AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Rising demand for food stamps has convinced the state to stop expansion of a new social services computer system blamed for a backlog in applications.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission said Thursday that further rollouts of the TIERS system are on hold indefinitely.
Food stamp applications began to tick up around the first of the year, said commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman. Enrollment in the program is up 20 percent statewide over last year, and the numbers are even higher in major cities such as Houston and Dallas.
Food stamp applications through TIERS have failed to meet federal requirements that 95 percent of applications be processed within 30 days.
Goodman said flaws in the computer system and the need to train a stretched-thin staff are the major problems.
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