Appendix J Customer Complaint Procedures

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
SNAP Policy Manual

Policy Title:

Customer Complaint Procedures

Effective Date:

January 2020

Chapter:

Appendix J

Policy Number:

Appendix J

Previous Policy Number(s):

MT-47

Updated or Reviewed in MT:

MT-59

Procedures

This section outlines procedures for counties to follow when a complaint is received in the Office of Family Independence. Customers can contact the County Office, Call Center or Office of Constituent Services concerning any program administered through the State of Georgia. The Office of Constituent Services was established by the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and serves as an advocate for Georgia citizens, DFCS customers, government officials, state employees and other stakeholders with policy questions and practice concerns.

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), Office of Family Independence (OFI) continues to strive to provide outstanding customer service to our customers. However, in our work with customers, we do receive complaints about how duties are performed. Sometimes the complaints are legitimate, and sometimes they are the result of policy requirements and other decisions that are based on the mission of the Division.

Customer Service complaints enter the system from various agencies and departments:

  • County Offices

  • Call Centers

  • Correspondence and telephone inquiry

  • Office of Constituent Services (Walk In, Email, Letter)

Complaints must be collected at all points of access including the County Offices and the Call Centers.

Complaints fall into four separate categories:

  1. Complaints about discrimination or civil rights

  2. Complaints concerning alleged HIPAA or confidentiality violations

  3. Complaints about benefit level or allotment amount which results in a hearing request

  4. Complaints about delays in processing or customer service issues including the inability to contact a worker and discourteous service.

Client issues that fall in the fourth category should be handled at the first point of contact either in the office or on the phone. If a client does not feel that their issue has been resolved and the issue has been reviewed by a supervisor, clients should be informed that they can contact the DFCS Constituent Services Unit by phone at 404-657-3433 or by email at Customer_Services_DFCS@dhs.ga.gov.

The DFCS Constituent Services Unit will follow up on the complaint, resolve the complaint and report the results to the complainant. All complaints are reviewed for correct policy, procedures, best practices, and customer service.

Complaints received through the County Office, Call Centers and the DFCS Constituent Services Unit will be maintained and analyzed at least yearly to assess where there are patterns of problems that may persist in local offices, call centers or throughout the state.

For information about the civil rights complaint process and where to file civil rights complaints, please refer to Section 3030, Civil Rights, of the Food Stamp Program manual and the DFCS Civil Rights Complaint Process procedures.