soon enough there will be few jobs left, many will be on welfare being
served by people in India.

Kelly

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

    Missouri welfare hot line calls go to India

The Associated Press

Missourians who call a toll-free number with questions about their food
stamps or welfare benefits are receiving help from customer service
representatives in India.

Yes, the country of India -- about 8,000 miles away from Missouri on the
opposite side of the world.

The contractor that handles Missouri's electronic benefit cards switched
its call center earlier this year from the United States to India.

But by that time, it was too late to request a Missouri-based call center
as part of a new five-year contract that begins in February 2003, Janel
Luck, deputy director of the state Division of Family Services, said
Tuesday.

So the phones will continue to ring in India.

"To me, it's a conflicting message. We try to keep businesses from
leaving Missouri, and then when have the opportunity, we contract with
somebody in India," said state Rep. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, who
has written to the Department of Social Services complaining about the
situation.

Shields wants the department to review the use of the India call center
and, ultimately, to use a Missouri-based call center.

The state could have asked for cost estimates on in-state and
out-of-state customer call centers in its request for proposals that was
written about a year ago, Luck said. But at the time, the India call
center had not become an issue, she said.

Subsequently, the state awarded the contract -- valued at around $6
million annually -- to Scottsdale, Ariz.-based eFunds Corp., the same
company that switched the call center to India earlier this year as a
subcontractor. The contract is for five years, with the option of
extending it to seven years.

Now, "as long as they provide the service we're paying them for and
they're providing it in a fashion that's acceptable, we can't really say
where it should be located," Luck said.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Bob Holden said he was unaware that the calls of
Missouri welfare recipients were being routed to India. But spokeswoman
Mary Still said she did not now if the governor was concerned about that.

Besides the letter from Shields, the Social Services Department has
received only a few complaints about the India call center, none of which
came from welfare recipients, Luck said.

When The Associated Press called the toll-free number Tuesday, customer
service representatives spoke English that was fairly easy to understand.
A manager confirmed the office was located in India, but declined to
provide the specific city, saying it was against company policy.

On its Internet site, eFunds says it has four offices in India -- two in
Chennai and one each in Gurgaon and Mumbai. The company also has offices
in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Missouri has been using debit cards since June 1997 to distribute its
food stamp benefits and monthly cash payments to welfare recipients, Luck
said.

People can use the cards at most retailers in the same way they would use
a credit card or a debit card.

About 220,000 Missouri households receive food stamps. About 47,000
households receive cash payments through the state's welfare program.
Many of those who receive cash payments also receive food stamps, Luck
said.


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