El Paso County Department of Human Services (DHS) is struggling with a significant backlog of applications for food stamp recertification.
El Paso County DHS faces a backlog of 2,000 food stamp recertification applications
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) requires recipients to reapply every six months. Presently, the DHS is facing a backlog of 2,000 applications, which Karen Logan, the financial and administrative services director, claims is due to an increase in applications since the start of the year and insufficient staff to process them.
Previously, the DHS could process SNAP recertification applications in 30 days, but now the wait time is up to 60 days, resulting in some families being without food stamps for a month. The DHS is attempting to hire more staff to tackle the backlog, but it takes approximately six months to train someone to manage a full caseload. Meanwhile, existing staff members are working extra hours, including evenings and weekends, to process the benefits.
Krista Daniel, a Colorado Springs resident, and a SNAP beneficiary, stated that she has been waiting for more than a month to recertify her benefits
She expressed her frustration, saying that the delay affects many people, and questioned why more was not being done to address the problem sooner. She reported contacting the DHS several times but received unhelpful responses. Logan suggested that SNAP recipients awaiting recertification should double-check that all required documents are submitted and that having all of the necessary information could allow the department to waive a phone interview and speed up the application process.
In summary, the El Paso County Department of Human Services is working hard to reduce the significant backlog of SNAP recertification applications and is encouraging beneficiaries to ensure they have submitted all required documents to expedite the process.
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