April 15, 2008

DETROIT - People receiving food assistance benefits in Wayne County can now use a toll-free number to report changes in their household that impact eligibility for assistance.

The Wayne County Department of Human Services Change Reporting Center debuted today and will process all changes in households that affect a family's eligibility for assistance programs. Individuals can call 1-877-272-6999 and report any changes affecting their benefits, including address, income, employment, family size, utilities, child support or child care.

The specialty center was developed to improve customer service. Wayne County has more than 173,000 active food assistance cases. In comparison, Oakland and Macomb counties have 31,000 and 33,000 respectively. Ingham County has more than 18,000 cases, and Kent County has more than 32,000 cases.

"By centralizing the change reporting, we can improve our accuracy and timelines to help eligible families receive benefits for which they qualify," DHS Director Ismael Ahmed said.

The center will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and is staffed with 40 individuals, 30 of whom are dedicated to take phone calls and perform changes to case files. Callers will be able to leave a name, case number and telephone number requesting a return call after business hours. In other counties, individual DHS specialists are responsible for taking calls from families and logging changes. This practice will continue in other counties.

In addition to improving accuracy, the centralized change center operation will allow Wayne County DHS staff to focus on other issues and see more new individuals seeking assistance.

For more information go to www.michigan.gov/foodstamps.