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 Garbage in – Garbage Out  Programmers have to understand welfare regulations in order to program the computer system  Most of the programmers understanding ccame from counties  County interpretations of the regulations are not always correct

 LEADER in Los Angeles – LEADER II coming soon  CalWIN – Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Tulare, Ventura & Yolo (17 counties)  C-IV- All remaining 40 counties

 2.5 million cases  43% of the State’s caseload  CalWIN was fully functional in December 2007

 Ross Perot Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and Deloite Consulting  Colorado Welfare Computer System  LEADER in Los Angeles

 1 st CountyPlacer County January 2005  2 nd County SacramentoMarch 2005  Thereafter 1 county each month

 Workers introduced to CalWIN knew the welfare regulations  Workers knew that the applicant/recipient was entitled to benefits, the amount of benefits and when the benefits should be issued  Worker did not understand CalWIN  To get the computer to issue benefits, workers had to input information to get CalWIN to issue proper benefits

 CalWIN is programmed to reevaluate information automatically going back several years  Recipients and applicants have been receiving notices of overpayments due to the false information submitted to the computer

 Periodically new releases modifying the computer programming are issued to comply with new legal requirements and procedural improvements  Each new release can cause new problems  When Advocates identify a new pattern of client problems they must evaluate to see if it is CalWIN caused  Advocacy activities are important in resolving CalWIN problems

 CalWORKs based system ◦ Different rules for different programs within CalWIN ◦ Sometimes CalWIN applies CalWORKs requirements to Food Stamps and Medi-Cal  Acts on each individual reported change  NOA language problems  Not allowing the computer to be a computer

 Many good workers retired as a result of CalWIN  Post CalWIN workers, training consists of mostly CalWIN trainings and little training on regulations  Workers defer to CalWINs determinations and don’t independently determine eligibility

 Bad NOA  Violates Turner v. Anderson that standardized NOAs- ACL  Applicant not allowed to complete SAWS-1  Paperless - Impact on Due Process  Not getting benefits on time  Delay in application  CalWIN overrides manual instructions ◦ School attendance-immunizations

 Infringes on Recipients’ Right to Privacy ◦ CalWIN tracks EBT usage ◦ Use of EBT card outside of county may trigger termination for “whereabouts unknown”  CalWIN does not track recipient entitlement to WtW transportation  CalWIN miscalculates CalWORKs 0-month time limit General CalWIN problems (con’t)

 CalWIN is administered by WCDS  WCDS Consortia consists of representative of 18 CWD that use CalWIN  It is governed by: ◦ WCDS Board of Directors By-Laws ◦ WCDS Policy Board By-Laws ◦ WCDS Integration Oversight Committee By-Laws ◦ WCDS Information Technology Agreement for the CalWORKs Information Network ◦ WCDS Manual ◦ CSAC Agreement

 Meetings with local CWD  Meetings with DSS  Demand letter meetings

 Who is in charge? ◦ The State? ◦ The County? ◦ The Consortia?

 Change request derive from state, federal or county mandated policy or regulations, changes in county business practice needs, or technology changes  WCDS consortia operates and administers CalWIN  The consortium issues instructions for the issuance, continuance and termination of public assistance benefits

 Change request are presented to the Change Control Board (CCB) without DSS involvement  CCB prioritizes requires changes to CalWIN. Lower rated changes may not occur for years  DSS has no role in determining what gets priority

 Non-System Determined Issuance  What is it used  Why is it used

 Contact the help desk  Submit a trouble ticket

 Meetings with DSS  Demand Letter meetings  Meeting with CWD