The average wait time to speak to a Connecticut Department of Social Services worker on the phone was one hour and eighteen minutes in August.
Seventy-one percent of people who wanted to speak to a DSS worker hung up before their call was answered.
DSS Commissioner Roderick L. Bremby and George Chamberlin, who runs the benefits centers ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER / THE CT MIRROR
From the story: "More than a year after DSS launched the new call centers as part of a broad “modernization” effort, people who use the system say reaching a worker remains unacceptably difficult. The long wait times are especially problematic, DSS clients and advocates say, because many poor people rely on cellphones with limited minutes that can quickly get sapped if they need to call the department."