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Jeff Clancy, CIO

Indiana Family & Social Services Administration

May 13, 2003

National Governor’s Association Webcast Series

Making the Most of Limited Resources: State Options to Help Low-Income Workers

Achieve Self-Sufficiency

“People Helping People Help Themselves”

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FSSA Strategic Priorities

• Focus Assistance to Families & Children on Prevention and Self-Sufficiency

–FSSA will help families be self-sufficient by:• Assisting families on public assistance (TANF) to increase their

earnings by 15%• Increasing licensed childcare slots by 10%• Developing and implementing a pilot program in several counties

where the family support system will be family-centered with common entry points, integrated services, and measurable results.

In December 2001, Secretary John Hamilton established a set of Key Biennium Priorities for FSSA, including the following:

The “pilot program” from bullet #3 became HelpIndiana

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HelpIndiana Description

• HelpIndiana is a web-based virtual one-stop shop that allows individuals to complete one interview to pre-screen eligibility for over 20 government benefits and programs ranging from food stamps to unemployment insurance to prescription drugs.

• HelpIndiana serves as a common intake tool and a comprehensive resource and referral tool. It combines state, local and community services programs and resources into a seamless service-delivery system.

• With HelpIndiana customers and caseworkers get: A consistent method of determining which specific services or benefits someone might qualify to

receive. An assessment of an individual’s abilities or needs, allowing a caseworker to pinpoint which

services to provide. An information and referral system that matches customers with service providers in their

community. Reduced workload pressures – specifically a reduction in the amount of re-work, or re-keying of

customer information.

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Common Entry Points

• Wherever HelpIndiana is deployed, it provides a “one stop shop” for those interested in pre-eligibility screening for state assistance.

• HelpIndiana consolidates eligibility rules for over 20 programs in a single interface.

• The interface can be deployed and accessed via the internet at any state office or community center.

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Integrated Services

• Finally, screened individuals receive automated referrals and information on office locations where they can apply for services, plus a list of all documents and verifications needed for the application process.

• HelpIndiana walks through a single series of questions related to age, income, assets, household size, education and medical background.

• Based on the information provided, the system will generate a list of benefits and services from among the 20+ programs for which the individual may qualify.

• HelpIndiana also provides an explanation of services for which the individual was determined to be ineligible.

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Measurable Results• HelpIndiana retains

information about screened individuals and enables tracking of progress.

• The system tracks applicant follow-through to determine how many individuals actually utilize recommended services post-screening.

• When screened applicants apply as directed, Help-Indiana tracks the accuracy of its screening results (potential versus actual eligibility).

• HelpIndiana creates social service needs profiles and enables creation of common performance or outcome indicators to track program effectiveness.

• Some metrics tracking and reporting capabilities are still in development.

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HelpIndiana GovernanceThis figure explains the flow of business and technical decisions interacting with each other. It also shows how changes to the vision would manifest into

HelpIndianaSteering Committee

HelpIndianaArchitecture Committee

Vision Document

Support & Maintenance

DTS

DoIT

AccessIndiana

DWD,ISDH, etc

ApplicationArchitecture

Document

Prioritized ChangeRequests

OthersVision/Planning

SessionsAnaly sisSessions

Business Leadership

Technical Leadership

architectural changes for the system. Once the HelpIndiana Steering Committee approves of changes, they may be prioritized for inclusion in the HelpIndiana system.

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Costs and Funding

• Cost of Development, Licensure, Implementation, and Maintenance:– $7,700,000 over 3-year contract period ($5 million incurred; $2.7 million extension in

progress)

• Sources of funding include:– Indiana Department of Workforce Development

– Indiana Department of Health

– Division of Family and Children• Housing and Community Services• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)• Food Stamp Employment and Training

• Justification:– HelpIndiana directly supports a Key Biennium Priority and is anticipated to achieve

savings as it reduces workloads, improves efficiency, and replaces duplicative capabilities for the programs it supports.

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Closing Thoughts• Has benefits for both “Supply and Demand” partners

– Applicants and their families are more likely to receive a broader array of services to meet their basic personal, medical, and childcare needs.

– Providers become part of an integrated service delivery plan, increasing the odds of achieving positive outcomes from each service.

– Employers and recruiters benefit as job seekers and employees become more secure in basic needs and able to better focus on job performance and skill-building.

• Provides an improved, consistent playing field for Social Service Agencies and Community Based Organizations

– Enables sharing of program knowledge, service availability, coordination points, and best practices across programs.

– Provides best-of-class resourcing and referral for all participating programs and providers versus each pursuing this alone.

• Leverages knowledge and data for the benefit of all participants– Enables provision of demographic profiles for social services stakeholders and participants in a

community; provides a basis for cross-program analysis and policy decision support.

– Improves visibility of family and individual service needs to the community.

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Extra slides...

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Programs Supported

• Assistance for the Homeless

• Bureau of Developmental Disabilities

• Child Care

• Child Support

• Children’s Special Health Care Services

• Federal Earned Income Credit

• First Steps

• Food Stamps

• Head Start

• Hoosier Healthwise

• Hoosier Rx

• Independent Living

• Individual Development Accounts

• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

• Medicaid

• Mental Health Program

• Section 8 Housing

• TANF

• Township Trustees

• Unemployment Insurance

• Vocational Rehabilitation Services

• Weatherization

• Women, Infants, and Children

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Technical ArchitectureHelpWorks Enterprise

HelpWorks Enterprise is a client/server application that must be installed in the users’ workstations. Programming tools used include Delphi™ and Oracle PL/SQL. It requires Oracle 8i Client to be installed on each user’s machine in order to communicate with the Oracle Database Server.

HelpWorks Web

HelpWorks Web Application is built from the ground up on industry-standard technologies such as the Oracle

database and the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS). Programming tools used include Delphi™, Oracle PL/SQL, JavaScript and HTML. The Web products are designed as industry standard thin-client, three-tier applications utilizing the Microsoft Web API (ISAPI). The diagram below represents a high level view of HelpWorks Web application architecture.