Lead times

As as been discussed by me, as well as those who have left comments- leadtimes have gotten way out of hand.

For those not 'in the know' who may happen upon this site- "Lead time" is the time from an application file date to the date the client is finally scheduled for an interview. Historically, Food Stamp applications HAD TO BE SCHEDULED WITHIN 20 DAYS. This left 10 days for the client to provide any other information (they must be given 10 days)- and still have the case completed by the Federally Mandated timeframe expectation of 30 days.

If offices are understaffed and there aren't enough "appointment slots" to fill in applications within 20 days- anytime after that puts the application at risk of being delinquent no matter what. What people 'on the outside' don't understand is if the State of Texas is delinquent on TOO MANY applications for Food Stamps- the FNS (Food and Nutrition Services) has the liberty to SANCTION the State for not meeting the Federal Requirements.

Should this happen- in light of the fact that FNS is refusing to fund the program in Texas due to the rush to go into this 'system' before FNS even approved of it...this could potentially cost Texas even more - in the Millions- money that comes from the State taxpayer coffers.

Many local offices- STATEWIDE- have lost so many people that the applications are snowballing. Those who see this from the other side think that this problem is only contained in Travis and Hayes counties- but it is not. Anytime you have employees get an email telling them that they will not have a position in the 'new system' they are going to jump ship. The only folks that have stayed around even though they don't have a position are those trying to 'stick it out' and those who feel like they have no choice.

The clients are suffering. The local offices are suffering. Those in 'charge' see us, in the local offices, getting the work done "somehow" and think it's o.k. Those in 'charge' have the luxury of issuing directives to 'get the job done'. Yet, they are unaware that just like you can't get blood out of a turnip- you can't take an office that used to see upwards of 250 appointments per day with 25 workers do those same appointments with 10. It is NOT POSSIBLE. And yet, this is what is expected.

Workers are being burned out. The workers that are being burned out, unfortunately, are the tenured people the most. We carry most of the burden. Are we really the ones the State can afford to lose?