TITLE
Title
DHHS-DIVISION OF SOCIAL SERVICES (DSS) UPDATE
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Heather Skeens
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BACKGROUND
Background
Since fiscal year 2010, eligibility caseloads have continued a steady upwards trend. Caseloads for Family & Children’s (F&C) and Adult Medicaid have risen from 46,498 in 2010 to 62,175 in fiscal year 2015. Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) caseloads were at 34,261 in 2010 and have risen to 49,492 in 2015. These are active caseloads and do not include denied or withdrawn cases. In fiscal year 2015, an additional 14,153 combined FNS and Medicaid cases were denied.
In addition to application and recertification workloads managed by eligibility case workers, we also have an additional “unseen” work load of 40,000-45,000 changes to active cases annually; which includes responding to returned mail, processing information received through Turbo Tax portals, and responding to updated tax forms required for Medicaid eligibility. During this same time period, we had 250 eligibility staff in 2010 which was reduced to 198 in 2015, due to budget cuts. This loss of staff while caseloads have steadily increase has resulted in our inability to comply with federal regulations. (Please see attached Dear County Director Letter, “Factors Impacting County Administration of Economic Services Programs”).
This is an update regarding the hiring of the thirteen (13) new positions granted on January 21, 2016 and a follow-up to the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDS) presentation in December 2015.
Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDS)
DHHS-DSS created a team of five (5) eligibility caseworkers to maintain ABAWD FNS cases and, as of February 23, 2016, Guilford County has 7,930 recipients receiving benefits. We have updated ABAWD cases through April 2016 to reflect correct evidence to ensure this population will not lose benefits, if the recipient is eligible. We anticipate the impact of lost benefits will begin April 2016.
In collaboration w...
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