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At
the annual Food Stamp Accuracy Conference, Alan
Shannon of the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition
Service’s Midwest Region challenged the agency's Family and Adult
Assistance (FAA) workers to become the nation's best.
The event took place at Paul Brown Stadium in late April.
Shannon had
learned of many steps that FAA employees had take to reach the top
spot.
After leaving the conference, Shannon shared the positive
happenings with Ollice C. Holden, regional administrator at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Service’s Midwest
Region.
Holden felt compelled to write
HCJFS
Director Moira Weir congratulating the agency on achievements
concerning food
stamp payment accuracy. (See the Note from Agency Director Moira
Weir.)
"The past few years Hamilton County
has held a payment accuracy
conference to
highlight performance and provide training related to
the Food Stamp
Program," he wrote. "We would like to express our appreciation for
making the program, and performance in this critical program, a
priority."
Holden also said that as far as he
knew, Hamilton County was the only county in the country that held a
payment accuracy conference dedicated solely to the subject.
"Hamilton County already leads by holding such an
event and by achieving high accuracy rates, but has established
goals for further improvements," Holden wrote. "We believe that with
continued effort Hamilton County can be a national leader in
pursuing innovation in its administration of the Food Stamp Program.
We support such innovations and are available to assist if needed.
"He (Alan Shannon) has also told me that the event
was very well-run and that Hamilton County staff appear very
motivated to perform at a high level," Holden continued in his
letter. "Thank you again for your dedication to the Food Stamp
Program and for your efforts to improve performance in your
county."
Food stamp accuracy is the process
of making sure individuals get the amount of food stamps they’re
supposed to receive. The county annually issues more than $91
million in food stamps. About 75,000 people use the program
every month.
For the first quarter of FFY 2007
(October 2006 to December 2006), the agency achieved a Federal Food
Stamp Accuracy Rate of 90.38 percent. For the first quarter of FFY
2008 (October 2007 to December 2007), the agency’s accuracy rate is
96.04 percent. That equates to a 66 percent increase within a year. |
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"We
believe that with continued effort Hamilton County can be a national
leader in pursuing innovation in its administration of the Food
Stamp Program."
--Ollice C. Holden
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