Department of Social Services CT - New Haven, Connecticut

China M. (. H. W.

Review: Infuriating and Inconsistent Handling of SNAP Benefits

I am absolutely enraged by the recent mishandling of my SNAP benefits. For three cycles, my benefits were processed without issue based on the pay stubs I provided. Now, out of nowhere, my benefits have been denied because those same pay stubs, which never included my name, are suddenly deemed unacceptable. This is absurd and entirely unjustifiable.

To add to my frustration, I work two jobs. One of them, which is with Quinnipiac University, provides me with pay stubs, but the other job, which involves gross income and lacks formal pay stubs, does not. This inconsistency in documentation requirements is infuriating and places an unfair burden on me.

When I have called for help, the response has been unhelpful and frustrating. The only solution offered is an appointment with an advisor over a week out. If I’m lucky, it will take an additional 10 business days to process my paperwork after that. This lack of timely assistance and the drawn-out process only add to the stress and difficulty of my situation.

How can it be that documentation which was previously accepted is now a problem? The rules have changed arbitrarily, and I am left to deal with the fallout. It is outrageous that I am being penalized for a discrepancy that was never a requirement before. The inconsistency and lack of clear communication from SNAP are both appalling and unacceptable.

This abrupt and unreasonable shift has not only caused significant stress but has also placed me in a precarious financial situation. I demand an immediate review of my case and a resolution that recognizes the validity of the documents I’ve consistently provided, as well as the reality of my income situation.

This entire experience has been a frustrating and infuriating ordeal, and it has severely eroded my trust in the SNAP program. Immediate action and a fair resolution are needed to address this problem.

Nunya (.

First Off Conduent is doing a horrible job at facilitating customer service for the DSS benefits center, Spoke with a representative whom is arguably the worst experience with any call center rep be it retail or governmental. Completely inept, dead air, not actively listening, getting audibly irate, refusal from either the lead or her to escalate my issue further. Information deciminated from the benefits center is often inaccurate and its truthfully because of Conduent's hire & fire mentality its a puppy mill of a call center truly a disservice to the state of Connecticut and I will rejoice when they lose the contract because of their faulty practices.

lohkie K.

Lady behind counter was too busy talking about how she can't want to leave with co-worker, after only being open for 40 mins. Very rude and would not help when asked questions about filling out paper work. Can't get anyone on the phone line for help either. Ignorant workers should not be hired.

J M.

The State of CT has to do better, States like California, Georgia and New York are triple the size of CT yet they are more organized and more sufficient. This system doesn't even allow their clients to email them to avoid ridiculous call wait times. I have no confidence that this will ever change. They deserve 0 stars

Walter P. (. I.

Nothing I can say negatively about this service. If you need it, be patient and understand everyone else you can see is in a situation too.
We are all in this together despite the efforts of forces trying to convince us that we need to battle amongst ourselves; (whilst they watch from on high, so to speak.)
May a blessing come to all of you who also struggle to get by every day.

Richard M.

I received a letter in the mail for the renewal of my SNAP benefits just prior to a major surgery. I filled out all the paperwork online and it has a field which asks you what day and time work best for a call back for the interview. I selected two days after surgery in the afternoon. I received a phone call while I was recovering in the hospital just that morning after my surgery and explain to them that I could not speak at that time and questioned the field requesting a good date and time for a call back. The person was extremely rude and had no real worthwhile or sensible answer for why they ignored the call back time and date. Then they hung up on me. When I called back 2 days later once I was home, the automated system allowed me to have them call me back rather than wait on hold. The callback came way outside of the time frame they told me it would and I missed it. So I called back again and went through the automated system which told me my call back was still scheduled and would happen within 5 minutes, even though it had already happened and then it hung up on me. I waited the 5 minutes and called back, the automated system told me my call back was due to happen at the same moment and they would transfer me now and then it just hung up on me. The department of Social services handles a vast amount of different clientele for different reasons but all of the reasons are pretty important to every one of the clients. And basically they seem to hire the rudest, least empathetic and most incompetent people to handle these situations. Sadists that seem to take joy from kicking people when their backs already up against the wall.

Alexa M.

I was hospitalized last March, followed by months and months in residential care. Now that I'm out of residential care I can't get most of my prescriptions because the claims keep getting denied.

I think the problem is with all three of Walgreens, Yale Health, and Medicaid.

I've called these organizations over and over again for many weeks, and yet I still can't get access to medications that are medically necessary and that I end up getting hospitalized when I don't have them. Medicaid knows that they are medically necessary, and that gaps are life threatening. As well, I often have had to go in to the ED to get access to medications when issues like this happen. This is ridiculouse.

Another thing that I would like to note is that when I try to call them, there is often a limit as to how much I can get done on my own, because the representatives often start to talk over me when I ask questions, questions that are necessary to get the information that my doctors theoretically would need in order to send over a claim for my prescriptions that would be approved. (This even happened when I asked for a way for my doctors to contact them; it was very hard to get an answer out of them and I have to ask each question many many times before they will agree to provide an answer.)

Carmen D.

Very nice representatives, I've never had an issue. I guess it's all about the way you treat each other. We are all trying to do a job during these hard times. I would like to make a suggestion. Keeping the same case worker for clients, so cases can get processed faster.
Considering the high demand to get to everyone's cases, it's just more organized. I have a 4-star because I know clients waiting a month for renewal to get processed. That's a little long for families to be without the benefits. Glad they opened the office back up, but they should be all done by appointment. That will also be a better way so the place won't be out the door and families with babies shouldn't be outside in the cold. Some single parents don't have sitters.