RD289 - Progress Report: Implementation Plan for Web-based Eligibility System - October 2009


Executive Summary:
DSS oversees the operation of benefits and services programs that are administered by 120 local departments of social services (LDSS) across the Commonwealth. Many of the Commonwealth’s most critical services are included in these programs, including administering social safety net programs, protecting children and adults from abuse and neglect, providing subsidized child care that allows parents to work, collecting child support to improve the lives of children, licensing adult and child care facilities to ensure safety, and encouraging work through workforce development services.

Social and economic factors impact the efficiency and effectiveness of the current service delivery model. Economic conditions that created higher unemployment rates across the Commonwealth have caused increases in the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) caseload, formerly called Food Stamps, as well as increased the need for other forms of assistance. Between State Fiscal Year (SFY) 00 and 08, caseloads have grown significantly in programs for low-income individuals: SNAP (+59%), low-income Medicaid (+44.7%), and energy assistance (+61%). While caseloads have grown, funding for staff has not increased.

The current automated eligibility system for the benefit programs of SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid, called the Application Benefit Delivery Automation Project (ADAPT), is built in an aging technology called Maintaining and Preparing/Producing Executive Reports (MAPPER). It contains over 10,000 automated rules. Although program changes mandated by either federal or state legislation require adjustments to ADAPT, the MAPPER technology is difficult to program. Thus, the current delivery model of benefits and services is highly dependent upon paper and manual processes, limited data sharing, and aging technology.

Established planning processes for new technology require documentation to be submitted for approval by federal partner agencies and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA). Because a major information technology project requires approximately a year of planning and documentation, DSS believes that a new web-based system for determination of eligibility to replace ADAPT could not be fully implemented for three or more years. The scope of such a project would not allow the Commonwealth to realize any real cost savings until full implementation. DSS has received federal approval for a Planning Advance Planning Document (PAPD) that will document pre-planning efforts to evaluate potential technology enhancements, coupled with business process changes to improve the delivery of benefits and services.

DSS recommends an incremental approach be used as the plan to centralize, web-enable, and streamline eligibility determination. Evaluation of incremental technical enhancements, knowledge gained through the current PAPD activities, and evaluation of streamlined business processes and alternatives will help guide development of an implementation plan.