Welfare and Benefits

The Challenges of Helping Agencies Control Costs and Enhance Services

The challenges are many – and they continue to grow. Ongoing changes in policy direction. Tight timelines to implement rule changes across incompatible legacy systems. Turnover among knowledge workers. Heightened expectations among citizens for easier access to services.

And, of course, decreasing budgets to meet greater policy outcome targets.

Further, there is an increased demand for governments to make services more accessible through practices such as multichannel self-service, contact centers, and Web-driven access and service delivery. Agencies are faced with modernizing their systems and processes to support these emerging business models, while still meeting the ongoing daily demands to deliver services.

The Answers

Leveraging more than 40 years of partnerships with governments, EDS delivers deep policy knowledge, operational experience and applications expertise specific to the health and human services segment. We help our government clients achieve better policy outcomes, improve services, contain costs and increase accuracy.

EDS is a global innovator with expertise in creatively reengineering service delivery models for government agencies, as well as integrating technology to enable those models. Our pioneering collaborations with social welfare agencies have opened up avenues to a new kind of success – dramatically increasing efficiency while providing more convenient and secure access to government welfare and benefits services.

EDS Eligibility Services

Our partnerships with human services agencies have opened up avenues to a new kind of success – dramatically increasing efficiency while providing high levels of service to citizens.

Results

California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Information Network (CalWIN)

EDS has worked with the Welfare Client Data Systems (WCDS) Consortium since 1982 starting with an initial implementation and conversion of another vendor's application solution and then providing application support, software maintenance, system hosting and network infrastructure support. In 2000, EDS and the Consortium of 18 counties began the joint development and implementation of a modern, technological solution that efficiently administers public assistance programs for their respective communities. This solution, an application called the CalWorks Information Network (CalWIN), is an integrated online, real-time automated system with 26 subsystems to support eligibility and benefits determination, client correspondence, management reports, interfaces and case management for public assistance programs including California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS), Food Stamps, Medi-Cal, Child Care and numerous other federal, state and county programs.

The cross-platform, client/server system employs enabling technologies, including personal computer workstations, printers, servers, local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranet, and Internet. This project consolidates computer functions across the 18 counties requiring data conversion; two-way, online, and batch interface partners; and transition of daily operations. The scope of the CalWIN project also included detailed analysis of the then current business processes and working with the 18 counties to analyze how the new system would impact their new business model. EDS successfully executed 18 separate implementations – one per county. CalWIN is currently providing benefits to more than 1 million California families (more than 4 million individuals), and supporting the work of more than 30,000 county employees who are geographically dispersed at more than 800 sites.

Michigan Project Control Office

When Michigan's Department of Human Services needed to upgrade the Michigan Child Support Enforcement System application (MiCSES) to avert $147 million in federal penalties, it chose EDS to establish the Project Control Office, Technical Control Office and a Governance Model for MiCSES. Responsibilities included performing quality assurance on all associated software development including development of toolsets for project oversight, configuration management, system monitoring and development workflow processes. The Project Control Office managed implementation of four major releases and completed seven regional monthly conversions, which secured federal certification. Furthermore, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers bestowed its IT Project and Portfolio Management award on MiCSES.

In 2007, EDS was again selected by the State to provide these same services for the BRIDGES Project. The Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS), the Department of Community Health (DCH) and the Department of Information Technology (DIT) initiated the BRIDGES project to replace multiple systems that support eligibility and benefit determination for Michigan's cash assistance, medical assistance, food assistance and child care assistance programs with a single, integrated service delivery system. Because of the size, complexity and high visibility of the BRIDGES project, the State recognized the need to establish and maintain a PCO that exercises schedule and technical control and mitigates project risks. Given EDS' success with MiCSES, it was a logical choice. EDS continues to operate those offices today on behalf of the State.

LINK MISSING

Read our Welfare & Benefits case studies
Download the Eligibility Solution At-a-Glance PDF, 119K
Download the Eligibility Solution Overview PDF, 1.1M
Download the WebSMART Offering At-a-Glance PDF, 121K

For more information about what EDS can do for you, LINK MISSING

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