Building on the success of a
pilot project that improved service to food stamp, cash
assistance and Medicaid customers, two Family and Adult
Assistance (FAA) sections at the Hamilton County Department of
Job and Family Services started up Change Processing Units on
July 1.A Change
Processing Unit receives and follows through on all changes made
to a food stamp, Ohio Works First (OWF) or Medicaid case in the
FAA sections after it has been approved for the first time, but
before it is due for a reapplication appointment.
This includes, but is not limited
to, changes relative to:
-gaining/losing employment or
other types of income,
-address/shelter costs,
-adding/removing household members
and determining if they are eligible for continued benefits,
-processing sanctions related to
work activity failures.
"Having caseworkers in each
section devoted to processing changes between reapplications
allows the caseworkers who are interviewing to concentrate on
the quality of that interview rather than be distracted by all
the other changes that need to be processed," said Cindi Green,
FAA1 section chief.
Changes are processed timelier and with a greater degree of
accuracy by the dedicated caseworkers.
"Timeliness and accuracy are of the utmost importance and this
initiative allows us to provide excellent customer service as
well as ensure we meet our performance standards," Green said.
This initiative was piloted
successfully by the FAA3 section led by Kevin Brewer and was
rolled out to FAA1 and FAA2 on July 1. Michael Patton, who leads
FAA1, served as spearhead for the rolloout.
"Michael and his committee deserve all the credit for it to have
been implemented timely," Green said. "I'm sure he would tell
you he owed much to Kevin Brewer and his section for initiating
and fine-tuning the process over the latter half of 2007 and all
of 2008."
