Texas agency tries to speed up food assistance; others concerned over holiday hunger

As Texas families struggling with food instability have been forced to wait through lengthy delays before receiving assistance to put meals on the table, a new corrective action report sent by state officials to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a step in trying to address those concerns in the wake of whistleblower warnings.

The report, obtained by the American-Statesman last week, shows the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is asking USDA Food and Nutrition Services to oversee a list of potential solutions to problems causing delays in processing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, applications, which have left a backlog of 138,000 new program applicants waiting months for help.

The latest in a yearslong effort to address concerns in issuing SNAP benefits, the corrective action report lays out a number of causes that have led to processing delays from October 2022 through September, resulting in 71.5% of applications during that time being processed within the program's determination guidelines, according to the report.

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Many of the delays are due to applications with missing wage and salary information, incorrect benefit allotments approved by the HHSC and discrepancies spurred by changes in residence.

Solutions recently presented by the HHSC have mostly been active throughout the year, with an emphasis on agency employees collaborating to share best practices in avoiding common application mistakes and improving workflows to encourage quicker and higher volume application determinations.

Processing delays are a consequence of the HHSC working through the benefit redetermination process for 6 million Medicaid recipients, which has coincided with an increase in new SNAP applications, said Jennifer Ruffcorn, an agency spokesperson.

"In October, 74.23% of SNAP applications were processed within 30 days, and 87% of SNAP expedited applications were processed within the federal timeliness standard of 7 days," Ruffcorn said in an email. "Due to the redetermination process for all Medicaid clients and the processing of an increase in SNAP applications, our lead time is higher than normal."

Medicaid is medical insurance available for pregnant women, children and people with disabilities who make below a certain income. For a family of four in Texas, income must be less than $3,083 a month. For a pregnant woman with a family of four, it is less than $4,579 a month.

For SNAP benefits, a family of four must be making less than $3,816. As of October 2023, the average wait time for determinations on SNAP eligibility was 23 days.

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As of late November, 138,000 SNAP applications received more than 30 days before had not begun the determination process, according to the HHSC.

Additionally, 160,000 Texans are being reenrolled in the program, as data from October 2022 through September show about two-thirds of those applications were processed within the 30-day time frame. However, those applications are determined before current benefits expire, so the HHSC does not view the renewal request approvals as untimely.

The HHSC has begun an effort to shift 250 staff members into processing SNAP applications and training another 600 employees to process Medicaid requests. Additionally, officials with USDA Food and Nutrition Services visited the HHSC in November, during which the conversation focused on "technical assistance" and interagency collaboration.

"During the meeting, FNS stressed that the discussion was for collaboration and brainstorming solutions," Ruffcorn said. "HHSC and FNS committed to taking back the items discussed and to continuing to work together on strategies to improve."

Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett pushes for federal action on SNAP delays

Despite those efforts, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, is continuing a push to see wait times decrease through further federal intervention.

"This draft corrective action plan is more a summary of (Gov. Greg) Abbott’s failures than a roadmap for progress," Doggett told the Statesman on Thursday in response to the proposed plan. "It mostly recites prior actions shown to be inadequate rather than new corrective initiatives."

Doubling down on Monday, Doggett chided the state agency for a new "6 Days or Merry Service Challenge," which places HHSC employees in line for a raffle if they complete 15 hours of overtime from Dec. 4 through Dec. 9, according to an internal HHSC email made public by Doggett.

According to the email sent Friday by Gracie Perez, interim associate director at HHSC, the raffle and overtime push are an attempt to shrink current application wait times from roughly 120 days to between 50 and 70 days.

"Granted, 50 to 70 is still higher than we’d like, but cutting our lead days in half would be an amazing feat and help so many this holiday season," Perez told agency employees Friday.

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In response, Doggett revamped a request he and the Texas congressional Democratic delegation made earlier this year for the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services to intervene and enforce measures meant to spur federal compliance.

"Beginning today, an overburdened and demoralized workforce must complete 15 hours of overtime in six days to be entered into a raffle, on top of an already mandated monthly 20 hours of overtime required during the past three years," Doggett said in a statement Monday. "Disadvantaged Texans shouldn’t have to win a raffle to secure needed health care, and going hungry is hardly ‘Merry.’ ”

In September, a group of HHSC whistleblowers reached out to Abbott and high-ranking staffers to express concerns for SNAP delays, warning of possible 100-day wait times.

Before Thanksgiving, the group sent another letter, saying that delays had increased to more than six months before applications were beginning to be processed.

"These things have happened just as we warned," the letter says. "We had hoped our leadership would have developed a successful aggressive plan to help these families, but with every passing day, the situation continues to decline, and we will exceed a 200-day delay by December.

"We still believe the health and well-being of innocent Texans hang in the balance, and it is crucial that you take decisive corrective actions."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: As holidays approach, agency tries to quicken SNAP access in Texas