Service Requests How to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead

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Service Requests How to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead

• Presenters
• Sylvia Reyna, Napa County Department of Child
  Support Services, SReyna_at_co.napa.ca.us
• Donia Williams, Solano County Department of Child
  Support Services, DCWilliams_at_solanocounty.com
• George Ruvalcaba, Orange County Department of
  Child Support Services, GRuvalcaba_at_css.ocgov.com

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County Comparison Perspective
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Small County Perspective

• September 2007 (Conversion)
• 40 SRs received per day
• 5-6 staff members processing SRs and hard copy
  referrals
• Current
• 0-25 SRs received per day (average)
• 4 Child Support Specialists process SRs and some
  errors. OVP errors are processed by Fiscal Unit

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Process

• Staffing Level Child Support Specialist (CSS)
  process the entire SR
• Distribution We utilize Application Search for
  IV-A SRs which are distributed evenly among CSS
  for processing
• Process Intake/Establishment CSS process SR.
  Assigned CSS keeps case through establishment of
  court order. Includes locate of NCPs.

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What didnt work

• For a short time, Napa attempted to process the
  interface SRs in addition to reviewing the hard
  copy referrals

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What worked

• Process
• Implemented a plan to process backlog of SRs
  daily (dedicate staff for special project)
• Quiet time in the a.m. for processing SRs first
  thing in the morning/daily
• Staff having access to IV-A system (ISAWS) for
  researching
• Eliminating paper referrals
• Prioritizing the errors

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What worked

• Staff Development and Staffing
• Visiting other counties of similar caseload size
  for various perspective
• Increased staff in Intake function in order to
  process SRs daily and conduct intake interviews
• Ensure staff processing has proper training
• Communication with IV-A agency
• Access and understanding of the IV-A system

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What worked

• Prioritization
• Process SRs daily

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Collaboration and Communication with IV-A

• Eliminate paper referrals!
• Establish rapport with IV-A analysts and
  supervisors to communicate trends and to
  communicate data needs to trigger accurate SRs
• Encourage communication for case managers to
  speak directly to IV-A staff to verify
  information and/or request updates to trigger
  appropriate SRs

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Lessons learned

• Research SR prior to creating a new participant
  or case to avoid duplication
• Review address for CP as part of SR processing

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Staying Ahead

• Process SRs as a priority on a daily basis
• Research and report issues
• Review and work Tasks on a daily basis and
  maintain current
• Dedicate blocks of quiet time for processing SRs
  and Tasks to meet expectations

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QUESTIONS

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Medium County Perspective

• April 2008 (Conversion)
• 122 SRs received per day average 117 SRs
  processed per day average (96)
• 12 CSS staff members processing SRs plus 4
  visiting CSSs from Santa Clara
• Current
• 49 SRs received per day 48 SRs processed per day
• 14 CSS staff members processing SRs and
  Establishment Caseloads

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Process

• Staffing Level Child Support Specialists
  process the entire SR and associated errors
• Distribution Assigned through the SR Tool
  distributed equally among assigned staff
• Process - Case Initiation CSSs process SRs and
  take the next appropriate action.

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What didnt work

• Accounting staff assigned to the Action Team
• Expecting staff to learn too many tasks at once

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What worked

• Process
• Minimized manual locate actions
• Eliminated paper referrals
• Access to IV-A case notes
• Using the SR Tool
• IV-A Identifier Preload
• Case Reviews
• Dual Monitors

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What worked

• Staff Development and Staffing
• Highly skilled staff assigned
• Open to suggestions from staff
• Subject Matter Experts for complex functions
• Learn from others experiences
• Group Learning

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What worked

• Prioritization
• Make expectations clear
• Subject Matter Experts

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Collaboration and Communication with IV-A

• Stop paper referrals
• Monthly meetings with IV-A agency

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Lessons learned

• Change is difficult
• Start small
• Train the group as a whole

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Staying Ahead

• Appropriate Staffing
• Clear Expectations
• Feedback

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QUESTIONS
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Large County Perspective

• February 2008 (Conversion)
• 317 SRs received per day average 153 SRs
  processed per day average (48)
• 29 staff members processing SRs and errors
• Current
• 195 SRs received per day 184 SRs processed per
  day average (94)
• 22 staff members processing SRs and errors

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Processing

• Staffing Level Child Support Officer (CSO)
  process the entire SR and associated errors
• Distribution Assigned through the SR Tool
  distributed utilizing CSS Tracking Tool
• Process - Case Initiation CSOs process SRs
  through case opening only. An assessment is
  completed of the next required action and case
  forwarded for next actions or utilizing CSE
  functionality (e.g., tasking)

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What didnt work

• Assigning all three functions to all staff
  errors, updates, and SRs
• Dont ignore!!
• Incrementally increasing staffing

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What worked

• Process
• Minimized manual locate actions
• Updating PAMI
• Implemented formalized QA process
• Eliminated paper referrals
• Access to IV-A case notes
• Learning the SR process, analyzing the errors and
  updates before assigning all three to staff

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What worked

• Staff Development and Staffing
• Increased staffing
• Assess tasks for appropriate level of staff
• Develop expertise in complex functions
• Visit other counties

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What worked

• Prioritization
• Focused on compliance
• Process all duplicate SRs
• Continued PAT Error assessments and
  prioritization

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Collaboration and Communication with IV-A

• Eliminate all paper referrals!!!
• Establish communication with IV-A agency
• Work with IV-A agency in addressing possible data
  input interface issues

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Lessons learned

• Develop a plan.
• Train all staff and communicate changes to all
  staff at the same time.
• Maintain continued communication with IV-A agency

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Staying Ahead

• Daily monitoring of workload
• Immediate reporting of issues
• Workload balancing Specific days for processing
  of errors and days for processing SRs
• Set ongoing expectations for staff

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Parting Thoughts

• Small counties
• Process SRs daily (A.M. Priority)
• Stop working paper referrals
• Medium Counties
• Highly skilled staffing
• Dual monitors
• Large counties
• IV-A Communication
• Daily caseload monitoring

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Additional Questions?Contact us

• Sylvia Reyna, Napa County
• SReyna_at_co.napa.ca.us
• [phone]
• Donia Williams, Solano County
• DCWilliams_at_solanocounty.com
• [phone]
• George Ruvalcaba, Orange County
• GRuvalcaba_at_css.ocgov.com
• [phone]