GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Integrated systems improve welfare delivery

As a result of federal legislation aimed at reducing the size of welfare roles, counties have turned to new technologies to improve their social service agency operations. Integrating many computer systems into one can help counties share information among agencies, regulate program services and enforce time limitations on benefits.

The major welfare reform legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, significantly changed federal policy aimed at helping low-income families with children. It terminated the Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program and replaced it with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant for states. A majority of welfare systems operate on older technologies that have been modified to accommodate the minimum TANF program requirements.

However, the new welfare environment requires information systems to support an expanded set of functions in three key areas: case management, including eligibility determination; service planning; and program oversight, with a new emphasis on outcomes and results. Furthermore, decentralization of program operation and performance responsibility to states and counties increases the need for systems that can respond to the needs of users at all government levels.

To address those issues, many counties are consolidating welfare computer systems. Los Angeles County, for example, has merged five legacy welfare systems into the Los Angeles Eligibility, Automated Determination Evaluation and Reporting system (LEADER). LEADER is the largest client-server architecture created for any welfare system in the country. The three-tier architecture consists of enterprise database servers, local office servers and personal computer clients.

Implementation of the system began in 1995 and included installation of more than 11,000 desktop computers and laptops and 2,000 desktop laser printers at 130 locations. Because of the huge undertaking, the pilot testing and rollout stages took almost two years to complete. The last user group went online in April 2001.

The system’s eligibility determination and benefit calculation program incorporates complex rules for the county’s different welfare programs, including CalWorks, the state’s TANF program; food stamps; general assistance; and Medi-Cal health care benefits. County employees only need to input welfare clients’ information into the system once to determine which programs clients are eligible for and the amount of benefits they can receive from the various programs.

LEADER allows the county to notify residents of their welfare eligibility within a few hours. Before the system was installed, residents could wait up to 30 days to learn what programs they were eligible for and how much assistance they could receive from each program. With a caseload of approximately 1.5 million residents, Los Angeles County expects the system to save taxpayers an estimated $83 million annually.

LEADER handles an average of 5.1 million transactions each day and prints between 70,000 and 200,000 images daily, including notices, forms, warrants and reports. It can produce more than 800 types of notices in English or Spanish. In certain cases, the system also can print checks for recipients with emergency needs.

Because of the streamlined system and advanced technology, Los Angeles County will be able to stay abreast of changes in the various welfare programs and will be able to meet the changing demands of its welfare population. Furthermore, the system will help the county attain its strategic goal of moving individuals into self-sufficiency.

The author is vice president and general manager, western region public sector, for Blue Bell, Pa.-based Unisys.