Suffolk County Department of Social Services — Local services in Town of Smithtown

The few times I've had to deal with this place, either over the phone (IF you can get a hold of anyone!) or in person has been a nightmare! They are dismissive, rude and downright nasty. They think they know your question before you even ask it or they cut you off mid-sentence because they think they know how to respond. They are in a huge hurry to get rid of you. I realize that dealing with the public can be an extremely difficult job but being on the customer/client end is no picnic either! There is no accountability whatsoever when they are wrong. They lost my completed renewal application that I sent back to them certified mail and got a signature. Nothing matters. They are not going to try to track down the person who signed for it. I either resubmit or lose out. Had to re-do application with all attached documentation and bring it down to this office. I wanted to explain a couple of things at the window. Forget about it! They are not trained to listen. They want to move you along as quickly as possible even though I waited for an hour to get to window. They come across like a bunch of thugs. They treat the demographic that comes in like second class citizens. However, I did finally get one rep on the phone, Ms. Gonzales (not sure of spelling) and she was a breath of fresh air and helped me out. Unfortunately, if I need to call the office back, I have no guarantee that I will be able to speak with her again. Most that I have dealt with have not been like her. A little niceness and kindness goes a long way. Sad if they have learned otherwise. Horrible experience. I would have given 1 star. I gave 3 because of Ms. Gonzales. I hope...

The two women who work the first two windows where you take the speedy requests (and also the HEAP window rep) are so horribly and consistently rude and unfriendly, to the point it leaves me wondering how they can even feel okay about themselves outside of work knowing how nasty they are to struggling people 5/7 days a week. Listen, I know that it takes THICK skin to work that position. I’ve seen applicants/recipients of benefits act abusively toward workers in similar positions. But for these workers to choose to punish every struggling person who walks through the doors because of those experiences, regardless of how friendly, respectful, and prepared they are? Horrible.

I’d love to believe it’s just a part of the job and it’s not a behavior style these women choose. But honestly? I ended up in line behind the older woman at a shop one day and she was SOOO rude to the very nice owner. Seems to be more of a personal issue than a career one tbh. Maybe this is the only job where she can get away with taking out that bad energy on people and not get penalized? I don’t know. It’s sad and horrible!!!

2 stars instead of 1 because some of the workers who interview and help behind the scenes are SO very kind, sympathetic, and helpful. Would love nothing more than to see that positive energy brought to the front of the house.

But yeah, be prepared to essentially be belittled, humiliated, yelled at, and made to feel like the dust of the earth here. It’s overall a consistently awful and emotionally...

This is the absolute worst DSS office. First off, they don’t even answer the phone. They are too busy enjoying their hour long lunch to pick up the phone for people who are waiting for their benefits. Secondly, if they do answer, they treat you like garbage. Straight up attitudes. If you don’t enjoy helping people why would you choose this line of work? Next, what takes so long for you all to process paperwork? I know you claim it gets lost in the mail, so if you are reading this DO NOT SEND YOUR APPLICATIONS BY MAIL, they will act like they never got received. If you fill it out on the app, they will tell you it’s received but then no one will call you for your interview. I’ve been receiving SNAP benefits for years and RELY on them. I do work but need some additional help. This location doesn’t care about helping people. They don’t care if people are struggling to buy food for their kids, but they make sure they get 2 hour for their own lunch break. I’ve been calling this place everyday for over 30 days and have only had someone answer the phone twice. I wish someone higher up would really look into this place, because it’s not what it should be. Low income people should be able to confidently come here knowing they will be treated an an equal and be helped in a timely manner. Waiting over 25 days + for emergency food benefits...