Erie County NY SNAP On Demand Call Center

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The Erie County Department of Social Services is the division of county government responsible for administering social services programs to individuals and families in Erie County. Services provided are based on the needs and eligibility of the applicants, and are directed at encouraging independence and self-sufficiency. The SNAP Division administers the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to low-income households in order to reduce hunger and improve nutrition and health. Households must meet certain income guidelines in order to be eligible to receive benefits. In order to determine a client’s eligibility for SNAP benefits, a SNAP worker must conduct an eligibility interview. During this interview, the worker will collect certain eligibility documents and record client responses in the case record. For those clients that complete the interview process, determination of eligibility is based on documentation received, household and individual circumstances and compliance status, and State and Federal regulations.In 2018, the Erie County Department of Social Services (ECDSS) SNAP Division was awarded an efficiency High-Performance SNAP Bonus Award for $899,264 from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. It was the intent of ECDSS to improve theapplication process for both the client and the worker with the solution of furthering thedevelopment the phone management system by expanding its SNAP Income Maintenance Call Center through the roll-out of enhanced robo-calls, SMS text, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Interview Scheduling software, Language line Direct Response and skills-based phone routing to provide more streamlined, task based and efficient services to better customer service and case management to clients with the implementation of a SNAP Recertification Call Center. Customer service has been the priority of the Erie County Department of Social Services and is one of our five Strategic Plan themes that guide our mission and core values.The Erie County Department of Social Services strived to provide SNAP customers with a convenient and customer-friendly way to conduct interviews, especially for working families. Currently the agency spends staff resources scheduling and rescheduling thousands of recertification interview appointments per month. SNAP workers are spending time attempting to contact people who were not available and as a result, the case encounters multiple touches once the client failed to keep and reschedule their interview. The goal for Erie County is toproperly manage the increase in the number of timely recertifications, so customers do not experience a delay in receiving their SNAP benefits.