Officials to probe food stamp calls
MIAMI (AP) – Florida lawmakers on Thursday questioned why customer call centers in India are handling questions from food stamp recipients who use a debit-like card to buy groceries.
State Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, requested an investigation why the calls were being outsourced.
Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Judi Spann told The Associated Press that the state paid JPMorgan Chase & Co. to handle a range of services for the Electronic Benefit Transfer program, including customer service and administration of the so-called EBT card.
Calls about food stamp applications are handled in Florida, but questions after a person receives the card are handled at four call centers – two in the U.S. and in two in India.
Lawmakers said the call center jobs should be handled by people in Florida – or at least by centers in the U.S.
“I’m concerned that at the end of the day we’re using taxpayer money to use a call center outside of Florida, outside of the United States,” said State Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami. “Our money needs to stay within our state and within our country.”
Florida isn’t the only state to use JPMorgan to handle its food stamp benefits administration; Spann said JPMorgan uses a Tampa-based center to run food stamp programs for a total of 28 states.
JPMorgan didn’t immediately return an e-mail seeking comment about the call centers.