Recently in Social Services Category

Source: By Alex Nixon, Kalamazoo Gazette (MI), Tuesday, June 12, 2007

More of the state's child and family services would be handled by private, nonprofit organizations under a proposal before Lansing lawmakers.

Proponents say the measure could save $19 million from next year's Michigan Department of Human Services budget, which is expected to be more than $4.51 billion.

Source: Governing Magazine, May 2007

A privatization program unravels in its first year and raises questions about how it could go so far south so fast.

Everything went wrong: Calls were dropped and applications lost. Unwarranted layoffs were followed by panicked retention maneuvers. Misinformation was magnified by bureaucratic goofs. However one measures failure, Texas bungled its recent attempt to privatize the operation of four major programs administered by its Health and Human Services Commission--a $900 million deal.

Source: The Associated Press (TX), May 23, 2007, 5:53PM

The House gave final approval Wednesday to a measure that would strengthen protection of foster children and repeal much of the foster care privatization lawmakers ordered last session. The legislation calls for annual inspections of foster homes.

Source: By ROBERT T. GARRETT, The Dallas Morning News (TX), Tuesday, May 22, 2007

A bill that would strengthen protection of foster children – and roll back almost all of the privatization of foster care lawmakers ordered last session – was endorsed by the House on Monday.

…… News reports about the beating deaths of three foster children in North Texas since August 2005 have revealed spotty state oversight of foster care contractors and state officials' lack of information about Texas' nearly 10,000 foster homes.

Source: South Bend Tribune (IN), March 27. 2007 6:59AM

Go ahead, call us skeptical. It has been made very clear in this space that we have deep and abiding concerns about statewide privatization of the delivery of welfare services to 1.1 million needy Hoosiers.

It would have been reassuring, as the privatization contract with a consortium of IBM and Affiliated Computer Services was negotiated, if Gov. Mitch Daniels had permitted the Indiana General Assembly an oversight role. But the governor took it upon himself to enter into the $1.16 billion, 10-year deal between the state Family and Social Services Administration and the IBM-ACS group.

FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob was a vice president of ACS prior to coming to work for Daniels.

Source: By ROBERT T. GARRETT, The Dallas Morning News (TX), Monday, March 19, 2007

A state effort to replace many welfare benefits offices with privately run call centers fell victim to unrealistic deadlines, budget cuts, stumbles by the contractor, a flawed public education campaign and mishaps with government-purchased computer software.

…… Accenture executive Dave McCurley testified to a House committee last month that software-related "inefficiencies" and an unexpectedly high number of calls pouring into the call centers early last year "combined to effectively break the camel's back."

…… Alec Davis, a state employee who has been an eligibility screener for 14 years and works at an Austin call center, said he has seen private contractor employees make less than conscientious efforts to help aid applicants. ….. "The job done over the years by the state workers has been a lot better than they give us credit for," he said.

Source: By KEN KUSMER, The Associated Press (IN), 03-15-07 8:24 PM EST

Federal officials are tightening their oversight of Indiana's experiment in privatizing much of its welfare safety net, requesting that the state provide monthly reports on how many food stamp applications it approves. The U.S. Agriculture Department's Food and Nutrition Service also will send representatives to Indiana next month to observe firsthand the state's outsourcing to an IBM Corp.-led team of the eligibility determination for food stamps and other benefits received by 1.1 million people.

Source: KEN KUSMER, Associated Press (IN), March 18, 2007

The outsourcing of much of Indiana's welfare safety net reaches a key milestone Monday when more than 1,500 workers leave their state jobs to join a group of private vendors with a 10-year contract designed to streamline the way people receive benefits. Those former employees of the Family and Social Services Administration still will help people apply for and continue receiving food stamps, Medicaid and other aid, but not as state case workers. They'll now be employees of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services Inc., a partner in the IBM Corp.-led group calling itself the Hoosier Coalition for Self Sufficiency.

…… Dave Warrick, executive director of Council 62 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also said that many departing FSSA employees have little confidence that the new system will adequately take care of clients. "They don't see how the structure that they're creating is going to work," Warrick said. "There's a lot of worry."

Source: Tiffany Roper, CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY PRIORITIES, Austin American Stateman, Monday, March 19, 2007

Texas recently announced the termination of its contract with Accenture, the private company the state hired to enroll Texans in health care, food stamps, and other social services. Though privatization was supposed to save the state money and improve services for families, thousands of the most vulnerable Texans were wrongly denied benefits and the state didn't save a dime.

Source: By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON Associated Press (TX), March 15, 2007, 10:48AM

Nearly every state senator has signed a letter asking the inspector general of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to investigate the failed contract with the company hired to privatize the state's social services eligibility system.

The commission announced Tuesday it was ending its contract with the Texas Access Alliance, a group of companies led by Accenture LLP. The letter was released Wednesday.