AUGUSTA – Deputy Health and Human Services Commissioner Sabra Burdick is delaying her retirement to oversee the state effort to comply with the federal requirement that the state reduce its error rate in the food stamp program or face sanctions.

“It’s really a re-retirement,” she joked. “I thought I had retired in 2004.”

Burdick, who had been the director of the division that includes the food stamp program, was coaxed back into state service as deputy to help with the merger of the Departments of Mental Health and Human Services, which was a multiyear process.

She agreed to manage the effort to reduce the error rate because of her knowledge of the program and because of the federal threats.

Last month, the federal government released a report indicating Maine, for the second year in a row, had the highest error rate in the nation for administering the food stamp program.

The feds warned the state would face monetary sanctions if it did not lower the errors. While the actual food stamp benefits are all federal dollars, the administration of the program is a 50-50 split between the state and the federal governments.

“Maine’s poor payment accuracy performance may be related to the relatively small amount of federal administrative funds the state spends on the certification of eligibility households as compared to other states nationally,” the report stated.

The error rate measures mistakes made by state workers in figuring eligibility as well as clerical errors that may occur in data entry and similar mistakes. The measurement also includes errors made by food stamp recipients in applying for food stamps. It is not a measure of fraud.

“Unlike some other states, we have unified eligibility workers,” Burdick told the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. “The workers determine eligibility for Mainecare [Maine’s name for Medicaid], for TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families], and for food stamps.”

There are currently 330 workers across the state dealing with all of the Mainers in those programs. The federal report said Maine has not increased staff to administer the food stamp program since 1992, even as the number of Mainers receiving benefits has increased dramatically.

In 2000, there were just over 101,000 Mainers getting benefits. In May, that number had increased to more than 160,000 receiving benefits

The Appropriations Committee has approved an emergency financial order that allows the hiring of 20 new workers on a temporary basis. Rep. Jayne Giles, R-Belfast, questioned whether the positions are truly needed and would indeed be temporary.

“Rather than hiring 20 more people for this, at a cost of a million dollars, would it be more of a training issue?” Giles asked Burdick.

Burdick said more training and changes in the eligibility process may help, but that more workers are needed.

She said the new workers would be needed for two years and could be required permanently, but she won’t know until other changes are implemented. She said changing the way workers use the computerized eligibility program may help and that other changes in the way the staff deals with the public may also reduce the errors.

“We have to see what works,” she said.

The federal report said eligibility workers are carrying caseloads of between 800 and 850 and that it needs to be cut to the 450 level. Burdick said the target for the state is to reduce the error rate to less than 6 percent. She pointed out that currently the state is accurately handling 90 percent of the cases.

Some committee members were concerned whether the cost of getting to the improved rate was worth the additional cost to Maine taxpayers. Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland, asked Burdick if the state would end up spending $1 million to avoid a $500,000 sanction.

“Oh no, it will be pretty big,” she said, “and it will get bigger every year.”

Burdick said the department has submitted a formal response plan to the feds that has the goal to reducing the error rate to acceptable levels within two years.