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In case you wondered what things have been like lately at my job- here's one of the bigger problems. What this article doesn't clearly state is that when the agency started the call center, the stat monkeys said "in order to run this based on the expected call volume, we'll need x amount of people on the phones." The legislature, in all its wisdom, said "too bad, you'll get x-8 and like it." So the call center started out understaffed (even when we are fully staffed, if you follow me- which isn't often, since it is a stressful job and there's a fairly high turn over rate), these horrified politicians knew it, and have continued to deny the call center funds to even catch up staff-wise with the increased call volume. There was also no mention at all of the very ill-timed switch to a new entry system that took effect September first, always our busiest month, and which the workers had to learn on the fly- increasing my call times by quite a lot, and probably others by substantially more, since most people here are not computer-savvy and can't adjust as well.
The tin-foil hat contingent here thinks we're being set up for failure so that Gov.Goodhair (a pox upon his ass) can have justification to privatize. I don't even want to think about that.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE ARCHIVES
Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: SAT 10/18/03
Section: A
Page: 29 Metfront
Edition: 3 STAR
Abuse hot line hang-ups worry leaders
By CINDY HORSWELL, RUTH RENDON, JANET ELLIOTT
Staff
Despite corrective steps taken to assure the state's abuse hot line is answered more promptly, a state lawmaker said he dialed the number himself recently and waited nearly half an hour for someone to answer.
"This is unacceptable to me. We've got to get the time down," said state Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, who serves on a committee with oversight over the 24-hour call center in Austin.
Davis has joined a chorus of other lawmakers and Gov. Rick Perry in looking into the problem that nearly 190,000 calls to the state's 24-hour hot line went unanswered last year because frustrated callers hung up after being put on hold.
The toll-free line is operated by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to receive reports of potential abuse or neglect of children, the elderly and the disabled.
Perry said he wants to know why calls are taking so long to answer.
"I think any time you have a legitimate call you want it to be answered and you want it to be answered timely. If there are ways to make this process work better, make it work more effectively, then we ought to put that on the table and have a debate."
The call center initiated a number of improvements this month after the Chronicle reported Sept. 28 that nearly a quarter of the callers to the hot line were hanging up after enduring long waits on hold. A Chronicle reporter last month was left on hold listening to jazz for an hour and 43 minutes before a caseworker answered.
The average "hold time" for callers was particularly bad in September when the center recorded a huge spike in calls - 20,625 more calls than during the same period last year, or a 31 percent increase, said Greg Phillips, deputy commissioner for the Health and Human Services Commission. The commission oversees the protective services center.
The average time callers were left on hold in September increased more than 50 percent from the same month a year ago, jumping from 17.1 minutes to 26.7 minutes.
The missed calls raise questions about whether the most vulnerable people, especially children, are put at even greater risk of continued abuse.
Phillips said several corrective steps were taken after the Chronicle report to speed the answering of calls in October. They included:
Rehiring former workers on a temporary basis until the end of October.
Redirecting other agency staff to work at the call center.
Encouraging current staff to work overtime.
Urging professionals, teachers and medical personnel to report abuse over a secure Web site where cases can be processed twice as fast as over the phone.
Filling vacancies at the center with 13 newly trained workers on Oct. 1
As a result, Phillips said, the average "hold time" in the first week of October dropped by more than 10 minutes to 16.1 minutes, from September.
But Davis found the changes do not mean callers during peak hours - such as before the noon hour and late afternoons - are being answered promptly.
Also, the average "hold time" does not take into account hundreds of frustrated callers who are hanging up before their calls are answered, the Chronicle has found.
Some advocates for children believe that rather than looking at "average" hold times, officials should maintain a "maximum" time beyond which no caller should be left waiting.
"Child abuse by definition is a crime," said Randy Burton, founder of the child advocacy group Justice for Children. "When we report a crime to 911, how long do we have to wait? Only seconds, not minutes or hours."
But Phillips said the call center does not always know what to expect.
"In a perfect world, there would be no wait whatsoever. But how do you plan for a 31 percent increase in calls like we had in September?" he asked.
According to protective service records, the number of calls to the high-tech center has soared. More than 784,000 calls bombarded the center in 2002, about 40,000 more than a year earlier. Of last year's calls, nearly a quarter, or 190,000, were never answered because callers hung up after lengthy waits on hold.
One key problem is that the calls come in surges during particular times of year and times of day, Phillips said.
Peak times for calls include the first months after school starts, when professionals notice abuse that occurred over the summer, or before school ends, when professionals worry about children being home alone full time.
Also, calls increase before the lunch hour or late afternoons when workers find free time to call.
"But the figures on the number of hang-ups are scary," said Janet Parker, secretary of the Texas Council on Child Welfare, which provides citizen information on child abuse.
"With so many hang-ups, we don't know how many serious cases are overlooked. I don't think anyone should wait more than five minutes. We're dealing with the possibility of a child 's life."
Despite the long waits, Texas' system is superior to those of many other states that have no centralized calling center, Phillips said.
Before the centralized call center was fully activated in 1999, abuse calls were handled by protective services offices in each county. The call center was created to provide a more uniform, easily accessible place to handle such sensitive calls, Phillips said.
"It's absolutely critical to have one place to call and make a report where the data can be recorded into the computer system," he said.
However, when the new system first started, citizen liaisons assumed enough workers would be hired to answer all the calls promptly, said Parker.
"I never dreamed we would have a problem like this," she said.
Davis said the private sector "may have more technology, be able to think outside the box and tackle the problem."
Perry concurred that privatization should be part of the debate.
But Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, chairman of the House Human Services committee, blamed lawmakers for refusing to put more money into protective services .
Although the numbers of calls to the hot line center have escalated, the number of workers answering the phone has remained stagnant at 222 for the past two years, officials said. The new state budget, at $7.3 million annually, does not call for more staffers for the next two years, either.
Until the Chronicle article appeared, Uresti said, he was unaware of the overload at the call center.
"This, to me, should be considered an emergency because our children are at risk. I guarantee you that when Texans find out about this, they will be outraged. If calls have gone unanswered, I don't even want to think about what that means. I'm speechless," he said.
Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, a critic of spending cuts on health and human services , agreed.
"Our population continues to grow. When you hold things static, meaning when you hold the number of employees constant, they will never keep up with the increase in demand. Because if it was funded appropriately, nobody would have to wait for an hour and a half on hold."
Data show that between 1990 and 2000, the number of children under age 18 in Texas increased by 22 percent to 5.8 million. Coleman said he wants the state to use money to hire more intake workers.
On the other hand, Burton, president of Justice for Children, suggests those reporting suspected abuse bypass the hot line and instead make their reports to a law enforcement agency.
"State law requires citizens to report potential child abuse and makes it a crime. Police response times will be much faster," Burton said.
Meanwhile, Phillips hopes a new computer system (Genesys Workforce Management) to be launched at the center in January will speed response times.
"It's a new state-of-the-art system. It helps forecast, schedule and monitor customer service levels," he said. "It should help provide more optimum scheduling times for workers."
Phillips praised the caseworkers answering the hot line, saying they are doing "one of the most difficult, emotionally draining jobs in Texas."
So far the center has been unable to train workers quickly enough to handle the call overloads, he said, but "our goal is to reduce the response time as much as possible."
...
HOT LINE CALLS
Calls to the 24-hour abuse hot line (800-252-5400) at the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services in Austin:
2001 .. 2002
Number of answered calls
533,685 .. 594,373
Number of hang-ups, unanswered calls
208,297 .. 189,938
Total number of calls (hang-ups and answered)
741,982 .. 784,311
...
PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS
Improvements planned for the 24-hour abuse hotline center in Austin:
Implementing a computer system in January to help better forecast calls, schedule workers and monitor hold times.
Revising by Monday the recorded message on the automated system to reflect what the current hold time would be.
Streamlining the Web site used by professionals to report abuses so that the information feeds directly into the department's computer database by April 2004.
Researching in November the possibility of opening a Web site for the public to use in reporting abuse.
Copyright notice: All materials in this archive are copyrighted by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials may be directly or indirectly published, posted to Internet and intranet distribution channels, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. [Hey, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., bite me- I paid $5 to get access to this article. If I could have posted a link, I sure would've rather done that, so you can go pound sand. Thank you.]
The tin-foil hat contingent here thinks we're being set up for failure so that Gov.Goodhair (a pox upon his ass) can have justification to privatize. I don't even want to think about that.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE ARCHIVES
Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: SAT 10/18/03
Section: A
Page: 29 Metfront
Edition: 3 STAR
Abuse hot line hang-ups worry leaders
By CINDY HORSWELL, RUTH RENDON, JANET ELLIOTT
Staff
Despite corrective steps taken to assure the state's abuse hot line is answered more promptly, a state lawmaker said he dialed the number himself recently and waited nearly half an hour for someone to answer.
"This is unacceptable to me. We've got to get the time down," said state Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, who serves on a committee with oversight over the 24-hour call center in Austin.
Davis has joined a chorus of other lawmakers and Gov. Rick Perry in looking into the problem that nearly 190,000 calls to the state's 24-hour hot line went unanswered last year because frustrated callers hung up after being put on hold.
The toll-free line is operated by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to receive reports of potential abuse or neglect of children, the elderly and the disabled.
Perry said he wants to know why calls are taking so long to answer.
"I think any time you have a legitimate call you want it to be answered and you want it to be answered timely. If there are ways to make this process work better, make it work more effectively, then we ought to put that on the table and have a debate."
The call center initiated a number of improvements this month after the Chronicle reported Sept. 28 that nearly a quarter of the callers to the hot line were hanging up after enduring long waits on hold. A Chronicle reporter last month was left on hold listening to jazz for an hour and 43 minutes before a caseworker answered.
The average "hold time" for callers was particularly bad in September when the center recorded a huge spike in calls - 20,625 more calls than during the same period last year, or a 31 percent increase, said Greg Phillips, deputy commissioner for the Health and Human Services Commission. The commission oversees the protective services center.
The average time callers were left on hold in September increased more than 50 percent from the same month a year ago, jumping from 17.1 minutes to 26.7 minutes.
The missed calls raise questions about whether the most vulnerable people, especially children, are put at even greater risk of continued abuse.
Phillips said several corrective steps were taken after the Chronicle report to speed the answering of calls in October. They included:
Rehiring former workers on a temporary basis until the end of October.
Redirecting other agency staff to work at the call center.
Encouraging current staff to work overtime.
Urging professionals, teachers and medical personnel to report abuse over a secure Web site where cases can be processed twice as fast as over the phone.
Filling vacancies at the center with 13 newly trained workers on Oct. 1
As a result, Phillips said, the average "hold time" in the first week of October dropped by more than 10 minutes to 16.1 minutes, from September.
But Davis found the changes do not mean callers during peak hours - such as before the noon hour and late afternoons - are being answered promptly.
Also, the average "hold time" does not take into account hundreds of frustrated callers who are hanging up before their calls are answered, the Chronicle has found.
Some advocates for children believe that rather than looking at "average" hold times, officials should maintain a "maximum" time beyond which no caller should be left waiting.
"Child abuse by definition is a crime," said Randy Burton, founder of the child advocacy group Justice for Children. "When we report a crime to 911, how long do we have to wait? Only seconds, not minutes or hours."
But Phillips said the call center does not always know what to expect.
"In a perfect world, there would be no wait whatsoever. But how do you plan for a 31 percent increase in calls like we had in September?" he asked.
According to protective service records, the number of calls to the high-tech center has soared. More than 784,000 calls bombarded the center in 2002, about 40,000 more than a year earlier. Of last year's calls, nearly a quarter, or 190,000, were never answered because callers hung up after lengthy waits on hold.
One key problem is that the calls come in surges during particular times of year and times of day, Phillips said.
Peak times for calls include the first months after school starts, when professionals notice abuse that occurred over the summer, or before school ends, when professionals worry about children being home alone full time.
Also, calls increase before the lunch hour or late afternoons when workers find free time to call.
"But the figures on the number of hang-ups are scary," said Janet Parker, secretary of the Texas Council on Child Welfare, which provides citizen information on child abuse.
"With so many hang-ups, we don't know how many serious cases are overlooked. I don't think anyone should wait more than five minutes. We're dealing with the possibility of a child 's life."
Despite the long waits, Texas' system is superior to those of many other states that have no centralized calling center, Phillips said.
Before the centralized call center was fully activated in 1999, abuse calls were handled by protective services offices in each county. The call center was created to provide a more uniform, easily accessible place to handle such sensitive calls, Phillips said.
"It's absolutely critical to have one place to call and make a report where the data can be recorded into the computer system," he said.
However, when the new system first started, citizen liaisons assumed enough workers would be hired to answer all the calls promptly, said Parker.
"I never dreamed we would have a problem like this," she said.
Davis said the private sector "may have more technology, be able to think outside the box and tackle the problem."
Perry concurred that privatization should be part of the debate.
But Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, chairman of the House Human Services committee, blamed lawmakers for refusing to put more money into protective services .
Although the numbers of calls to the hot line center have escalated, the number of workers answering the phone has remained stagnant at 222 for the past two years, officials said. The new state budget, at $7.3 million annually, does not call for more staffers for the next two years, either.
Until the Chronicle article appeared, Uresti said, he was unaware of the overload at the call center.
"This, to me, should be considered an emergency because our children are at risk. I guarantee you that when Texans find out about this, they will be outraged. If calls have gone unanswered, I don't even want to think about what that means. I'm speechless," he said.
Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, a critic of spending cuts on health and human services , agreed.
"Our population continues to grow. When you hold things static, meaning when you hold the number of employees constant, they will never keep up with the increase in demand. Because if it was funded appropriately, nobody would have to wait for an hour and a half on hold."
Data show that between 1990 and 2000, the number of children under age 18 in Texas increased by 22 percent to 5.8 million. Coleman said he wants the state to use money to hire more intake workers.
On the other hand, Burton, president of Justice for Children, suggests those reporting suspected abuse bypass the hot line and instead make their reports to a law enforcement agency.
"State law requires citizens to report potential child abuse and makes it a crime. Police response times will be much faster," Burton said.
Meanwhile, Phillips hopes a new computer system (Genesys Workforce Management) to be launched at the center in January will speed response times.
"It's a new state-of-the-art system. It helps forecast, schedule and monitor customer service levels," he said. "It should help provide more optimum scheduling times for workers."
Phillips praised the caseworkers answering the hot line, saying they are doing "one of the most difficult, emotionally draining jobs in Texas."
So far the center has been unable to train workers quickly enough to handle the call overloads, he said, but "our goal is to reduce the response time as much as possible."
...
HOT LINE CALLS
Calls to the 24-hour abuse hot line (800-252-5400) at the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services in Austin:
2001 .. 2002
Number of answered calls
533,685 .. 594,373
Number of hang-ups, unanswered calls
208,297 .. 189,938
Total number of calls (hang-ups and answered)
741,982 .. 784,311
...
PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS
Improvements planned for the 24-hour abuse hotline center in Austin:
Implementing a computer system in January to help better forecast calls, schedule workers and monitor hold times.
Revising by Monday the recorded message on the automated system to reflect what the current hold time would be.
Streamlining the Web site used by professionals to report abuses so that the information feeds directly into the department's computer database by April 2004.
Researching in November the possibility of opening a Web site for the public to use in reporting abuse.
Copyright notice: All materials in this archive are copyrighted by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials may be directly or indirectly published, posted to Internet and intranet distribution channels, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. [Hey, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., bite me- I paid $5 to get access to this article. If I could have posted a link, I sure would've rather done that, so you can go pound sand. Thank you.]
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no subject
Date: Oct. 27th, 2003 12:43 pm (UTC)From:It makes steam come out of my ears.