Nearly 100 employees in the Department of Human Services’ SNAP Department have received cash awards for doing their jobs quickly and with accuracy.
On Tuesday morning, workers from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly Food Stamps, gathered in the ballroom at Government House on St. Croix to be recognized and receive checks awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Although SNAP has around 100 employees, the majority of the department’s staff were unable to attend in order to ensure adequate staffing levels for client services.
“People come in and need assistance right then and there,” said Chris Finch, Human Services Commissioner. “The process isn’t just quick, it is accurate, too.”
For the first time the program received the Best and Most Improved Program Access award (timeliness), totaling $127,370. Additionally, $147,801 was awarded to the department for being one of seven states and/or territories with the best payment accuracy rate in the nation. Since 1992 V.I. SNAP has won the payment accuracy award eight times.
Cathie McCullough, acting regional administrator Food and Nutrition Service USDA, said no other state has won the number of bonuses over the years that the territory has. McCullough said there are two other categories, good customer service and lowest error rate.
“This really shows the Government of the Virgin Islands can be efficient and competitive,” said Gov. John deJongh Jr. as he accepted the plaques and oversized checks.
Annually, the USDA provides high performance monetary awards calculated based on the SNAP population size. For Fiscal Year 2008, a total of $48 million in bonuses was distributed to the selected states. Human Services placed seventh for the accuracy award, which is reflective of maintaining a significant accuracy rate. The national performance standard is 5 percent.
Currently SNAP is serving 7,310 households, with 18,561 recipients receiving nearly $34 million in benefits in fiscal year 2009.
“We expect to see $40 million in benefits in the next 12 months,” Finch said. “This is all federal money into local grocery stores and into the local economy. We are living the dream that people of the Virgin Islands won’t go hungry.”
The bonus funds will be used to enhance the program, along with rewarding the employees of the Division of Family Assistance for a job well done.
“This is wonderful to be rewarded after all our efforts and hard work,” said St.Thomas office employee Sarah Ottley. “I’ll spend the award on something for me,” she added.
[Editor’s Note: This story was corrected to say that nearly 100 employees received awards. The original said that nearly 30 were awarded.]
