Integrated Service Delivery

Introduction

The Division of Integrated Service Delivery is comprised of four major program areas and the six Regional SRS Offices.  The Division has three primary objectives:

• protect children and adults,
• promote permanent nurturing families, and
• provide the appropriate resources to meet the self sufficiency needs of consumers.

This work is accomplished through the Children and Family Services Program, the Economic and Employment Support Programs, Child Support Enforcement, and Kansas Rehabilitation Services. Staff in the Regional Offices, operating under the program guidance of central office managers: 

• investigate reports of child and adult abuse and work with families and the court system to determine appropriate interventions,
• assist consumers to become employed and self-reliant through job readiness activities, 

vocational assessment, training, rehabilitation technology, and job placement and supported employment activities,

• help consumers access child support and other public benefits to which they are entitled, and
• connect consumers to resources and services in the community that will meet their needs.

ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT

Human Services Management (HSM) System .  Current SRS information technology systems were developed nearly 20 years ago and are not easily modified when new programs or modifications to existing programs are needed.  These antiquated systems require staff to do error prone off-system determinations, many paper intensive manual work-arounds, and are very cumbersome to use. KHPA and SRS are both facing the addition of new programs, and changes to existing programs, and must have an integrated system that is flexible and easily modified in order to keep pace with these changes. Both agencies have agreed that an integrated system replacing these archaic systems is the necessary strategy going forward.  The development of a web-based eligibility and enrollment system is the first phase of HSM.   The new integrated system will provide a holistic view of the customer in order to maintain the “no wrong door” policy and will allow for multiple service channels for the customer to utilize.  KHPA and SRS are working jointly to develop the core functionality for this system in order to garner efficiencies and provide an integrated system for our customers.
The estimated cost for this new joint system is $45.0 million all funds over three years, beginning in FY 2009. Costs will be split among KHPA, SRS and the federal government. The Governor’s recommended budget for FY2009 includes $4 million SGF ($8 million all funds) for KHPA and $4.2 million SGF ($7 million all funds) for SRS.

TAF Work Requirements . The reauthorized Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program established stricter work requirements for states by eliminating states’ flexibility in defining work activities and increasing the verification requirements of clients’ hours counted toward work participation.  These changes increased the difficulty of meeting the TANF work participation rates and have a significant impact on the workload of SRS staff.  In order to be counted in the work participation rate, a family must receive TAF cash assistance.  The very families who are successful, obtain jobs, and subsequently lose TAF cash eligibility, are the families barred from being counted in the work participation rate. Allowable work activity definitions are also much narrower in scope, including what meets the definition of activities such as job readiness, job search, community service, work experience, and allowable education/training.  Staff have reviewed the cases of all individuals required to participate in work related activities, and are developing plans that will meet the new requirements.  States may receive a fiscal penalty each year of from 1% to 5% of the TANF block grant for failure to meet the required participation rates.

2010 Commission.  The Secretary participated in the discussions of the 2010 Commission looking at consolidation of early childhood programs.  SRS is interested in ensuring Kansas has a strong early childhood educational system. One component of the 2010 Commission recommendation is the transfer of the Kansas Early Head Start (KEHS) program to the Department of Education. KEHS, now administered by SRS, is a comprehensive, social service and child development program for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers. Through weekly home visits and collaborative partnerships in community child care settings the KEHS strives to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, and enhanced physical, social, emotional and cognitive development, for children. There are currently 15 KEHS programs serving 48 counties in Kansas. KEHS also collaborates with approximately 150 child care facilities in these 48 counties to raise the quality of child care for all children, by encouraging professional development and continuous program improvement.

Energy Assistance.   The federally funded Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) provides energy assistance to households with income under 130 percent of the federal poverty level. Applications for the annual benefit are accepted January through March.  Kansas received $7.34 million more than anticipated when submitting the FY 2009 budget due to federal release of additional dollars to the states.  This has resulted in $22.5 million available for this year’s program.  Due to the unusually cold temperatures this year, we anticipate a higher application rate than in past years. These funds will be included in the benefits issued to LIEAP households during the 2008 energy assistance program which began accepting applications in January.

Grandparents as Caregivers . The state funded Grandparents as Caregivers Program began January 1, 2007.  A grandparent or other qualifying relative is eligible to participate in the program if he or she is at least 50 years old; has physical and legal custody of a grandchild; has an annual income of less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level; the children are not in state custody; and the parent or parents of the child do not reside with them.  As of January 2008, 316 applications were filed for the program, and 142 families (285 children) were approved for benefits, with an average benefit of $385. The main reasons for persons not qualifying are:  the household’s income is over the 130% federal poverty level; the caregiver does not have legal custody; or the caregiver does not meet the minimum age requirement.

CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES (CFS)

Child Protective Services Intake and Assessment.   The recommendations of the Governor’s Child Protective Services Task Force will be implemented.  These recommendations include policy changes which will ensure thorough and complete assessments are performed for every report of abuse and neglect. The policy revisions include enhancing the receipt of intake reports, initial assessment decisions, and placing greater consideration on prior history when assessment decisions are formed.  Because federal IV-E policy does not allow for federal funding for intake and assessment activities, the demand for State General Fund dollars are increased due to these efforts. Also included in the task force recommendations is a single statewide toll free number for the general public to report child abuse and neglect.  New technologies allow the call to immediately route to the local/regional Protection Report Center, or to the Central PRC if the call is after hours or the local center staff are answering other calls. The Governor included additional funds in her FY 2009 budget to meet both of these needs.  Other recommendations of the Task Force are supported in the Governor’s FY 2009 budget in other state agencies.  The Governor recommends an increase of $1.0 million SGF in the Governor’s Office budget for the expansion of child advocacy centers.  The Governor has also included funding in the Attorney General’s budget to staff an on-going Task Force focused on Child Protective Services systems reform.

Child Welfare Contracts.  The payment structure, beginning July 1, 2007, has returned to the FY 2000 structure of a base monthly payment rate combined with a monthly rate per child to create a predictable and stable payment process.  The contracts will be rebid in FY 2009 and effective FY 2010.  The use of one contractor for the life of the case is being examined to determine whether expected benefits for children and the system have been realized. The

recruitment portion of the adoption contract is being discontinued effective January 2009, as reflected in the Governor’s budget for FY 2009.  Recruitment, training and support of adoptive families is available for all foster children through the other child welfare contractors.  

Kansas Foster Care Educational Assistance .  The number of new students participating in the Kansas Foster Care Educational Assistance program between the Fall 2006 Semester and the Fall 2007 Semester is 256 for a total of 419. In addition to the waiver of tuition by the school for these foster youth, the students may also receive assistance for room and board, technical equipment, fees, books and other post secondary educational related costs from the Independent Living Program administered by Children and Family Services.  In order to sustain the program within available federal dollars, policy adjustments have been made recently to introduce a tiered approach to the amount of assistance the youth receives based on the number of months the youth is receiving subsidy.

Kansas Rehabilitation Services (KRS)

No waiting lists in KRS . As of January 16, 2008, KRS removed the final 542 consumers on the category 3 waiting list.  Those persons removed from the waiting list are being contacted by their counselors. For the foreseeable future all eligible Kansans with disabilities will be able to work with their counselors to develop Individualized Plans for Employment and initiate job-related services with no waiting periods.  Kansas had operated with a waiting list since October 2005.

KRS Audit.  The federal Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has completed its periodic on-site monitoring of KRS. RSA informed KRS that it would be required to cease all grants to external service delivery partners in spite of the fact that these grants had been part of previously approved State Plans.  The current RSA interpretation is that Title I of the Rehabilitation Act does not specifically identify sub-granting on the part of the Designated State Unit as an allowable activity.  As a result, KRS has terminated all grants effective July 31, 2007, and taken the following actions:

• KRS has worked with Assistive Technology for Kansans and the individual access sites to establish a provider agreement through which services can be purchased on an individual client-by-client basis.  The Governor has included $375,000 in state funds in her budget to replace the discontinued grant.
• The Rehabilitation Engineering Mobile Shop, operated by the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation, grant for $198,000 has been replaced with a provider agreement through which services can be purchased.
• As an alternative to the grants to the eight independent living centers, a service provider agreement is under development for independent living assessment and support services. 
• In compliance with RSA’s recommendation to reprioritize SSA resources, the Governor's budget added $500,000 in State General Funds to maintain Independent Living grants at the current level of funding provided through SRS Disability and Behavioral Health Services (DBHS).
• The Governor's budget maintains the $150,000 funding for the Kansas Youth Empowerment Academy, whose mission is to promote and support the development of youth with disabilities so they become empowered as community leaders through education, mentoring and peer support. Of this total, $118,500 in federal funding was shifted to State General Funds in response to a recent federal review which determined that federal Title I vocational rehabilitation funds may not be granted for any purpose.
• KRS has signed a $100,000 contract with the Statewide Independent Living Council of Kansas to replace its previous grant.   Federal regulations specifically allow the use of Rehabilitation Services funds to support operation of this Council, so the funding continues but the mechanism was changed from grant to contract.

Management of Independent Living Programs .  RSA also determined that only KRS meets the legal requirements to serve as the Designated State Unit for Independent Living.  These programs had been administered by SRS-DBHS Community Supports and Services (CSS) since 1999.  As a result, KRS will resume management and monitoring of Title VII Part B funds.  KRS, CSS, and the Statewide Independent Living Council of Kansas (SILCK) are working on a smooth transition of both the SGF and federal program responsibilities.

Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs).   Kansas Rehabilitation Services and the Board of Regents have reached consensus on an Interagency Agreement clarifying responsibilities for the provision of auxiliary aids and services for vocational rehabilitation (VR) consumers participating in post-secondary education. Thirty two of the thirty six schools have submitted their signed agreements as of this date.  According to the terms of the agreement, funding for auxiliary aids and services will be a shared responsibility of KRS and the Institutions of Higher Education when:  the student has been admitted to the Institution and has enrolled in courses;  the Institution has determined the auxiliary aids and services to be reasonable  accommodations for which the student is eligible according to the Institution’s  legal obligations under the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA; and the eligible student is also a VR customer who, through informed choice, has included such aids or services on his or her individual Plan for Employment (IPE).

Child Support Enforcement (CSE)

Child Support Collections .  In partnership with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks , in October 2007, CSE implemented the provisions of K.S.A. 32-918 which allows for recreational license sanctions in cases of child support nonpayment. This sanction is generating valuable new collections, particularly in cases that had seen little success from standard remedies.  Changes in federal law concerning the issuance of passports have also helped to increase collections for Kansas families.  There has been an increase in the number of contacts from persons owing child support who cannot obtain a passport for travel outside the U.S.  This provision is resulting in large lump-sum payments that benefit Kansas children. 
Kansas Payment Center—Debit Card.  The Kansas Payment Center (KPC) disburses all child support payments in Kansas.  In spring 2008, the KPC vendor will introduce a Visa-branded debit card for parents receiving support.  An outreach campaign has been planned to educate custodial parents about the advantages of changing from paper checks to “e-disbursement” and about the need to choose between a debit card or direct deposit.  For parents unfamiliar with banking, special effort will be made to help them learn how to manage their account.  Increasing the volume of “e-disbursements” speeds up delivery of support payments, eliminates overhead for the KPC, and reduces undisbursed collections.