Q&A
Addressing concerns about delays in issuing shopping letters
0:33:11
·
114 sec
Council Member Alexa Avilés raises concerns about delays in issuing shopping letters for CityFHEPS vouchers. Commissioner Molly Wasow Park responds by explaining the shopping letter issuance process and addressing potential delays.
- The agency claims there are no systemic delays in the CityFHEPS program.
- Approximately 75% of shopping letters are issued automatically.
- For manual cases, DHS program administrators follow up regularly with shelter sites.
- An 'office hours' process has been instituted for shelter providers and clients to get information on specific packages.
Alexa Avilés
0:33:11
So in terms of, you noted the shopping letters that you have, 11,000, people who were given shopping letters.
0:33:18
We understand that there are significant delays in even getting those shopping letters, and that, I think delays since October.
0:33:27
So how do you explain this current issue of delays, and then where people are kind of not not meeting eligibility gaps?
0:33:36
So if you could speak to that, please.
Molly Wasow Park
0:33:38
We don't have any systemic delays in our c f p's, program, which is not to say that a package cannot occasionally get delayed.
0:33:46
But in terms of across the board, we are not seeing anything systemic.
0:33:50
About 75% of the letters that get issued are done so automatically.
0:33:55
And for the remainder of those, by definition, it is a manual process.
0:34:01
So there is more client by client engagement on those circumstances, but we are, we set very clear expectations for what that process should look like.
0:34:11
And our, DHS program administrators program analysts are following up on a regular basis with sites to make sure that that is happening as it should be.
0:34:20
So, you know, if there's particular instances, or cases that you would like us to follow-up on, happy to do that.
0:34:26
As I say, you know, the fact that we do not have across the board systemic delays does not mean that there aren't sometimes, an issue that across the board in a relatively complicated process where mistakes can happen, and we are always there to follow-up on that.
0:34:44
Something that that, Chief Henderson has instituted recently is is, an office hours, process where shelter providers and clients can call and get information on a specific package.
0:34:57
So we wanna make sure that we have really clear lines of communication, across the board so that if there is a hiccup, we have a way to solve for that.