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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10152002 - SD.3 6TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS onus FROM: John Cullen, Director43 -= ' t Employment end HumanapartmentaC DATE: October 1, 2002 r,; County SUBJECT: Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Project Status Report SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: ACCEPT the Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) status report for the Contra Costa County Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Project. FINANCIAL_ IMPACT: County Costs 100% State and federal funding covers implementation costs up to $77,000 in FY 01/02 and $92,400 in FY 02/03. In addition, the State is providing EBT equipment. Ongoing County costs are estimated to be comparable to the County's current costs for benefit delivery, tracking, and reporting. Recipients Costs Access to Food Stamp benefits is free. Recipient choices of frequency and sources of cash transactions will determine the total cost to the recipient to access cash benefits. EBT provides the opportunity for recipients to spend less to access their cash than using check-cashing facilities. Recipients can access cash benefits through point of sale devices and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Cash back with purchase at point of sale devices is free. There are two types of potential fees recipients may incur to access cash through ATM devices -- an EBT System transaction fee and a bank surcharge fee. • EBT System Transaction Fee: The first four EBT ATM cash transactions will result in no EBT System transaction fee. Each subsequent EBT ATM cash transaction in the same month will result in the recipient being charged an $.$5 EBT System transaction fee. • Bank Surcharges: The recipient may incur bank surcharges beginning with the first ATM cash transaction in a month. The ATM providers determine-tbe amount of the surcharge. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT x -^YES^ SIGNATURE: x i r•`RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE ,APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(Sj° ,� ----- -- - — - =a._ ' --= ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTION OF BO ON APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED x OTHER r VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE AYES: NOES: SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED October 15 2102 CONTACT: Dan Cruze,3-1882 JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR CC: EHSD CONTRACTS UNIT(EB) COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR AUDITOR-CONTROLLER CONTRACTOR JUDY SIMMONS,EHSD,IT UNIT . � A BY ,DEPUTY Page Two Currently the national average number of transactions per month per recipient for Food Stamps is about 6, and for cash the average is 2.3 transactions. California pilot county results are consistent with the national average. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT EBT supports and is consistent with the Department's mission to promote healthy independence and provide the highest quality of services to children and families. Electronic Benefit Transfer supports all five community outcomes identified in the Contra Costa Children's Report Card: 1) Children Ready for and Succeeding in School; 2) Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood; 3) Families that are Economically Self Sufficient; 4) Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing; 5) Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life for Children and Families. BACKGROUND Definition Electronic Benefits Transfer is a state and federally mandated project to implement welfare recipients' electronic retrieval of Food Stamp and cash benefits through a debit card. Goals and Objectives Contra Costa's goals in implementing EBT are to be in compliance with federal and state mandates; and provide for a more efficient and current method for the delivery, use, and tracking of public assistance benefits. Impact County Departments impacted by EBT are Employment and Human Services (County lead for implementation), Information Technology, Auditor-Controllers, Treasurer, and Central Services. Although roles and responsibilities have already been identified, the understanding of the impact of EBT on their business processes and corresponding costs will evolve as implementation in the County and state progresses. There will be some activities that will be eliminated or reduced as a result of implementing EBT. For example, there will be no more Food Stamp Authorizations to Purchase to produce, distribute, or redeem through contracts with check cashing businesses. There will be approximately 10,000 less warrants per month to process. However, there will be additional responsibilities and costs to meet EBT-specific requirements. For example, County staff will be tracking and reconciling benefits through two new state systems, and communicating with the EBT Vendor and the state's EBT staff. EBT-specific responsibilities will include tracking, reporting, and claiming new cost items such as the County's share of help desk calls, EBT system case and card processing, and use of EBT equipment. Also, oversight of the electronic transfer of funds is required. Factors that will influence the County's workload include the amount of County-specific caseload and the status of statewide implementation of EBT. As more counties implement EBT some of Contra Costa's unit costs will decrease. All recipients will be required to use an EBT debit card to access Food Stamp benefits. Recipients who receive Ca1WORKS, General Assistance, and Refugee Assistance, will receive their cash benefits through EBT, with the following exceptions: • Recipients who receive cash benefits through Direct Deposits are exempt from cash EBT. (They will receive Food Stamp benefits through EBT.) • Supportive Services payments will continue to be issued through hard copy warrants. • Recipients whose disability prohibits the use of an ATM may be exempt from Cash EBT. (Authorized representatives will be able to access benefits on behalf of a client if designated). 1 1 EBT is differentiated from Direct Deposit by the following: • With Direct Deposit, benefits are deposited into a recipient's personal bank account. A personal bank account is not required for EBT; EBT benefits are deposited in a global account. • Direct Deposit is voluntary. • Direct deposit applies to only cash benefits; Direct Deposit recipients will access Food Stamp benefits through EBT. • Direct Deposit has already been implemented. Page Three Foster Care is not included in the current scope of EBT. Benefits EBT throughout the nation provides a reliable source of benefit delivery that utilizes the accessibility and convenience of the current banking and retail technical infrastructure. EBT benefits include mainstreaming recipients by providing them the opportunity to access their resources by the same method that non-recipients access their resources, eliminating the stigma of food stamp coupon usage. This method is more efficient, safe, and conducive to money management. Food Stamp and cash balances will be printed on receipts. EBT will reduce the number of lost or stolen checks and eliminate Food Stamp authorizations and coupons. Project Organization and Partners The State has contracted with a vendor, CitiCorp (CitiCorp Electronic Financial Services or CEFS), to implement EBT Statewide. Counties' implementation schedules are determined by the State's contract with CEFS to meet the federal deadline for EBT implementation in California. Contractor and County obligations include connectivity between county systems and the State and EBT systems, implementation support, client conversion, community outreach, installation of point of sale devices, retailer outreach, client outreach, recipient and County staff training, and installation of EBT equipment. Also, the County is responsible for county-level project management; integration of EBT processes into the appropriate Departments` business models; tracking, transfer, and reconciliation of funds; completing site preparation to install EBT equipment; and providing training facilities. In compliance with federal mandate and project direction, the California Departments of Social Services and the Health and Human Services Data Center are responsible for the statewide implementation of EBT. This responsibility requires the State to communicate, monitor, and assist with project requirements and implementation activities; oversee EBT Vendor activities and deliverables; and facilitate the sharing of lessons learned. Partnerships at the county-level are critical to the success of EBT. County Departments are coordinating efforts to implement EBT, and planning how they will work together to manage ongoing benefit issuance and reconciliation for multiple methods of benefit delivery (EBT, Direct Deposit, and warrants.) Throughout the project, EHSD has shared information with community-based and advocate organizations. For example, hundreds of invitations were extended to groups and individuals to participate in orientations that were scheduled in June, July, and September 2002. As a result of outreach, EHSD staff has made numerous presentations at a variety of community- based and advocate meetings, at some of which the Health Services Department staff has participated. These organizations, in turn, have shared information with their associates. EHSD has responded to multiple invitations to attend meetings to discuss EBT requirements, impacts, and how to support recipients within the community. Status EBT is implemented in 42 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The State is managing the implementation of EBT in phases. Two California counties, Riverside and San Diego, implemented EBT in 1998. The two pilot counties for the Statewide rollout, Alameda and Yolo, successfully started EBT in July 2002, converting their existing caseloads to EBT in August 2002. Contra Costa, along with Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma Counties, is assigned to the first group of counties to implement after the pilot county evaluation is completed. Schedule Contra Costa started the planning phase in February 20102 and is completing planning and implementation activities according to the State Project schedule. The issuance of benefits through EBT for new Contra Costa cases is expected to start mid-November 2002. The scheduled date to convert Contra Costa County's current recipients to EBT is December 2002. Contra Costa's implementation dates are estimated based on the assumption that the pilot county evaluation will be completed by mid-October 2002. Contra Costa County is participating on the County Welfare Directors Association evaluation team that will provide input to the State about the readiness to proceed with implementation beyond the pilot counties.