Tuesday, 9/11/12 3:30
FNS Headquarters staff
Timeliness of Recertifications, Error Coding, Open forum for raising issues and asking questions
Liz Weber - Recertification Timeliness Coding - Update - FNS will measure effective 10/11. Had 14 states participate in pilots. They conducted surveys and made adjustments along the way. Feedback was that it wasn't that bad. Training was less than a day. Saw room for improvement due to completion of the pilot. Handout is new page for the recert timeliness codes. Limit review to the previous 12 months prior to the sample date. Will be released on PartnerWeb.
Fran Heil - Training materials will be released before the end of September. 5 tools and one of them is the 310 update page. Will be posted to PartnerWeb.
Clarification - Code 30 on the 310 update draft indicates a case was issued benefits outside of the approved certification cycle.
Q: Will this information be part of the June notification letters to the Governors? A: No, the letters to the Governors announce the error rates which this has nothing to do with. Until it becomes a issue, it will not be updated with the Governors.
Q: Is code 68 and 70 required for all reviews. A: Yes. Both deal with the timeliness measure. Be sure to follow the directions carefully. It is possible that both measures will be coded for the same action.
A webinar will be scheduled for training on this in October.
Nancy Baca-Stepan - Arbitrations
Fran Heil- Nancy has the right to talk to any FNS staff for clarification on policy based issued. They are not making decisions. They are trying to ensure that she has the support from FNS she needs. And Nancy added that if a State feels they need to talk to her about an arbitrated issue, they need to contact her to schedule a time to do so. But everyone needs to understand that she will not make a decision on the fly or over the phone.
She wants us to know that she does not know your State. When you submit a arbitration packet, you must explain your acronyms, codes, etc. When you submit a packet, explain a little bit about your State. For example, if the issue involves income, explain what your conversion calculation is.
Also, explain what your policy references indicate.
Chapter 14 is your friend when submitting an arbitration packet. The format for QC cases clarification memo should be followed also. Even when cases are electronic.
If there is something confusing to you, please contact her.
Q: Fran from FNS - Is there anything additionally which needs to submitted with the negative review packets? A: She has seen two things - is the notice clear and understandable? and is there a procedural issue?
Dave Young - FNS is coming up with a new option for completing the clint interview. Effective FY13, by waiver, States will be allowed to conduct video interviews in leu of face-to-face interviews. There will be no restriction on the case allotment value. Fran does not intend to make States submit anything to apply for this. Rather codes will be added to the schedule to capture this as an interview type in field 69 and the 310 will be updated.
Oregon has had a waiver since 2007 and recently Pennsylvania was approved for this waiver. However, the following parameters must be adhered to: (1) state agency must have a secure link for the video conference. (2) if clients prefer a face-to-face interview that must be made available and a client's failure to agree to a video conference cannot be perceived as a refusal to cooperate.
Draft policy will be provided to states for comment and feedback soon. But Fran suggests that States carefully consider this practice and roll it out over time.
Congress wants to know the difference in error rates under the tolerance levels and between the $25 and $50 tolerance levels. That's why there was a recent rush to provide the data to FNS. They are trying to gather information so they can fight to keep the $50 threshold.
Fran has been shifted into a new position at FNS and will no longer be the National Headquarters QC Chief. He will be responsible for moving QC projects along rather than supervising the QC staff. However, he will continue to work with the new QC Chief daily. The position is presently announced on USAJobs. Anyone who is interested should apply.
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