Welfare benefit system to be streamlined

The Ventura County Human Services Agency recently launched a new automated system for determining eligibility for social service programs that will reduce paperwork, reduce the turnaround time for receiving benefits and provide more opportunity for interaction between staff and clients.

It's called CalWORKS Information Network, commonly referred to as CalWIN. Ventura is the 15th county out of 18 to switch to the new technology after more than 25 years of using a legacy system that required a high percentage of manual paperwork. Human Services Agency (HSA) processes an average of 52,000 cases per month between CalWORKS, Food Stamps and Medi-Cal.

"We're looking forward to using state-of-the-art technology to improve our business processes and provide more accurate benefit determinations for our clients," said Ted Myers, director of HSA. "The paperwork reduction alone will ensure that services are delivered in a timely manner. It's a winwin situation for both staff and clients."

Previous changes in welfare legislation mandated that all counties in the state implement a standardized automated eligibility determination and benefit calculation system. The cost of

the nine-year CalWIN project statewide tops $800 million, with Ventura County weighing in at more than $21.5 million. The state picks up all but $436,000. Since May 2005, 14 counties have switched to

CalWIN, making it possible for technology issues to be resolved for future county conversions.

HSA has spent the last six years preparing for the conversion, including extensive training for staff. Each of the 658 employees that will use the new system were required to complete between 24 and 80 training hours by the first day of conversion in early April.

Clients may experience some delays in the first couple of weeks, but business should quickly return to normal.