Missouri families seeking food assistance still left on hold by a 'broken' call center system

Over a year after a lawsuit alleged that Missouri's "dysfunctional" SNAP call center violates federal law, low-income Missourians are still facing automatic disconnections and wait times of around an hour.
Treasure Dowell has called Missouri’s social services department three times a day for nearly a month and has yet to speak to a human being.

Sometimes she is automatically disconnected hours before the call center closes because it has reached capacity for the day. Other times she waits hours, her phone on speaker atop the kitchen counter, playing the hold music and occasional queue updates, while she watches her kids, only for the line to disconnect.

When she hears that the queue numbers in the hundreds, she usually hangs up and tries again later.

At stake is the $1,339 in monthly food benefits she relies on to help feed her five children — three of whom are special needs and have restricted diets.

“I’m scared I’m not going to be able to afford food,” she said.