquiries (for example: application status, account access, address or phone updates). When the ARPA funding ended, the agency said it could not sustain the larger team in its base budget…
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