SAN ANTONIO -- The state agency that oversees Texas' food stamp program is outdated and staffed by inexperienced workers, leading to long delays and inaccurate processing, said the state auditor in a report released Tuesday.
"To improve the timeliness and accuracy of (food stamp) eligibility determinations, the commission must modernize its eligibility determination processes and continue to improve its management," said the report by the State Auditor's Office in Austin.
The state office isn't the first to criticize the Health and Human Service Commission's handling of the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The U.S. Food and Nutrition Service warned the commission last year that it needed to improve its management of the program which is primarily funded by federal money.
Record numbers of applicants have been seeking food stamps across the country since the recession set in. A record 3.3 million Texans now receive food stamps.
Texas' outdated processes -- including keeping some 80 percent of applications on paper -- and inexperienced staff hired to help handle backlogs have led to inaccuracy in eligibility determinations and backups, the report said.
Even getting basic questions answered requires standing in a long line at the local office, and applicants often can't get answers online or over the phone, the auditor said. Paper files, prone to error and loss, still dominate the system.
The auditor recommended that the commission immediately buy inexpensive scanning equipment to create electronic case files and that it take steps to help applicants understand what information they must provide, thereby reducing the number of trips they are forced to take to the eligibility offices.
The commission should also post basic eligibility information, train clerical staff to answer frequently asked questions and make sure it has the right number of experienced staffers, the auditor said.
In its audit response, the commission said it was addressing the application backlog by temporarily reassigning experienced staff to process overdue applications and trying to keep staffing levels up despite a high attrition rate.
The reassignment helped eliminate the backlog in most places, said commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman.
"We've made a lot of headway," she said Tuesday. "We're out of crisis situation."
Goodman said the commission was still looking to improve application processing and to change the system so that officials know early on when problems are developing, an ability it doesn't currently have.
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