Department of Social Services County of Madera*

Recommendations 7

• R1
  The organization and staffing of the Eligibility Unit is inadequate, both in number of staff and organizational structure. Department of Social Services response: Disagree with the finding. The organizational structure of the eligibility unit is typical of a county welfare department. The Department had been working to increase the number of eligibility workers long before this report. A number of factors have contributed to staffing patterns in the eligibility unit. First, the lingering economic downturn has resulted in more people seeking and receiving services. Second, programs formerly administered at the State level, such as the Healthy Families Program, have been folded into existing county-administered programs (often without commensurate increases in resources to meet the increased workload). Both of these factors have contributed to growing caseloads1 for our eligibility workers, whose ranks have remained relatively flat. Meanwhile, budget shortfalls at the county level have resulted in layoffs and furloughs of county staff. Whenever possible, the Department of Social Services absorbed
• R2
  The proposed newly-created IEVS Processing Unit be transferred to the District Attorney's SIU to share a common mission of fraud discovery, prosecution, adjudication and recovery of funds. Department of Social Services response: The recommendation outside is Departmental control. However, the Department believes the IEVS unit should remain under the jurisdiction of the Department of Social Services. The reasons for this are as follows: First, the Department is governed by the California Department of Social Services, which has jurisdiction over IEVS at the state level. This relationship fosters a closer partnership than could be established with a third party. Second, the Department of Social Services, which daily interacts with those on public assistance, is better equipped to audit benefits and detect fraud using, as one of its tools, the IEVS process for this purpose. Transferring the IEVS process would remove this key fraud fighting tool from front line staff. Lastly, the District Attorney prosecutes crimes, including welfare fraud, but should not also be expected to police those crimes.
• R3
  The BoS authorize the District Attorney and Director of DSS to acquire the space necessary to house the combined SIU staff and proposed IEVS Processing Unit, with the cost to be covered by DSS State and Federal funding. Department of Social Services response: The recommendation is outside Departmental control. However, the Department believes it is better equipped to house and supervise a segregated IEVS unit within its current administrative structure. As mentioned previously, a segregated IEVS processing unit in the eligibility unit, which has the requisite supervision to ensure a consistent focus on IEVS, is operating effectively at this time. The audit controls imposed on this unit include quarterly state reports on fraud, overpayments, and IEVS processing data, as well as the internal performance evaluation controls that are applied to each eligibility worker, supervisor, and program manager in the unit.
• R4
  The BoS direct the departments involved to report quarterly current and up-to-date information regarding fraud, O/Ps and O/Is showing both dollar amounts and case counts. Department of Social Services response: The recommendation is outside Departmental control. Nevertheless, the Department is happy to provide the BoS, at its direction, with quarterly summaries of its fraud data, including dollar amounts and case.
• R5
  To make the recovery effort more cost-effective the Director of DSS, instead of the recipient, set a reasonable amount not less than $25.00 as a minimum monthly payment. Department of Social Services response: The will recommendation be not implemented. Overpayments on active cases are collected through reductions in monthly benefits, the percentages of which are dictated in statute. County Counsel advises the Department is bound by the regulations and cannot set minimum payments to recoup overpaid benefits on closed cases.
• R6
  The County Administrator conduct a Management Audit to determine the effectiveness of the current DSS management and organizational structure. The audit should also address the following, but not limited to, long range facility requirements, including office space, parking, recipient waiting areas, interview facilities, as well as safety and security requirements for both staff and recipients. Department of Social Services response: The recommendation is outside of Departmental control.
• R7
  The County Administrator, in conjunction with the Director of DSS, determine if the above proposed Management Audit might be outsourced and paid for with State and Federal funds. Department of Social Services response: The recommendation outside of is However, the Department does not believe it should be Department control. implemented for a few reasons. First, the BoS commissioned an audit of each county Employing a number of analytical methods, including staff department in 2011. interviews, peer county comparisons, mandated duties analyses, and others, the MGT report determined that the Department of Social Services was operating efficiently. Second, the Department is routinely audited by the State on its many mandates. Lastly, utilizing federal and state allocations to duplicate state and local efforts would not be a wise use of resources and could exacerbate the concerns addressed in this report. The Department of Social Services would like to thank the Grand Jury for providing accountability and transparency to local government. We look forward to continuing to work with the county team and other stakeholders to make Madera County a great place to work and live. Sincerely, us/Virun Kelly Woodard, Director Madera County Department of Social Services 1 Public assistance caseloads in Madera County have increased over 25% in the last four years. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as Obamacare, is the federal health care reform law that takes effect in 2014. A joint UC Berkeley/UCLA study indicates that Madera County will receive over 8,000 new applications for Medi-Cal due to the ACA. We expect the ACA to also drive new applications for other programs. California Welfare Directors Association of California. Feb 2006. Turnover Study. http://www.cps.ca.gov/documents/resources/cwda report v10.pdf. The eligibility worker turnover rate was second to the rate of journey level social worker in the surveyed counties. DPA 482 (http://www.cdss.ca.gov/research/PG366.htm). CA812: The state collected an average of 1.74¢ on the dollar for CalWORKs overpayments over the last three years; Madera County collected an average of 1.30¢ on the dollar for the same period. This may be more indicative of economic conditions, such as per capita income, purchasing power parity, etc., in Madera vis-à-vis the rest of the state. The CalWORKs grant adjustment for a county error overpayment is 5%; all others are 10% of the family's benefits. See Eligibility and Assistance Standards, Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP) §§ 352.421(a) and 352.422(a). The CalFRESH grant adjustment is 5% for county error, 10% for household error, and 20% for an Intentional Program Violation. See Foods Stamps, Manual of Policies and Procedures §§ 63-801.22 and 63-801.736. MPP § 44-352.21; MPP § 63-801.72. MPP § 44-351.112. MPP § 44-350.161; MPP § 63-801.512. MGT of America, Inc. "MGT'S Organizational and Operational Review of the County of Madera". June 1, 2011 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES COUNTY OF MADERA 700 E, Yosemite Avenue / Madera, California 93638 P. O. Box 569 (559) 675-7841 PHONE / (559) 675-7603 FAX KELLY L. WOODARD, Director An Affirmative Action Figure Opportunity Employer MAY 1 4 2013 May 3, 2013 MADERA COUNTY GRAND JURY Honorable D. Lynn Jones Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Madera County Superior Court 209 W. Yosemite Ave. Madera, Ca. 93637 Response to 2012-13 Madera County Grand Jury Complaint Regarding the Madera County RE: Department of Social Services, Final Report Dear Honorable Presiding Judge D. Lynn Jones: In accordance with California Penal Code § 933.5(a) and (b), this letter addresses all Findings and Recommendations in the above-referenced report which address subjects under the control of the Department of Social Services. The Grand Jury's Final Report contains Findings with subsection findings therein. This letter provides a response to each of the Grand Jury's Findings, subsection findings, and Recommendations. Wherever disagreements are found, descriptive analyses explain therefor. Unless otherwise specified, overpayment will refer generically to both CalWORKs overpayments and CalFRESH overissuances. Grand Jury Findings: