MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Department of Human Resources received notification from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the Alabama Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been awarded a performance bonus in the amount of $1,145,388 for a high application processing timeliness (APT) rate in fiscal year 2017. Alabama’s APT for FY 2017 was 97.25%.
The Department was also notified it had been awarded a bonus for Quality Control (QC) Case and Procedural Error Rates (CAPER) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 in the amount of $1,301,219. Alabama had a CAPER of 4.87% for FY 2016 against a national average of 23.47%.
The performance bonus payments may be used only for SNAP related expenses such as investments in technology, improvements in administration and distribution, and actions to prevent fraud, waste and abuse.
“These awards are a tremendous achievement by our food assistance staff in both the state and county offices in Alabama,” said DHR Commissioner Nancy Buckner. “It helps validate what we already knew here at DHR, that our employees are highly dedicated to their jobs and work very hard to ensure that the assistance programs we administer are operated at a professionally high standard.”
“The Alabama Department of Human Resources strives to ensure that clients who are qualified for food benefits receive them as soon as practical and in accordance with policies while maintaining program integrity,” Commissioner Buckner added. “Our county and state staff have once again shown that they are among the best nationally when it comes to providing quality and timely services to those truly in need of assistance.”
These bonus awards mark the fourth time in the last few years that DHR’s food assistance program has been recognized for its high performance by the USDA. Last June, Alabama DHR was recognized by the USDA for its low payment error rate of 4.19% for FY 2017. In September, 2016, DHR received more than $3.4 million for the FY2015 timeliness rate of 95.6 percent.
“The Alabama Department of Human Resources takes seriously the concept of customer service and providing benefits in a timely manner is part of that service,” stated Food Assistance Division Director Brandon Hardin. “I would like to thank everyone in our county offices for helping us achieve this honor.”
###
The Food Assistance Division administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Alabama. The Food Assistance Program’s purpose is to end hunger and improve nutrition by providing monthly benefits to eligible low income households to help them buy the food they need for good health. The eligibility rules and benefit amounts, based on income and household size, are determined by regulations issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service.
Contact: Barry Spear
(334) 242-1852
