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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03232004 - SD.3 Centra TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Costa FROM: John Cullen, Director .- County Employment and Human Services Depirtkeaf sbz DATE: March 1, 2004 SUBJECT: Electronic Benefit Transfer(EBT) Project Status Report SPECIFIC REQUEST{S}OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION R,ECC3MMENDED ACTION: Accept the .Employment and Human Services Department one-year status report for Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)Project implementation in Contra Costa County. FISCAL, IMPACT- 100% State and Federal funding of allowable one-time implementation costs, $261,270, was claimed via the State claiming process. The County also has been reimbursed for special costs in the amount of$5,911.45 for efforts expended to support the vendor in upgrading its mainframe. Ongoing costs are still to be determined. CHTTMEE N'S,IMPACT ST'AJCRIUENT: 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"; and 5) "Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life for Children and Families"as the project supports the Department's mission to promote healthy independence and provide the highest quality of services to children and families. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:_X_YES SIGNATURE: 1,AA-L RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON MARCH 23,2" APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED�T OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT NW AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN, ATTESTEDMOM_23, 2"_ JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Contact: DON CRUZE 3-1582 ELHSD(CONTRACTS UNIT)-EB r COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY -k _ -,DEPUTY AUDITOR-CONTROLLER Page two BACKGROUND EBT is the state and federally mandated automation of benefit delivery, access,; redemption, and reconciliation for Food Stamps, CalWORKs, Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), and General Assistance (GA). Recipients use a debit card with a magnetic stripe, similar to a commercial Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card, to access their Food Stamp benefits to purchase food at authorized food retailers or to access their cash benefits at participating ATM, retail and other Point of Sale locations. In 1996, a federal mandate for Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) of Food Stamp benefits accompanied Welfare reform legislation, Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWOR.A). This mandate applies to all states and US territories participating in the Food Stamp Program. California legislation (AB 1542) chaptered in 1997 enabled California to comply with the federal mandate of EBT for Food Stamp benefits and allowed counties the option to include CalWORKs, Refugee, and General Assistance cash benefits. The Health and Human Services Data Center (HHSDC) and the California Department of Social Services (CRSS) are responsible for project sponsorship, contract oversight, working with counties to ensure successful EBT implementation, and meeting all program requirements and objectives. The State of California awarded a contract to Citicorp Electronic Financial Services (CEFS) in July 2001 for the design, development and implementation of Electronic Benefit Transfer in California. In January 2004, J. P. Morgan-Chase purchased CEFS and is now the State's EBT vendor. No operational changes have yet been announced or experienced due to this change in vendors. As of March 1, 2004, 45 California counties will have implemented EBT. Statewide implementation is expected to be completed by July 2004. Contra Costa County converted to EBT mid November through December 2002, as one of the first four post-pilot counties in California. Implementation in Contra Costa County required nine months of planning and coordination of efforts among County departments, State Project staff, vendors, and other counties. EHSD formed project teams and completed other project tasks to accomplish site preparation for installation of new equipment and systems; integration of EBT into business operations; training for recipients and staff, connectivity and interfaces between new and existing systems; changes to existing systems; benefit transfer and management across systems; recipient access to EBT; and community outreach. The implementation of EBT makes more efficient and mainstreams the delivery, accessing, tracking, and reconciliation of benefits. Those who benefit from EBT include the following: recipients of Food Stamps, CalWORKs, Refugee, and General Assistance; Food Stamp Program Outreach Advocates; Food and other retailers; emergency food outlets; banks and other financial institutions; county staff; County staff; US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service; California Department of Social Services; and taxpayers. Impact EBT is now the predominant method of benefit issuance, access, and tracking for Food Stamp and cash benefits in Contra Costa County. During the 12- month period (January 2003 through December 2003) following the conversion months, the County issued $22,445,074 in Food Stamp benefits and $45,063,575 in cash benefits through EBT. 100% of Food Stamp recipients and 95% of cash recipients access their benefits through EBT. Implementation of EBT requires the Department to support three methods of benefit delivery and tracking — EBT, :direct Deposit and warrants. Per state and federal regulation there is no exemption from issuance of Food Stamps through EBT. Some cash program benefits such as Foster Care, Supportive Service payments and vendor payments require warrant issuance because the State excluded those programs or types of payments from EBT. Exemptions from cash issuance through EBT are allowed for recipients, currently 720, who want to have their benefits electronically credited to their personal bank accounts, or because of disability or remoteness. Over the last year, there have been only a few recipients exempted for remoteness. The impact of implementing EBT has positively changed the way in which recipients access and use benefits. For recipients, EBT eliminates the need to obtain Food Stamp coupons before accessing benefits; shortens time in check-out lines at retail outlets; increases points of cash access; Nee three eliminates check cashing fees; facilitates participation in the economic mainstream.; reduces the stigma of receiving welfare by eliminating Food Stamp coupons; assists with money management; increases speed, security, convenience, and reliability of benefits; provides customer service and information about benefits toll free in I I languages 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year. I Access to EBT is pervasive and still increasing, Contra Costa County is fortunate because it contains a large number of financial institutions and retail outlets that participate in the EBT program throughout the County. All of the food retailers in the County that are certified to accept Food Stamp benefits participate in EBT. The EBT Vendor continues to solicit additional participation from retail and banking entities for cash access, and measures against the cash access formula contractually agreed upon by the State and EBT Vendor. According to this formula the number of locations in Contra Costa meets or exceeds the standard, except for 94548, Knightsen, which is in close proximity to EBT resources in other zip codes. An example, of the success of outreach efforts is Riclu-nond, 94801, which at the start of EBT implementation had 92% cash accessibility according to the State standard but is now at 191%, Statewide efforts also include increasing the amount of farmers markets that participate. EBT has become fully integrated into the retail and banking community. Ongoing operation of EBT, like implementation, is possible only by effective partnerships among County Departments, and requires daily and continual cooperation and staff resources. The Department of Information Technology(DOIT) operates the eligibility system, Welfare Client Data System (WCDS) and its interfaces to the EBT systems and the County Finance system. EHSD staff work closely with the WCDS vendor, Electronic Data Services (EDS), to develop and test system changes and with DOIT to install and test new programming, troubleshoot errors, and monitor and transmit data between systems. The Treasurer's and the Auditor-Controller's staffs perforin daily EBT Settlement and Reconciliation activities. The Health Services Department (HSD) and EHSD work together to outreach to the community. Residents of HSD drug and alcohol treatment programs receive Food Stamp benefits that are administered by EHSD and managed by Health Department employees. EHSD maintains open limes of communication with these facilities to ensure appropriate access to EBT benefits, EHSD interacts with CDSS regarding policy issues, and HHSDC regarding Statewide EBT Project Management, policy, Vendor and system issues. EHSD also works with the Statewide EBT Vendor to provide recipient customer service and County staff support, EBT System access, and adequate equipment and information to provide EBT cards and personal identification number(PINs.) The complete fiscal impact of EBT is not yet known in California or Contra Costa County and is still being evaluated by EHSD as more information is provided by CDSS and HHSDC. Some Countvwspecitie costs are dependent upon the total statewide volume of transactions and customer services. As the Statewide rollout progresses and more caseload is added to the EBT system, the cost per case decreases. The state is still negotiating with the EBT Vendor about components of county invoicing for costs that include card and PIN issuance, customer service (Automated Response Unit) and other telephone service. For the County, EBT eliminates the need to print, mail, and reconcile Food Stamp Authorization to Purchase documents and warrants for EBT cases; eliminates the need for Food Stamp coupon management and contracting; decreases the tasks associated with lost or stolen paper benefits; increases speed, security, convenience, and reliability of benefit issuance; and provides another source of information about availability and use of benefits to recipients because of receipts from point of sale devices and ATMs and toll free Customer Service, and to County staff because of access to the EBT system. Despite an overall smooth transition, any major implementation such as EBT results in ongoing challenges. The analysis of implementation lessons learned, typically, leads to operational, policy, and system modifications. Challenges include improving and streamlining the integration of EBT into the EHSD business model; providing ongoing training and other user support to EHSD staff; and resolving problems with the State and EBT Vendor that include delays in providing staff access to the EBT system. Counties continue to press CDSS for policy issue resolution. Advocacy for recipients includes continuing outreach to recipients by tracking EBT usage activity and advising recipients how to minimize recipient costs; lobbying for more surcharge free cash access throughout the State; improving the types of point of sale devices at stores; and increasing the amount of Fanner's Market resources. Meeting systems requirements demands continual diligence to address problems with accurate data across multiple systems and to improve management reporting; managing, implementing, and communicating systems changes; and negotiating with other counties and State entities for systems improvements. Also, the State and counties must still determine EBT's fiscal impact and complete the implementation of invoicing procedures. All of these activities must be accomplished within budget and other resource constraints. TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONTRA FROM: BARTON J. GILBERT, DIRECTOR OF GENERAL SERVICES COSTA DATE: MARCH 16, 2004 COUNTY SUBJECT: REQUEST TO PURCHASE ONE VEHICLE FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Purchasing Agent, or designee, to purchase one vehicle for the District Attorney and AUTHORIZE the attached appropriation adjustment for the purchase. FINANCIAL IMPACT The estimated purchase cast of $14,2611 will be funded with accumulated depreciation ($14,299) and estimated salvage ($1,500). BACKGROUND The District Attorney is purchasing a sedan to replace a 1998 vehicle with over 110,000 miles needing major repairs. The purchase costs will be funded with accumulated depreciation and estimated salvage. This vehicle is not on the Board Approved Master List for Vehicle Replacement in FY 2003104. Therefore, in accordance with Administrative Bulletin No. 508: "County Vehicle and Equipment Acquisition and Replacement Policy with Guidelines," approval is requested for the purchase of the vehicle. Based on a review of the need for the new vehicle and consideration of alternative fueled vehicles, the Fleet Manager recommends approval of this request. This request has been reviewed and approved by the County Administrator for consideration by the Board of Supervisors. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR -RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE �-WPPROVE _OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF B� RD ftr1N Trl LL d r_> APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED /�_ OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS UNANIMOUS(ABSENTf/ �, AYES: NOES: ABSENTS: ABSTAIN: MEDIA CONTACT: BARTON J.GILBERT(313-7100) Originating Dept.:General Services Department I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE CC: General Services Department AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AdministrationAND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD Accounting OF SUPERV15EIRS ON THE D TES#�OWN. Purchasing Division f (1 County Administrator's Office ATTESTED t County Counsel JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK YHE BOARD OV SUPERVISORS Auditor-Controller(via Purch) D COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR District Attorney BY � /i frl �� L' DEPUTY G:\Admin\VehicieReplacementBoardOrders\DistAttorney\BrdOrdOneVehtorDA3-9-04.doc FM:dp Page 1 of 1 M382(10188) AUDITOR-CONTROLLER USE ONLY CONTRA COSTA COUNTY FINAL APPROVAL NEEDED BY: n APPROPRIATION ADJUSTMENT T/C 27 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS © COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT CODING BUDGET UNIT: GENERAL SERVICES ORGANIZATION EXPENDITURE EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION <DECREASE> INCREASE SUB-ACCOUNT Bud eft Unit 0063 Fleet Operations 4263 4953 AUTOS & TRUCKS 15,799.00 I I 0990 6301 RESERVE FOR CONTINGENCIES 15,799.00 0990 6301 APPROPRIABLE NEW REVENUE 15,799.00 I i TOTALS: $15,799.00 $31,598.00 APPROVED EXPLANATION OF REQUEST AUDITOR-CONLER To appropriate accumulated depreciation and estimated By: Date: salvage from equipment#0506. Funds to be used to replace vehicle needing major repairs in the District Attorney COU TY MiN TRATOR Department. The vehicle was not included in the FY2003/04 c�-- Date: 2-4-0 Vehicle Master Replacement List. No additional funds are needed. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS YES: SUPERVISORS G10IA,UIL1GM,GREENBW,, DeSAULNM AND GLOVER NO: NONE O d' 9f' Deputy Director Genera!Services 2/1712004 \yrr t { 1 NAT E TITLE DATE By: I.A Of NFAT. J' ate: 3/23/04 (M 8134 Rev,2188) APPROPRIATION ADJ. JOURNAL NO, AP00 5 �I VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT REQUEST FORM (See Instruction Sheet) Department : District Attorney Date: 1/30/2004 Authorized Signature: Telephone: 7"-2234 Printed Name: Renoe Goldstein A ' 1. Reason and justification for vehicle request: Defective transmission makes the repair psi mor�'than the vehicle is worth. According to GSD, repair would cost more than replacement. 2. Funding Source: (Budget information will be used to prepare Board Order): General Fund Is an appropriation adjustment needed? D Yes "No Fiscal Officer: Name: Renoe Goldstein Telephone: 7-2234 3. Description of vehicle or equipment requested (If applicable, complete an accessories form): Taurus sedan cold-plates-, no seal, non-white 4. Is an alternative fuel vehicle acceptable? El Yes "No If no, reason clean air vehicle will not work: not appropriate for law enforcment purposes 5. If replacement, which vehicle or equipment is being replaced: Type: Taurus sedan Vehicle/Equipment Number: 0506 Odometer/Hours: 110,844 6. Reason purchase cannot wait until next budget cycle: With new investigator hires, we need to replace this deadlined vehicle. 7. GAO Release to GSee anagement: /12 Yes No Date: -, CAO Signature: FOR GSD FLEET MANAGEMENT'S USE 1. Is vehicle/equipment an addition to the fleet? Yes � No 2. If vehicle/equipment is for replacement, an inspection/evaluation to be completed by Fleet Manager: Date Inspected: Vehicle/Equipment: Make: Fmo Model: lAVROS Year: /798 Condition of vehicle and/or equipment and life expectancy: vEH, if )44s ,X.,A rc*z )—a^x�s�t"'��.��,} Accumulated Depreciation/'Oj 977 Estimated Salvage Value#1 Soo RCALACC Ve*tA-,C, Estimated Cost of Request.- 3. equest�3. Fleet Manager Signature: _ Date: •-o y CARenee's fileslmsword'Ehron files120041veh regst-replace 0S06.doc 12/12/01 Robert J. Kochly vistriCt Attorney OFFICE OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY CONTRA COSTA COUNTY To: George Roemer Senior Deputy County Administrator From: Renee Goldstein D.A. Chief of Addn�istrration and Planning Date: February 2, 2004 Subject: Vehicle Replacement Request— Replace Vehicle # 506 Attached is a VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT REQUEST FORM to replace investigator vehicle # 506. This vehicle has been deadlined by GSD. According to General Services, repair of the defective transmission would cost more than the vehicle is worth and more than replacing the vehicle. This vehicle, in addition, has 110,844 miles and would qualify for replacement on that basis alone, according to County guidelines. The Fleet Manager has provided me the with the following cost information: Depreciation _ $ 14,300 Salvage Value = 1,500 Total to Apply to Replacement = $ 15,800 Cost to Replace with like vehicle $ 14,261 As you can see, there is more than enough funding available in depreciation and salvage value to pay for a replacement car. Replacement of the vehicle creates no net County cost burden; no adjustments to the District Attorney's budget appropriation are needed to complete this transaction. The District Attorney's Office needs to replace the vehicle, as we have new investigative hires that need the vehicle. We cannot wait the next budget cycle, as that would mean that the replacement car would not be available until the beginning of calendar year 2005. Please sign off on the attached form and forward it to Frank Morgan, Fleet Manager, pursuant to Administrative Bulletin 508.2. Thank-you for your consideration in this matter. Attachment cc: Gene Greenwald, DA Chief of Inspectors CONTRA COSTA COUNTY ESTIMATED REVENUE ADJUSTMENT T/C 24 ACCOUNT CODING BUDGET UNIT: GENERAL SERVICES ORGANIZATION RErVcNUE REVENUE DESCRIPTION INCREASE <DECREASE> ACCOUNT Budget Unit 0063 Fleet Services 0005 8982 EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT RELEASE 14,299.00 0005 9922 SALE OF EQUIPMENT 1,500.00 i i i 1 i I i i TOTALS: $15,799.00 $ 0.00 APPROVED EXPLANATION OF REQUEST AUDITOR-CONTROLLER To appropriate accumulated depreciation & By: Date: estimated Salvage on the following vehicles: Eq # Ace D►epr Est Salvage Total COUNTY ADMIN TRATOR 0506 14, 99 1,500 15,`799 By: _� Date: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS YES:SUPERVISORS GI0IA,UILKEM,GREWBERG DeSAULNIER AND G-O E A Deputy Director General Services 2/17/2004 NO: NMTR SiGNA RE TITLE DATE fi { i r i r REVENUE ADJ. � By:LENA O'NEAL `'`f� Date 3/23/04 JOURNAL NO. RAoo 5f}rf`2— (M 8134 Rev.2/86)