New age computers speed certification - food stamp program

During the 1970's, computer technology helped modernize many food stamp offices. New machines that could accurately compute benefits and screen for duplication of services freed caseworkers from arduous math worksheets and card file searches.

Now, a new age of computers promises to make certification light-years more efficient through machine-assisted eligibility interviews, allowing verification of many kinds of data while the client is still in the office.

"We're moving into the second generation of computer applications," says Virgil Conrad, Deputy Administrator for Family Nutrition at the Food and Nutrition Service.

"In the past, computer systems were basically calculation tools. We're now experimenting with on-line verification, which gives us the ability to electronically cross-check information on income, residency, or other data at the point of application. This prevents errors before they get into the system.

"It's a lot easier to correct a problem by verifying information before benefits are issued, than it is to spend time and energy in claims collection and fraud investigations. We still will have systems for cross-checking data after certification, but the more we do up front, the less it will cost us later," Conrad adds.

The new systems streamline the eligibility interview, with computers posing questions for the caseworker to ask the client, and refusing to go on if the right information isn't provided.

Frequently, the systems bring together the application process for food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and other welfare and medical assistance programs. This makes the data more manageable for the welfare office, and the certification process easier for applications.

States can also use the systems to manage their programs better. Computers can improve employee accountability and monitor workload, as well as automatically send out monthly reports, check for errors of logic in case files, and follow up on cases. "This means the supervisor can become a teacher, not just a monitor of workload activity," says Conrad.

Many states are beginning to use various aspects of the new technology to improve certification and reduce errors. Alaska, North Dakota, Illinois, and Tennessee are a few examples. Alaska

Alaska has pioneered the new technology farther and faster than most other states. Its on-line Eligibility and Issuance System (EIS) for AFDC and food stamps operates statewide.

Eric Hanson, the EIS project director in Alaska's Division of Public Assistance, estimates that the new computer system will save about $1.4 million annually by preventing food stamp errors resulting from unreported income or changes in household size, as well as simple mathematical or policy mistakes.

"Reducing errors is the big benefit of the new system," Hanson says. "For example, we had a lot of errors from mandatory monthly reports when we first implemented that procedure. But I think the computer system is going to cut way down on these errors."

The system generates the monthly reports that are sent to participants and keeps track of all the information households provide on their income and family circumstances.

Eligibility workers have immediate access to this information and can make any changes that are needed in benefit levels. The computer will not allow a benefit to be issued unless an eligibility technician authorizes it based on a monthly report.

Other errors are prevented by screening of information while the client is applying for food stamps. When an applicant comes to the welfare office, he or she fills out basic information on the first two pages of the form. The form can be used to apply for AFDC and other public assistance programs as well as food stamps.

A clerk enters this data into the computer. Background on current or prior contacts with the welfare system, and a special alert if the person has been disqualified for fraud, appears on the screen. The clerk checks the need for expedited service and sets up an interview with a caseworker.

The clerk fills out the rest of the application, and at the interview the eligibility worker enter the remaining information into the computer terminal on his or her desk.

"All the elements of identification are screened at the beginning, particularly social security numbers and involvement in any welfare program in the state," Hanson says.

"If the social security number has been used by anyone else in the state, the worker will know it instantly. If the employment the client reports is different from what the department of labor is reporting, an alert will go to the worker."

Once the information is entered, the computer calculates the benefits for both food stamps and AFDC.

A number of security features protect the data in the system. For example, there are limits on the kind of information employees can access and change. Only the eligibility workers or their supervisors can update casefiles. Central office managers can loop up any case, they can broadcast electronic messages to staff on the system, but they cannot update the data.

The computer's memeory is itself a safeguard. Supervisors can track who authorized every benefit in the system because this information is put into the computer along with the other case data.

Hanson claims that part of the success of EIS results from staff involvement in the development of the system. "You have to let eligibility technicians call most of the shots on what the system does and how it does it," he says. North Dakota Representatives from North Dakota visited Alaska and were impressed enough by the EIS system there to design and install a modified version themselves this year. Their trip was made possible by the state exchange project USDA sponsors to help states observes food stamp management improvements in other areas.

Under North Dakota's automated certification and case management system, each eligibility worker has an on-line terminal which is linked to the central computer. The system handles the application process, benefit calculations, and ongoing case maintenance activities such as monthly reporting, claims collection, program changes, and issuance of notices.

The terminals, with technicolor display screens, go far beyond entering case information and calculating benefits. The systems is designed to prompt the caseworker in managing various case actions, and to warn the worker against foreseeable errors in carrying them out.

For example, North Dakota's system sorts monthly reports into three categories--those cases which can be dealth with quickly, those which are a little more complex, and those which take still more careful scrutiny. The system has separate routines for dealing with each group.

Using the system, workers can easily check applicants' previous benefits, program contacts, and reported income. In addition to these worker aids, the system produces monthly and weekly reports for local supervisors.

Claire Lipsman, director of the Food Stamp Program accountability division at FNS headquarters, recently visited North Dakota and was impressed with the state's carefully thought out system.

"The system wouldn't work everywhere," she says. "Its completeness and complexity probably make it best suited to states that don't have much automation in place. But the design ideas are striking." Illinois

Illinois is using a computerized certification system, called "automated intake," on a pilot basis in four welfare offices. The system uses a combined application for food stamps, AFDC, Assistance for the Aged, Blind and Disabled, and Medical Assistance.

At the test sites, which are in Sangamon County (serving Springfield) and Chicago, applicants don't even have to fill out application forms. Instead they go through a three-stage screening process. At each stage their answers are typed into the computer system by a worker.

First, the receptionist enters the applicant's name and reason for visiting the office, and determines if an acting or pending case exists. Next, a "screener" asks the client a series of questions and enters the answers ito the terminal. At this point, the computer prints out what's called a "name file search."

The name file search shows whether a client has ever gotten assistance in the state before. A second search matches the data supplied by the client with information from the state's department of labor on prior work history and receipt of unemployment insurance.

"The new system has been a time saver for us," says Diane Tichenor, assistant administrator in the Sangamon County Office. "All the counties have to run these same clearances. But they have somebody sit a a keyboard, plug in the information, and ask for the clearances. Ours come back automatically, and right while the client is at the interview. That's the difference."

In the third phase, the client meets with the eligibility worker, who asks questions as they are displayed on a computer screen. The worker types in the answers to the questions as well as the documentation provided by the client.

"Because all of the questions are in place in the computer, our workers cannot forget to ask any of them," says Tichenor. This is ensured because the computer will not display the next screen until all the answers have been filled in. The computer even tells whehter the documentation provided is sufficient.

Afterwards, a high-speed printer types out the questions and the client's responses. The applicant signs the form and it becomes part of his or her file.

Although the system eventually will calculate eligibility and benefits, right now the computations are done manually, even in the pilot offices, because the calculations are not yet in the system. But state managers such as Tichenor are pleased with the phases that have been implemented.

They say the new system will make the handling of case more consistent by eliminating some of the subjective decisions that caseworkers oftem must make in determining eligibility. Tennessee

Other parts of the country also are automating certification successfully. Tennessee's "clearinghouse system" allows eligibility workers to verify clients' employment history and do other screening before benefits are issued. Along with supervisory reviews and quality circles where caseworkers meet informally to discuss better management, the new computer system has helped Tennessee reduce its error rate by 50 percent.

Operating statewide since 1983, the clearinghouse system lets eligibility workers know if food stamp applicants are getting unemployment benefits or wages.

"This is especially helpful in identifying people who are working and not reporting income," says Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner Sammie Lynn Puett. "It also uncovers those who report only one source of income, when, in fact, other members of the household are also employed and earning income."

The system also gives caseworkers access to other information, such as birth dates, which can help them verify identity and citizenship. A separate data base shows whether the applicant has been in the welfare system before and whether or not he or she is certified for benefits.

The system cost Tennessee only about $14,000 to set up. It was inexpensive for the state because the data already existed. All that was needed was a system for bringing the information together for state agencies to use.

The present clearinghouse is really just a start for Tennessee. The state plans to provide access to data from Supplemental Security Income files, property tax records, motor vehicle records, and Veterans Administration and Social Security records.

"The clearinghouse system is an excellent way for our employees to improve the efficiency of the Food Stamp Program," Commissioner Puett says. "By implementing new procedures such as this, we hope to sustain the downward trend in our program error rates." Looking ahead

The second generation of computer applications has allowed food stamp management to become more sophisticated and error free. It has allowed more integration with AFDC and other welfare programs.

With these exciting new possibilities in view for many states, Virgil Conrad expresses concern that some states do not even have the first stage of a central computer system yet.

"We want to encourage these states to work on the basics at the same time we work with other states to enhance the technology and its applications," he says.

For a program that now provides supplemental food assistance to 21 million people, the use of automated systems is clearly essential to do that task well. The new automation helps food stamp managers provide fast accurate service to those who are eligible for program benefits while making it easier to detect and deter those who are not.

For more information, write: Virgil Conrad, Deputy Administrator for Family Nutrition Programs Food and Nutrition Service U.S. Department of Agriculture Alexandria, Virginia 22302.

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