Advocates tell lawmakers that 64 minutes is too long to wait

HARTFORD, Conn. – Advocates, attorneys, and their clients told the legislature’s Human Services Committee on Thursday that waiting an average of 64 minutes on the phone to speak with a Social Services Department eligibility worker is too long.

“Every state in the country is trying to do this, but nobody is doing it this badly,” Lucy Potter, an attorney with Greater Hartford Legal Aid, said.

In December 2014, 94,337 people were transferred to speak to an eligibility worker, and of those some 61,423 or 65 percent hung up before they even got to that point.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Roderick Bremby was able to get a new call center system into operation in July 2013, but after 18 months Potter said “it doesn’t work.”

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