INDIANAPOLIS | The state human services agency is considering further changes in the way it processes food stamps that likely would cost some clients their benefits, agency chief Mitch Roob said Wednesday after lawmakers questioned him about the proposal.

Roob, secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration, also distributed to lawmakers and reporters a letter from a federal food stamp administrator noting the state had improved its timeliness in processing applications.

However, a spokesman for the federal agency said the new letter does not change its recent advice to FSSA to improve its timeliness before it rolls out the welfare changes to new sections of the state.

FSSA, which already has privatized the processing of welfare applications and introduced a call center and other automation as means to obtain benefits, now is considering an administrative rule change that would pose new barriers to people trying to obtain the benefits, Roob said in an interview.

The new rule, which still must cross several hurdles before being adopted, would require food stamp applicants to submit required documents within 30 days -- instead of 60 -- or risk having to start the application process all over again from scratch, Roob said.

"I'm not convinced this is in the best interests of recipients," Roob said. "We have been pressured by the federal government to move to a pure 30-day standard. We have been reticent to do that."

Roob said some food stamp recipients likely would lose their benefits as a result of the shorter timeline, but he was unable to estimate how many.

Some advocates have charged the new privatized system has lost documents submitted by clients, costing them their benefits.

About 611,000 Indiana residents -- about one in 10 -- receive an average of about $102 in stamps per person per month, FSSA data shows.

FSSA will hold a public hearing on the new rule Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. in Conference Center Room 5 of the Indiana Government Center-South, which is located adjacent to the Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis.

The federal Food and Nutrition Service, which administers the food stamp program, requires states to process 90 percent of food stamp applications within 30 days. States falling short of 90 percent must submit to FNS plans for improving their rates and then follow those plans until the rates reach 95 percent.

FNS Regional Administrator Ollice Holden sent Roob a June 23 letter noting Indiana's statewide timeliness rate fell short of the 90 percent standard and that the rate dropped markedly -- to less than 50 percent -- in 12 north central counties where FSSA first began privatizing eligibility services last October. Holden advised Roob to hold off on any further rollout of the privatization until timeliness improved.

The rollout of the privatization has reached a total of 59 counties across the state. It has not yet reached 13 counties in northwest and north central Indiana and 20 counties in central Indiana.

Members of the Legislature's Medicaid Oversight Commission questioned Roob about the new rule after learning of it from public notices published by FSSA in newspapers.

He said in an interview that FSSA's Division of Family Resources, which administers the food stamp program in Indiana, has been working on the rule since last April. After the public hearing in two weeks, FSSA might make changes or drop the proposed rule altogether. He said it would not go into effect before early 2009.

Roob distributed to lawmakers a letter from Holden dated Tuesday that noted FSSA's statewide food stamp timeliness improved to 88.67 percent during the six months ending Jan. 31, compared with 82.94 percent during the six months ending Aug. 31, 2007. The difference in the two rates is nearly 6 points.

The latest data released Wednesday show Indiana with a timeliness average of 91.51 percent for the period of November through April, said FNS spokesman Lawrence Rudmann. However, the data does not show whether the state is meeting the 90 percent threshold in the rollout areas, he said.

While Roob earlier had speculated that the more recent data might have changed the tone of Holden's June 23 letter chiding FSSA on its performance, Rudmann disagreed.

"It does not negate their need for an action plan, for a corrective action plan," Rudman said.

But he also said that the FNS was pleased that the new data show improvement, "and we are confident that the state is serious about continuing improvement."

Roob said FSSA would roll out the eligibility privatization in smaller pieces to the remaining 33 counties, which include the state's two most populous, Lake and Marion. He said FSSA would not have a timetable for further rollouts until it could review its performance during August.

In late 2006, the state awarded a team of vendors led by IBM Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services Inc. a $1.16 billion, 10-year contract to process applications for Medicaid, food stamps and other public safety net benefits received by about 1.1 million children, seniors, people with disabilities and other needy Hoosiers. The deal introduced call centers, the Internet and fax services as means to apply for benefits.

The changes have drawn fire from lawmakers, welfare clients and their advocates, who claim the new system loses necessary documents, leaves telephone callers on hold for long periods and creates other problems.