2009 Quality Assurance

Family Independence

Review

What’s New

Telephone Contact with County before the on-site reviewObservation of Building exterior and interiorFair HearingRecertifications (½ Approved, ½ Closed)Cases will be cited as correct or incorrectIncrease in the number of cases to be reviewed (20 per category)Promising Practice for Program Access InitiativesReview Schedule (Regional Concept)Quality Improvement Plans (Regional)Automated FormsFood Stamp Posting in the lobby of the right to same day filing and explanation of the Food Stamp application processing standards

County Office SurveySubmitted before the review usually with the letter

Office Organization1. Is there more than one office or are all functions required for processing food stamp applications and managing case files at this office?2. Who can apply for assistance at this office (i.e. zip code areas)?3. What is the approximate food stamp caseload for this office?4. Have there been any reviews conducted recently (ME/ Special Payment Accuracy/Corrective Action, etc.)?5. Does this office have its own call center/change center? Does it interface with a regional or statewide call center? If so, how?6. How does this office interface with the State online application system?

Staffing7. How many staff work on food stamp cases?8. Is the office fully staffed? If not, are there vacancies?• If there are vacancies, how is the workload affected by staff shortages?9. Are case workers out-stationed to accept food stamp applications or conduct interviews? If yes, how many/where/when?10. Has there been any staff training conducted recently? What subject?11. How is the staff organized for food stamp processing?o Generic caseworkers or specialized units/teams/service centers?o How are cases assigned (one big caseload; last name; round robin; language; etc)?12. Does this office conduct supervisory case reviews, or is there a separate team that does second party case reviews? Application Availability and Submission13. What is the procedure for giving applications to people who come into the office to ask about food stamps?14. For telephone applications, are there phones available to apply at the local office?15. Is there a secure drop box? Inside or outside the office?16. Who assigns date or receipt for electronic applications and paper applications that are dropped off, mailed, or faxed?

Application Screening and Interviews17. Who screens applications for expedited service and how?At what step in the application process?18. On average, how many days from the application filing date are interviews scheduled for expedited service applicants?19. On average, how many days from the application filing date are interviews scheduled for non-expedited service applicants?

Customer Service20. Does this office keep a log of customer complaints?

Notices21. What notices (State/local forms) can we expect to find in the case files for:o New approvalso Denialso Terminationso Recertifications

County Observations

Observation of county office functions will be reviewed to determined if barriers to applying for programs exist. The review will include observation of the following:

• Office location accessibility and operating hours• Building accessibility for the elderly and disabled persons• Required information posted in the waiting rooms• Designated telephones to a call center• Application processing procedures• Receptionist and Screener functions• Availability of program information

Promising Practice for Program Access Initiatives

Those counties that show an increase in participation based on the State Office’s participation rate currently at 59.65% will be collected as promising practices for exceeding the State’s standard.

QIP DUE FOR REGION

  # of Counties ReviewedMonth of last county

reviewedQIP DUE 45 DAYS AFTER LAST

REVIEW

Region 1 4 June Aug-09

Region 2 6 July Sep-09

Region 3 6 December Feb-09

Region 4 6 January Mar-09

Region 5 6 September Nov-09

Region 6 5 April Jun-09

Region 7 6 September Nov-09

Region 8 6 February Apr-09

Region 9 5 July Sep-09

Region 10 7 June Aug-09

Region 11 7 February Apr-09

Region 12 7 September Nov-09

Region 136 (5 Service Centers &

MES) May Jul-09

Region 14 1 March May-09

Region 15 2 March May-09

Region 16 3 April Jun-09

Region 17 3 February Apr-09

If you have any questions, feel free to ask your Reviewers. They will be more than glad to assist.

This is a new process us all, but we can get through it!

The Beginni

ng