Callers say DHS help line plagued by long wait times
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – KFOR received a recent SOS to the newsroom saying people who desperately need to contact Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services are being held up by long wait times.
We went digging for answers.
The department says their virtual office line, 405-522-5050, is the primary line for individuals to receive assistance from Oklahoma Human Services’ various programs and customers can get routed to the program area they need.
But, callers say a seamingly streamlined process to reach the deparment has led to long wait times and little help instead.
“There’s a huge volume of calls and just not that many people to answer them,” said Angela Steinle, social worker.
In an email to the station Thursday, the Department of Human Services said they field a monthly call volume close to 200,000 calls, or roughly 10,000 calls per day through that virtual office line:
The goal of the Virtual Office is to help our customers achieve resolution to their needs in only one contact or call with the agency. We call this first contact resolution and it can take some time to ensure each customer has their needs fully met. Our first contact resolution allows us to fully process a customer’s case within only one phone call and has an 80 percent success rate. The other 20 percent of calls typically need some follow-up documentation that the customer may not have had on hand during their call.
OKLAHOMA HUMAN SERVICES
While the agency said their “first contact resolution” process allows them to process a customer’s case within only one phone call and with an 80% success rate, getting there can take a while.
“The wait time is generally 2 to 3 hours if you can reach a person [and] we’ve had multiple patients trying to get through. I’ve even sat on the phone with a patient. That call took us an hour and a half and we still haven’t reached case manager at that point when we had to hang up,” said Steinle, who works with clients with serious medical issues.
“The individuals that we work with, this is a matter of life or death. So it’s hard to talk to someone who desperately needs this basic safety net, these services. And there’s absolutely no way to reach the people you need to get to,” she added.
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KFOR also called the office line several times Thursday; at one point the estimated call wait time was 176 minutes.
To unravel the issue, we presented the department with several questions about call volume, staffing and those estimated wait times:
The department said wait times can vary based on what a customer needs, and provided their most recent compilation of their call center status:
Oklahoma Human Services Current call center status as of 12:30 p.m. :
General information line – 1,438 callers are waiting; longest wait time is 2 hours and 6 minutes; 154 agents on the phone with clients
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) – 5 clients waiting with 7 agents on the phone with clients; longest wait time is 45 minutes
Long Term Care – no clients waiting with 10 agents on the phone
Virtual Eligibility Center (SNAP, child care, medical) – 494 people waiting with 339 requesting call backs; longest wait time is 2 hours and 11 minutes; 63 agents on the phone with clients
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Angela said her client still hasn’t been able to speak with anyone.
“We are still waiting. So we’ve had patients lose their Medicare because they weren’t able to get their Part B premiums covered through DHS. We have patients who are waiting for Medicaid who’ve lost their Medicaid, aren’t able to afford medications, are in danger of losing their spot with the transplant list. Other things all because insurance is so vital,” she said. “[Some] patients are on limited incomes. You know, people using Medicaid …they’re 60+, they have a disability or they have a visual impairment. And all of those things make it harder to stay on the phone.”
Oklahoma Human Services said their call volume occurs during the first 10-12 days of each month due to benefit disbursements; they said they’re planning to double the staff answering calls on the general information line by April of next year.
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