Patrick Rose

Legislature increasing oversight of TIERS system used to enroll Texans in food stamps, Medicaid.

Texas recently got federal permission to expand use of a controversial public assistance enrollment system beginning this month, but Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins has agreed not to do so — at least for now.

Hawkins said this week that he’ll abide by a legislative request that the commission first establish — and meet — a series of goals before expanding use of the computer system known as TIERS. That stands for Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System.

Federal officials have been concerned about expanding TIERS, in part because Texas has struggled to process food stamp cases as quickly as required.

"No expansion of TIERS will be undertaken prior to the benchmarks being established," Hawkins wrote in a letter to lawmakers this week. "As a result, we will not begin rollout in July 2008."

The request to Hawkins from state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs and chairman of the House Committee on Human Services, stems from a new law requiring legislators to more carefully scrutinize the state’s work enrolling Texans in programs such as food stamps and Medicaid.

The legislation created a committee "to maintain oversight, hold the commission accountable and ensure to Texans that TIERS was being expanded in a prudent manner," Rose said. "It’s important for Texas taxpayers and to those eligible for all critical services."

Rose has asked Hawkins to propose specific benchmarks later this summer to the oversight committee. The goals may include ensuring that there is adequate staff trained in TIERS, according to a letter Hawkins wrote to Rose.

The state has had trouble processing food stamp applications in TIERS as quickly as required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — 30 days — in part because there aren’t enough workers trained in TIERS. Texas has struggled to retain employees who enroll Texans in public assistance.

"The combination of not enough staff trained well enough and too many cases coming into TIERS and the fact that it takes longer to process a case in TIERS than (the old system) is a recipe for disaster when it comes to timeliness," said Celia Hagert of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which aims to help low- and middle-income Texans. "The whole reason we have a standard is that people who go to get food stamps are people in an emergency situation."

In April, 49.2 percent of Texas food stamp applications processed using TIERS were completed on time, compared to 92.6 percent processed in the old system in the same period.

This week, USDA officials gave final approval to the state’s plan to expand TIERS. They told Hawkins in May that Texas could expand it, but only to 22 percent of food stamp cases because "far too many approvals remain untimely."

About 9 percent of cases are now in TIERS, agency spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said. About 2.3 million Texans are on food stamps.