Tuesday, 9/11/12 8:30
Kay Brown (GAO), Andrew Feldman (OMB), Jessica Shahin (FNS) and Michelle Dilks (ACF)
Kay is Director ... Andrew is .... (on phone) Jessica is ... Michelle is ....
Kay - thanks for good work you do - GAO legislative branch agency reports to congress and reviews federal funds - 2 challenges presently are increasing needs and increase in aging populations which in turn create need for additional services. In '11, 7,600 individuals per day turn 65. There are significant fiscal constrains with present practices being unsustainable over long term. There was a total of 493 billion awarded in grants last year. The focus over the next few years: effectiveness, efficiencies, integrity. The SNAP program is gaining attention in the areas of fraud, waste and abuse. Also, duplication of services and program overlap study will be their upcoming 3 yr project. Programs are too complex to clients, the program administrators and agencies who monitor. Programs must gain administrative efficiencies through application process, alignment of policies, and other fragmentation issues. Key factors for success in collaboration - strong leadership and agreement on goals along with results oriented decision making. Does data measure what we want measured? For example, the TANF WPR is flawed. There are better measures for performance. What should be monitored and measured and still keep the focus on work? Support policy alignment, innovative practices.
Andrew (via phone connection) Has tracked historical initiatives and elements. How do we balance the need to put money into things which work while at the same time investing in innovations? Suggests tiered investment opportunities: what works? what could work? Proof of concept tier using the least amount of money available. How do we harness private investment? Suggests modeling from the social impact bonds from England which is used in current grant innovations. How do we work across agencies for better outcomes and provide opportunities for cross funding? Recently the director of OIB issued memorandum m-12-14 (which is available on the OIB website) Challenges agencies to prepare new ways to do things in next budget through waivers and partnerships. Develop technological investments. And use grants to do what works for agencies during tough budget times.
Michelle - ACF vision for Child Care is that more children in low-income families are able to access high quality child care. Their goals include strengthening program integrity, building a child care subsidy system that can support child development, ensure the health and safety of children, build quality rating and improvement system and build strong professional development and workforce initiatives. CCDF funds require an application for funds, application approval and fund allocation, states are required to submit data reports and required amendments, conduct quality activities, submit fiscal reports, participate in audits, and complete error rate reporting. Recent developments in technical assistance launched the National Center on Child Care Subsity Innovation and Accountability. This will integrate program integrity and provide enhanced technical assistance. Recently there has been a national conference call series on Fraud Prevention (200+ participants). There are also requirements to conduct internal controls through self-assessment tools. Changes to the error rate methodology is presently in clearance process (first year impacted will be 2014) There will also be an error definition workgroup established. This group will also issue informational memos and data reports will include information on the quality of childcare. The goal is to create balance between access to services and quality of care.
Jessica -Thanks! The work we do makes a difference every day. Presently, SNAP is under a lot of scrunity but thanks to the QC process, we have data to support the integrity of the program. We have proven that the program can have both access and integrity. Customer service, integrity and access is a three legged stool. FNS tries to provide the tools States need. Take advantage of PartnerWeb. Share good practices. She tries to talk to commissioners, administrators and program leaders. Encourages us to talk all the way through our organizations. Participate in state exchange program sharing. She believe there probably needs to be more clearity with communications. Iimproper payments, fraud and abuse are firmly established. Presently the administration of program involves a focus on integrity. For example, they are presently working on rules for receiptants EBT card replacement guidance. And they actively fight fraud on their website and fight fraud on social media sites. FNS has built a tool to manage searches of social media websites which will search via a e-mail notification process. This was developed with partnership funds. There are also plans for a national clearinghouse project which will check for dual participation across states. A pilot of this revealed a "hit" response of less than 1% in the 10 state pilot. Success creates new challenges. How can you get the rate lower? Upcoming focus will be to examine the complexity and possible integration with other federal programs. This will involve using administrative process improvements. Idaho is already strong in this - using technology in process improvements. There are $5 million in grants available each year and business process re-engineering awards are available for states which are having difficulties. We also need to improve access to healthy foods. The farm bill may continue for another year. Congress is looking to save money on the program not spend more money. Recognized states who have achieved good program delivery through high completion rates (law requires 95%) - Virgin Islands 99.3%, Wyoming 99.29%, North Dakota 98.87%, North Carolina 98.75%, Mississippi 98.6%, Kentucky 98.28%, Idaho 98.125%, Rhode Island 98.07%
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