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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10042006 - C.81 (3) i TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS p_ Contra IFROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS CO-N,LMITTEE c. - , _ ,.� Costa DATE: OCTOBER 4. 2006 - County Tq0��. SUBJECT: E®®I➢STA.Nd>E'ERROR RITE UPDATE _ I SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOiv'P_e4ENDATION(S)&BACKGROLND AND JUSTInCATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. ACCEPT report prepared by the Employment and Human Services Director on the status of efforts to reduce the County's food stamp error rate. I 2. RECOGNIZE that the County's Federal Fiscal Year 2005 food stamp error rate was 1.4%,well under the federal tolerance level 5.84%and significantly reduced from the 13.99%rate that was the original cause for concern. - 3. COMMEND the Employment and Human Services Department for its diligence in addressing this problem and its success in reducing the error rate to the second lowest in California. 4. REMOVE this matter as a referral to the Internal Operations Committee and DIRECT the County Administrator to continue monitoring the error rate on an annual basis and alert the Board if the County's rate exceeds the maximum federal tolerance level. CONTINUED ON ATTACH1%1E\T: YES SIGNATUREQ --, RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMA7STRATOR ---RECO..WAEND I OF BOARD COMMIT EE ;PROVE _OTHER (ABSENT) / G$VLE B.0I1:kE&A,CHAIR MARK DeSAULNIER ACTION OF BOARD ON 10/ /0 / �1n(J/� APPROVE AS RECOWdENDED OTHER i I VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE C2 (n� AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN _UNANMOUS(ABSENT y' AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON ME DATE AYES: NOES: SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAN: I ATTESTED: OCTOBER 10.2006 CONTACT: JULIE ENEA(925)335-1077 JOHN CULLEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR CC: INTERNAL OPERATIONS CONWITTEE STAFF COU TY ADMINISTRATOR(SANSOE) EMPLOYMEW AND HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR BY C LTY j I ! i I Food Stamp Error Rate Update October 4,2006 Internal Operations Committee Page 2 BACKGROUND: On February 5,2002,the Board of Supervisors referred to the Internal Operations Committee(IOC)a letter from the State Department of Health and Human Services appealing to the Board to make a strong commitment to improving California's overall performance in administering the Food Stamp Program, i and the task of overseeing the development of a Corrective Action Plan to reduce the County's error rate. The IOC has been monitoring this problem on an annual basis and as a result of corrective strategies implemented by the Department,the food stamp error rate has been steadily decreasing since 2001 (see attached report for complete history). Following up on a May 1,2006 status report,the Interim Employment and Human Services Director reported on September 18,2006 that the County's FFY 2005 food stamp error rate was 1.4%,which was I well under the federal tolerance level 5.84%. The County's FFY 2006 error rate through April 2006 is I 1.43%, a decrease of almost 12%from this time last year, boding well for 2006. The attached report reviews the procedures implemented by the department to maintain a low error rate. I Due to the success of the strategies and procedures implemented by the Department,the Committee recommends that this matter be removed as a referral to the Committee and that the County Administrator's Office be directed to continue monitoring the rate on an annual basis and alert the Board if the County's rate exceeds the maximum federal tolerance level. I I I I I I i I I I I I I . I I j EMPLOYMENT AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT CONTRA COSTA COUNTY i DATE September 11, 2006 I TO Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier Supervisor OB. Oa INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE I FROM Danna Fabella, Acting Director Employment & Human Services SUBJECT Food Stamp Error Rate I This memorandum is a follow-up to our April 2006 presentation to the Internal Op- erations Committee on the Food Stamp error rate. The committee asked that we I return at this time to provide an update on our corrective action activities and the results in sustaining an error rate below the Federal tolerance level for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) October 2005 through September 2006. j The Food Stamp Program was designed to help provide assistance to hungry people, regardless of their age, gender, marital or family status. It is one of the few federal programs to have maintained its position as a federal entitlement pro- gram for people who need assistance making ends meet. I The Federal tolerance level is an average of all the states' error rates. Each state is required to maintain an error rate at or below 105% of the federal tolerance i level. Because California counties administer the Food Stamp Program, they are held liable for the accurate and timely payment of benefits. Failure to meet this I standard can result in financial penalties. In past years, California has not per- I formed at or below Food Stamp Program expectations and has been subject to i sanctions in excess of $150 million levied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). I The Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) has successfully i completed the latest federal reporting period with an error rate below the Federal i tolerance level established by the USDA, Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). The official numbers for FFY 2005, finalized in June 2006 reveal that our food stamp error rate is 1.40%, well below the federal tolerance level of 5.84%. This is the second consecutive year that our error rate is the second lowest in the state. i Our error rate for FFY 2006 through April 2006 is 1.43%. a decrease of almost 12% from this time last year. Within this low error rate. we have had only five cit- I i j _ I i able errors even while our EHSD staffs have transitioned from the legacy Case ! Data System (CDS) to the new eligibility determination system, CalWIN. In an effort to proactively address these errors. the Food Stamp Program man- I ager, Food Stamp Program Analyst and the Quality Control (QC) supervisor meet j monthly to discuss the error trends and develop corrective action activities. Many I of the corrective action activities that had been suspended as we prepared for the i conversion to CalWIN have been reinstated. Because staff have become more proficient with CaIWIN, we are now re-introducing many of these corrective action activities. These include, but are not limited to: ► Supervisory case reviews ► Publication of"Hot Tips' i ► "Hot Topic' unit meeting agenda items No, Focused reviews by Program Integrity staff I In addition to case reviews, the department utilized the Program Integrity Assis- tants (PIAs) to conduct specialized case reviews on Food Stamp cases that failed to convert from CDS to the new CaIWIN system. On each discrepant case, the PTAs conducted a review, corrected case errors in the system and ensured the case was maintainable in CaIWIN. This entailed very specific case work and through the efforts of the PIAs, the discrepant food stamp case count was elimi- nated. Beginning in the review month of December 2006, we will add the re- i reviews of the supervisory case reviews. This will complete the third tier of the Food Stamp review model that in the past has proven to be so successful. Cross-functional workgroups comprised of Employment & Human Services De- partment (EHSD) staff have provided input for the refinement of the design and i implementation of department systems, CaseSTAR electronic case records and CalWIN to facilitate program compliance, case documentation, review and audit- ing. We continue to work collaboratively with Staff Development and systems staff j to provide program and CaIWIN direction incorporating best practice guides to line workers. j The department remains dedicated to maintaining an error rate below the Federal tolerance level with the continued active and informed commitment of top level management, the implementation of corrective action activities, and the deter- i mined effort of staff at all levels. We are also continuing to work closely with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and other counties to identify and address error trends before they become problematic. I I i 1 1 1 1 i 0 N U- N ,1 1 0 1 1 � C h � 1 p y. o0 i 1 N 1 0 0 o � N Corn � rn loop, � N 0) i o I U sop T ® C i.. 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