House committee examines state's elevated error rate in processing food aid applications

Yahoo

23-04-2025

Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta, and Rep. Bob Lewis, R-Garden City, take part in the first meeting of the House Select Committee on Government Oversight on Wednesday at the Capitol. The inaugural meeting of the 13-member committee focused on financial issues tied to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, serving nearly 100,000 households in Kansas. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — The payment error rate for Kansas' determination of eligibility for food assistance grew to more than 12% in 2023 to exceed the national average and surpass levels in four state's neighboring Kansas.
The U.S. average that year was 11.6% and the border states ranged from 7% in Nebraska, 8.6% in Colorado, 10.5% in Missouri and 10.6% in Oklahoma.
Kansas' problem with processing applications from low-income families, older adults and people with disabilities in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, was brought to the attention of Gov. Laura Kelly in a February 2024 letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Kelly administration received another letter in early April from the USDA pointing to SNAP processing deficiencies in Kansas.
The notices took issue with the state's SNAP payment error rate as well as the timeliness of application processing and procedural error rates that failed to comply with basic federal requirements.
State officials told the House Select Committee on Government Oversight the error rate in terms of eligibility and benefit determinations for SNAP ranged from 3.8% to 7.1% from 2017 to 2019. In each of those three years the state outperformed the national average.
USDA didn't track state-by-state performance in 2020 and 2021 due to distortions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, officials with the Kansas Department for Children and Families, which administers SNAP statewide, said the payment error rate climbed to 12% in 2023 before improving to 10.1% in 2024 and slumping to 11.6% in 2025.
'I know government is different from business, but typically a payment error is pretty critical,' said Rep. Francis Awerkamp, a St. Marys Republican. 'Most businesses, as far accounts payable, your error rate you kind of want it to be around zero. This is a $400 million-plus program looking at an 11% error rate. From my perspective, that is a high percentage.'
Carla Whiteside-Hicks, director of economic and employment services for DCF, said the rate was most frequently tied to DCF personnel making data entry mistakes when handling applications for SNAP. For example, she said, mistakes were made in calculation of an applicant's income or rent. Another area in which inaccuracies surfaced was in the interpretation of self-employment income by an applicant, she said.
'Those are the three that are the most common,' said Whiteside-Hicks, who would prefer the error rate stabilized at 3%.
'As they enter this data — this is an application form where I'm asking questions and entering data — we're making errors on some of the most basic elements of the application such as income, rent and self-employment,' Awerkamp said. 'How would you approach correcting these errors?'
Whiteside-Hicks said DCF's effort to minimize mistakes centered on improving training of staff and upgrading training materials used by about 200 state workers responsible for processing SNAP applications. She said regional offices involved in the application process had historically struggled to hire staff.
'It takes at least a year to become proficient as an eligibility worker,' Whiteside-Hicks said.
Rep. Will Carpenter, R-El Dorado, said the status report on processing SNAP applications should prompt the Legislature to examine how other states dealt with processing requests for food aid.
'Are there states that contract their eligibility out as a piece versus having in-house employees?' he said.
Tanya Keys, deputy secretary at DCF, told legislators SNAP provided a monthly benefit that averaged $189 per person or $392 per family in Kansas. As of last year, Kansas provided SNAP benefits to 97,000 households.
In terms of eligibility for SNAP, she said, Kansas had placed in law a part-time work requirement or training participation requirement for adults 18 to 54 without children. That criteria could be waived for an adult caring for children, a person with a disability or an individual at least 60 years of age.
Keys said one-third of SNAP participants in Kansas were enrolled in the program for less than six months and two-thirds were in the program less than one year.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, authorized the House Select Committee on Government Oversight to monitor the functioning, transparency and accountability of government agencies. He granted the 13-member committee subpoena power to investigate potential misconduct.
'This committee's work will help ensure that public funds are used efficiently and that government actions align with the best interests of the citizens of Kansas,' Hawkins said.
During the first meeting of the committee on Wednesday at the Capitol, Augusta GOP Rep. Kristey Williams, chair of the bipartisan panel, said topics of inquiry weren't set in stone.
'We are not here to create drafts of bills, but we are here to really shine a light on any issues that are of high importance,' she said.