I support keeping the Interim Reports. Most of our clients are now familiar with the process and know to complete them. Getting all the verifications in is another issue but is no different than it is at renewal. Changing the process from Interims to a 6 month review will only serve to add more confusion on exact procedures to follow for all involved. This will especially impact our LEP clients who know what is expected with the Interims. They seldom fail to get their forms & verification in timely. If we change to the renewals they will all come in for months even if they don’t have to because they won’t understand the process. As they speak little or no English it is there only choice. This will increase the volume of clients handled by the front desk as well as cause an increase in the agency’s tele-interpreter costs. It will increase the workload for all involved.

Switching from the Interim process to the 6 month renewal process will result in the same problems, swapping paperwork back & forth between clients and workers, failure to provide required verifications and benefits not available to clients on the 1^st of each month. It does not offer any reduction in workloads and may increase the number of calls and agency visits until the clients get used to the new process. The renewal process will increase work as past renewals require proration and that they be evaluated for expedited status and processing. This is likely to cause problems with timeliness and accuracy rates.

There has been major change after change in policy since 2003.The confusion this causes cannot be dismissed. While the Interim report process is specific to Snap & Tanf it also impacts the families & children Medicaid for the case in Adapt. When you change one program it usually carries over to affect the others in some way. Workers are constantly dealing with all these issues when processing their cases. Worker frustration with the constant stream of changes may not be seen as a reason to stick with the Interim process but should be a major consideration.When the workers are frustrated with the work process and unsure of what they are doing this translates into poor customer service for our clients.  

Going back to the 6 month renewal in whatever form just seems to be going back to policy as it used to be in the past. Wasn’t one of the reasons the Interim Report process was started in the first place, an attempt to reduce workloads and thus reduce worker errors. If having renewals wasn’t working before and error rates were high why would it be the solution to the problem now? Apparently there are other causes that need to be looked at and steps taken to improve that have nothing to do with the Interim Report process.