Texas under fire over processing times for food stamp applications
October 2, 2009
The federal agency that oversees food stamps wants Texas to stop fingerprinting applicants as a way to save resources and speed up what the agency says is an unacceptably slow application system. But because Texas law requires the fingerprinting, the state's Health and Human Services Commission finds itself caught between what the Legislature requires and what federal officials want.
Written by Staff , The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – The federal agency that oversees food stamps wants Texas to stop fingerprinting applicants as a way to save resources and speed up what the agency says is an unacceptably slow application system. But because Texas law requires the fingerprinting, the state's Health and Human Services Commission finds itself caught between what the Legislature requires and what federal officials want. "One of the things I think Texas needs to do is streamline their operations," said William Ludwig, a regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. "Finger imaging is very time-consuming." Texas is one of four states with such a requirement, which supporters – including Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst – say prevents people from collecting benefits under more than one name. Critics have said it is invasive, a waste of money and seeks to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The electronic fingerprinting costs $3 million a year: $1.6 million for Cogent Systems' contract for the imaging and $1.4 million for state workers' time. The state and federal governments split the cost. Last year, the fingerprint program led to the state investigating four applicants for fraud. But state officials say it's impossible to know how many people are deterred from applying multiple times because of the fingerprinting. Ludwig told Texas officials last week in a letter that the state's federal funds will be at risk if it doesn't speed up its application processing. The federal government pays for all the food and splits administrative costs with the state. Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission, said officials will consider eliminating fingerprinting but because it is done relatively quickly, "we really don't think it helps this particular problem very much."
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