1. Economic Self-Sufficiency Services July 16, 2001

2. Mission: To Promote Self-Sufficiency • Vision To provide community-based, client centered, and technology supported client services that support capacities of self-sufficiency for protection of the most vulnerable through integrated partnerships with internal and external programs, with local and statewide oversight, accountability and monitoring provided through minimally-sized staffing while seeking to standardize program operations, simplify program policies and deploy flexibility in implementation of federal and state rules and regulations.

3. Core Services • Comprehensive Eligibility Determination • Process of determining an assistance group’s technical, asset and income eligibility and calculating benefits. • Food Stamps: • average monthly caseload statewide: 423,007 • Cash Assistance • average monthly caseload statewide: 61,702 • Medicaid • average monthly clients statewide: 1,246,881

4. Core Services • Special Assistance Payments • Cash assistance programs for the aged, blind, or disabled who can no longer live alone and who need placement in an alternative setting • Optional State Supplementation • average ;monthly caseload statewide: 9,375 • Refugee Assistance (RAP) • Cash and medical assistance for eligible refugees. • average monthly caseload statewide: 2,334

5. Major Initiatives • Competency Based Pay Plan Bonus Rollout • Effort to attain a competently certified statewide workforce • Employee bonus pay component based totally upon performance • Has component of professional training and continuous development • Objective: To achieve improved client services, improved program performance, increase retention and recruitment of quality staff, produce better trained professional staff • Community Based Care/Privatization Expansion • Effort to privatize eligibility services and provide through community based resources • Department will assume more contract oversight and monitoring roles • Objective: To deliver eligibility services via a community based model and reduce staffing requirements

6. Major Initiatives • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Reauthorization • Effort to encourage federal reauthorization of TANF program and funding • TANF provides approximately $1-billion of Social Services funding for the State of Florida • Objective: To encourage state flexibilities in TANF program requirements, maintain and even enhance state funding level • Technology Enhancements • Efforts to automate more program requirements and enhance technology applications • Web-enabled FLORIDA System technology will allow provider access to authorized information and client interactive eligibility services • Objective: To increase program integrity and efficiency, reduce exposure to state sanctions and penalties for program errors, reduce requirement for manual tasks and error prone activities and reduce staffing requirements