The federal government may impose fiscal sanctions on states when error rates are too high. Texas currently is under such sanctions. Sanctions may be applied in the food stamp program when the state's error rate exceeds the national average plus 1 percent. The error-rate threshold for imposing AFDC sanctions is 4 percent. Negotiations to reduce the sanctions are ongoing.
Current data show a continuing pattern of potential quality control liability.
However, the reasons for Texas' high error rates have not been clearly defined. Texas led the nation in allegedly client-caused errors, and only three other states were within 10 points of Texas' numbers. DHS's current data indicate the agency's error-reduction efforts should be focused on the Houston region, which has a large share of the state's caseload and a significantly higher payment error rate than the rest of the state. Because the Houston region's caseload is so large and its error rate so high, the state must target this region to succeed in reducing statewide error rates. Yet based on information obtained from DHS staff members, efforts to reduce Houston's error rates thus far have been unsuccessful.