Press release from the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA):
FSSA Begins Hybrid Roll-Out
Today the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) announced they have begun rolling out the new Hybrid Welfare system in the ten counties that comprise the Vanderburgh Region. These counties are: Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Knox, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Warrick and Vanderburgh.
“This is an exciting day for our clients and for our staff as we begin a new system of approving and delivering services for more than 1.2 million Hoosiers we serve,” commented Secretary Anne Murphy. “We listened to our providers, advocates, employees and clients and have combined what worked best in the old system and the modernized system for the Hybrid.”
As was previously announced, the Hybrid System will allow for increased face-to-face contact between case workers and clients who desire it, while maintaining the electronic advancements of modernization. To this end, local county office staff has increased, calls to FSSA’s 1-800 number (1-800-403-0864) can now be routed to the caller’s local county office based on their zip code, and case workers will work in teams to ensure that clients are served in their local county office and fraud, which was prevalent in the old system, will remain low.
The changes which have occurred are as follows:
- Beginning January 18, 2010, calls to FSSA’s 1-800 number (1-800-403-0864) from the Vanderburgh Region can be routed to the local county office of the caller.
- Beginning January 25, 2010, case workers in the local county offices increased by twenty (20) with fourteen (14) case workers identified for Vanderburgh County. The remainder were for the other counties within the Vanderburgh Region.
- Beginning January 25, 2010, SNAP (also known as Food Stamps) recertifications are completed in the local county offices.
Additional changes will be communicated as they occur.
Contract Information:
Rather than contracting with one entity to manage the vendors as had been done in the past, FSSA is contracting directly with its vendors. This allows FSSA more direct control and management of the contracts and will improve responsiveness and accountability.
Vendors currently working in the Hybrid System:
- ACS
- Arbor
- Curam
- Gravitant
- Haverstick
- I3
- Manpower through Knowledge Services
- Phoenix
- Postmasters
- RCR
Timeline for Hybrid System roll-out to other regions:
- There is no timeline. FSSA will monitor the Vanderburgh Region carefully to make sure the Hybrid System is working well before it begins the rollout of the Hybrid System to other regions. FSSA will determine the next region in which to implement the Hybrid System and will announce accordingly.
Additional Information:
- All other counties will remain under the system they currently have. Clients should access benefits as usual until FSSA announces any changes coming to their county.
- FSSA remains in constant contact with its federal partners relative to the development and implementation of the Hybrid System.
- During the implementation of the Hybrid System in the Vanderburgh Region, FSSA is still working to improve timeliness, accuracy, and the client experience in the remaining regions.
Some information was left out of this re-posted press release. For the complete press release, click here.