Due Process on Hold: A Queueing Framework for Improving Access in SNAP
Andrew Daw, Chloe Pache, Angela Zhou

TL;DR
This paper introduces a queueing model framework to evaluate and improve access in social service call centers, addressing systemic congestion issues that affect procedural fairness.
Contribution
It develops a novel queueing model incorporating social service-specific phenomena, enabling better assessment and design of access systems in mass-scale social programs.
Findings
Model fits court-disclosed call-center data accurately.
Standard Erlang-A guidance underestimates staffing needs.
Steady-state metrics inform policy for improved access.
Abstract
The U.S. social safety net delivers essential services at mass scale, but access burdens persist, as congested contact or call centers serve as a primary mode of application completion and assistance. In Holmes v. Knodell, Missouri's SNAP call centers were so congested that nearly half of all application denials were procedural, caused by applicants' inability to complete required interviews, rather than underlying ineligibility. The judge ruled these system failures led to a violation of procedural due process. We propose a performance evaluation framework based on queueing models from operations research and management to assess and improve access in such systems. Operational access failures of call centers are distinct from prior automation failures in benefits provision. Emergent arbitrariness arises from interactions between system dynamics and access demand, rather than from an…
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