The Department of Children and Family Services says that Monday's long wait times for DSNAP assistance was due to a large influx of calls.
"We apologize to anyone who tried to apply for DSNAP yesterday and couldn't get through," a spokesperson for DCFS Sean Ellis said on Tuesday.
DCFS reports that they handled 11,339 DSNAP calls in their first day, which was more than what was taken during the entire run of some previous DSNAP operations.
"Unfortunately, we know there were a large number of callers who didn't get through. And for that we apologize," a Ellis stated.
They say the volume of calls sometimes averaged 250 to 300 incoming calls per second, which overwhelmed the phone lines.
On Tuesday, the call volume today has remained steady, they report, but there have been fewer dropped calls.
"We continue to work with the vendor's technical team to handle the technical issues that come up, but over 700 staff are taking calls and assisting applicants." Ellis said. "We want to stress that it's imperative that you only call if it's your day -- and your week -- to call. If not, it jams the lines for everyone else. And if you get a busy signal, please be patient and wait a few minutes before trying again."
DCFS is accepting phone applications for G-M last names for the following parishes on Tuesday September 21, 2021
- East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Orleans, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Washington, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana
For those who didn't get through on the first day dedicated to your last name, they are reminded that there are two additional days to call to apply.
You can call on Friday and Saturday when we are taking all last names (A-Z) from Phase 1 parishes.
"DCFS is ready and willing to serve residents impacted by the storm. Please be patient as we continue DSNAP operations over the next few weeks -- and only call on your designated days so we can serve everyone who needs assistance."
For a full schedule and more information, visit DCFS.la.gov/DSNAP
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