Fed court again orders Missouri to improve food stamp program

A U.S. district court has again ordered Missouri to quickly make substantial improvements to its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. 

This is the second time the state Department of Social Services has been ordered to make changes after receiving several complaints about problems booking appointments to sign up for food stamps. 

The Missouri Independent reports the average wait time for callers to book an interview was over an hour and more than 50-thousand calls were disconnected in March. 

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool has ordered Missouri to make the following changes within 60 days: reduce the call wait time, reduce the rejected SNAP applications, and add a new menu option for callers to request a paper application.