PHOENIX — Arizona's Ombudsman Citizens’ Aide Office is on track to break records this year as residents increasingly seek help resolving issues with state agencies, particularly the Department of Economic Security.
Joanne MacDonnell, Arizona's Ombudsman-Citizens' Aide, said her office handled around 9,300 cases last year and expects to exceed 10,000 this year, up from roughly 6,000 at the end of FY2023.
"There's a huge uptick going on, and it's knocking us on our backside, so it's got to be doing the same over at Department of Economic Security," MacDonnell said.
The surge stems partly from better public awareness that the ombudsman exists. The citizen's aid link now appears on every state website.
A significant driver of recent complaints has been a wave of Department of Economic Security-related issues.
In just the past six months, her office received more contacts about DES than during the entire previous fiscal year, primarily involving nutrition assistance, medical benefits and unemployment insurance.
Eric Wilson is among those still waiting for a resolution. He said he's still waiting for the first few months of his approved unemployment benefits.
"Payments never came, and I'm lucky that I have savings. Otherwise, I'd be in a lot of trouble," Wilson said.
In December, ABC15 Investigators looked into a backlog of SNAP applications at DES. The agency attributed delays partly to staffing cuts after decreased federal funding.
ABC15 reached out to DES for an update on their staffing levels and current solutions to help the concerns. They provided us this statement on Thursday:
"It’s important to understand the magnitude of DES’s programs, which in total serve more than 2.9 million Arizonans. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) alone maintains a caseload of nearly 680,000 (based on November data). These programs involve a lot of communication with clients to gather and collect the necessary information and documentation, followed by stringent eligibility and adjudication processes. With this level of complexity and the size of our programs, DES is going to have a high representation in the number of cases handled by the State Ombudsman’s Office.
That said, we understand that this number has increased over the last several months. We have been operating at reduced staffing levels since July 2025, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to serving our communities and providing assistance. This temporary disruption has impacted the amount of time it takes to assist Arizona families, and we are taking significant steps towards improving timeliness and increasing capacity. With current workload and staffing levels, on average, it is taking up to 36 days to provide a SNAP applicant with an initial determination and an average of 23 days to conduct a fact-finding and issue a determination for UI benefits.
To increase communication and timeliness, we have implemented the following initiatives:
- Modernizing Support: We launched the CACTUS Unemployment Insurance system, a major technological development that allows for increased visibility into claim status, and online response to Department requests for information, and more self-service options for claimants. More information for claimants can be found here [uibenefits.az.gov].
- Streamlined Operations: We’ve redirected supervisory and non-adjudication teams to the front lines and implemented overtime opportunities in UI and SNAP to process applications as quickly as possible. We have reconfigured our call center workflows to provide callers access to the status of their case and what may be needed to assist with both claim and benefit adjudication. More information for SNAP recipients can be found on our My Family Benefits page [myfamilybenefits.azdes.gov].
- New Investment in Resources: With a new $7.5 million investment [azgovernor.gov] from the Governor’s Office, we are securing additional technology to support improvements in the eligibility process. Additionally, we are currently hiring 83 new front-line staff and securing temporary teams to tackle the backlog and increase call center capacity.
We appreciate the partnership with the State Ombudsman and continue to provide referrals to services as appropriate."
Governor Katie Hobbs recently allocated $7.5 million to reduce wait times by hiring temporary and permanent staff and continuing overtime work.
MacDonnell said her team is working overtime to handle the unprecedented caseload.
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"They're working long hours. They're working fast. They're trying to help as many as possible," MacDonnell said. “It’s kind of like a tsunami of different things that the elected officials are working out. But in the meantime, people are wanting assistance, and they're asking us to help them if they're not getting a response."
If you need help with a state agency issue:
First: Try resolving your issue within the specific agency. Review their website for important information and document everything.
Second: If supervisors aren't helping, escalate to the ombudsman for that specific state agency.
Third: If still unresolved, contact the Arizona Ombudsman's Office Citizens' Aide as a third-party resource.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
