ATLANTA — Back to school is around the corner, and some Georgians are feeling an extra pinch of added expenses as they wait for overdue SNAP benefits to feed their families.
But the state is now reporting progress, with new numbers and an outline of their efforts to address the outstanding cases.
In the ongoing back-and-forth with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which administers SNAP, the federal agency for its part says it "continues to be concerned" about the situation.
The waiting game for ordinary benefit recipients, meanwhile, is a struggle. Shamika Hawkins, a mom of four, shared hers with 11Alive - providing documents which show her SNAP case as approved in the state’s online portal. Yet, for weeks she waited for hundreds of dollars in food assistance for which she qualifies.
“When the benefit is not there that you depended on, then you’ve got to pay out of pocket for those [food] expenses,” Hawkins said, adding that she’s also juggling back to school clothes and supplies for her kids, in addition to rent and car payments.
That pressure is amplified, Hawkins said, when you can’t reach a caseworker on the phone.
"Your average person is already stressed about this, but when you add the senior citizen community, or people who live with disabilities like myself, it's very overwhelming,” Hawkins said. “There's a stigma like when people just assume people want to live off food stamps or all want to live off government assistance."
According to document requests obtained by 11Alive, Georgia's Department of Human Services (DHS) received approval for caseworker overtime in June with hopes of processing an additional 10,000 cases per month. The request cited the need going into July, with more than 96,000 SNAP renewals pending state action and 50,000 renewals overdue.
More than a week ago, 11Alive reached out to DHS asking for updated numbers and the state’s strategy to address the issue.
As of July 26, DHS confirms 76,752 renewals are pending state action with 4,668 renewals overdue - down significantly from earlier figures.
Asked about the new numbers, USDA FNS said it "continues to be concerned about Georgia’s SNAP processing timeliness and backlog" and is "monitoring the situation and are hosting weekly status update calls with the State."
In addition to overtime support, a DHS spokesperson said the department's efforts include prioritizing casework by focusing on the oldest renewals first; implementing a new standard of 13 cases per day versus ten tasks; re-assigning staff and offering stipends to managers to help with caseloads; and bringing back retired caseworkers to help with renewals (full list below).
The agency must also handle incoming new applications, a number which state documents show can range from 50,000 to 70,000 cases a month. 11Alive is awaiting updates on the number of new applications still pending.
Meanwhile, Georgia DHS continues to emphasize the need for federal regulators to approve pending waivers. Such waivers, according to DHS, could more quickly fix the backlog and include requests to use attended bots (i.e., bots operated by a human user) to automate processes without caseworker interaction and approval for ex-parte renewals (a term that describes an automatic renewal without any input from the SNAP recipient) when "necessary information is already known and sufficient."
"FNS is committed to partnering with the State to provide technical assistance as necessary to ensure proper administration of the program and ensure eligible households receive SNAP in a timely manner," the federal agency said.
Nonprofits like Voices for Georgia's Children are also monitoring the issue.
"We do know working really closely with different state agencies and especially those involved, that the state is making a very concerted effort to support their staff who are working to support these families," Kelcie Silvio, Senior Policy Analyst with Voices for Georgia's Children, said. "So I think that's really important to note. I think they're working with the federal government, which is really important, and they're piloting a few different ways and really exploring a few different options to figure out how they can reduce the administrative burden on their staff so that in turn it's a better experience for the beneficiaries."
The nonprofit, in turn, is working through ideas to offer the state in support of both families and staff. One idea to reduce administrative burden, Silvio said, would be to fully implement a 12-month certification process.
"Currently, staff has to check eligibility twice a year (every 6 months) rather than once a year," Silvio said. "When the likelihood of income fluctuating drastically within that 1-year time frame is actually quite minimal."
11Alive reached out to DHS back in June to see whether the state would consider a 12-month certification given the USDA started offering that option to states more than a decade ago to address caseload management.
"Our current process is very similar to this," a DHS spokesperson said in response. "We do recertifications every six months but only have to interview the client every 12 months, not each recertification period. Plus, we currently have a waiver that removes the requirement for the interview, so we just need to receive a packet from the client every six months. We only have to make contact with the client if there is conflicting data that needs to be resolved."
Georgia's current waiver for interviews expires September 30.
After 11Alive reached out to the Georgia Department of Human Services about Hawkins case, the mother got a callback and received her benefits. Below are the department's efforts to address the renewal backlog, per a spokesperson:
- Offering overtime to expand the capacity of our caseworkers.
- Offering stipends to management staff to incentivize them to carry a caseload when they normally would not.
- Ensuring caseworker dashboards focus their attention on the oldest renewals first.
- Working with Georgia Tech industrial engineers to examine our task-routing process.
- Shifted workers from intake (applications) to renewals.
- Brought on over 700 new Economic Support Specialist 1 workers since January.
- Brought back retired caseworkers to help process renewals.
- Reassigned Customer Contact Center staff trained in SNAP from answering incoming calls and chats, to processing overdue SNAP renewals.
- Have field leadership staff processing cases.
- Implemented a new standard of 13 cases per day versus 10 tasks.
- Two veteran child welfare field managers acting as internal consultants, sharing best practices from their field workers and interviewing our field staff to collect feedback and share information.
11Alive viewers who want to speak with a reporter about the delays can email the newsroom.