HHSC requests State Auditor review of SNAP

As HHSC continues to chip away at a backlog of SNAP food benefit applications, Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs has asked the State Auditor’s Office to review the state’s SNAP business processes.

“We must fix our system so that it works for everyone,” Suehs said. “I’m asking the State Auditor to help us identify both immediate and long-term solutions to make sure all Texans are able to get their cases processed on time.”

Suehs asked the State Auditor’s Office for help identifying “changes needed in our processes; wasteful or ineffective steps; and ways to improve overall accuracy, efficiency, and accountability” while noting that some problems plaguing the system were the result of factors beyond human control such as the demand for benefits created by multiple hurricanes and the recent economic recession.

Work on the audit has already begun. In the meantime, efforts to eliminate the backlog of cases and restore timeliness continue. HHSC has added 674 eligibility employees since September and redirected state staff from other assignments to work cases. These efforts have helped shorten wait times for benefits. In August, more than 60 HHSC benefits offices had wait times of more than 60 days. By mid-December, only two Houston offices continued to have wait times that long.

In a message to HHSC staff before Christmas, Suehs reinforced his vision to work through the existing problems. “In 2010, we’re going to work together to rebuild our eligibility system and make customer service our top priority,” Suehs wrote. “We’re going to be guided by a single principle: Do the right thing.”