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Human services now can be ACCESSed faster

The Department of Children and Families has made applying for Medicaid, food stamps and more easier by offering electronic signup at two kiosks.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published August 14, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Applying for food stamps and other help in Hernando County may not take as long as it used to.

For the past month, residents have been able to stop by the county Health and Human Services Department to sign up for cash assistance, Medicaid and other programs online - without waiting in long lines or making repeated visits to a Department of Children and Families office.

Through ACCESS Florida, which stands for Automated Community Connection to Economic Self-Sufficiency, DCF has made the process of applying for benefits, changing addresses and personal information and reporting other changes available electronically.

Throughout the state, residents can go to DCF partner locations to use computers that have been set up in offices such as the one in the Hernando Health and Human Services Department.

There, patrons can also make copies of documents being submitted, have access to fax machines and leave copies of important papers without having to wait in line to see a receptionist.

"And if someone needs help, there are trained staff available to answer any questions," said William D'Aiuto, ACCESS Florida manager with DCF's District 13. "Prior to our transition into ACCESS Florida, people had to primarily come through a DCF service center, might have been required to be seen in person and even come back a second time."

In addition to Hernando, DCF's District 13 includes Citrus, Marion, Lake and Sumter counties. Current ACCESS Florida locations in Hernando include the Health and Human Services Department in Brooksville and Career Central in Spring Hill.

D'Aiuto explained that ACCESS Florida has been a statewide initiative in the works for about two years. While the aim has been to make applying for public programs easier, another goal has been to decrease costs associated with the traditional process.

Without increasing costs for the program and by using surplus equipment, DCF has seen its eligibility services expenses drop from $287-million to $204-million in the past three years. D'Aiuto said this can be attributed to ACCESS Florida.

The program also makes a difference for the people receiving public assistance, he said. As of June, about 15,200 county residents are on Medicaid, 9,500 residents receive food stamps and 520 receive cash assistance. Statistics show the unduplicated total, or the number of people who aren't signed up for more than one service, for all three programs is just over 18,000.

"The whole point of this is economic self-sufficiency," D'Aiuto said. "A lot of the customers we deal with are employed, and it doesn't help them to have to take time off to go to multiple locations to get services."

In conjunction with ACCESS Florida, Hernando Health and Human Services director Jean Rags said residents can more or less "one-stop shop" when they stop by the office.

"If they need help with other areas, maybe they've been evicted from their residences or need other help, we can direct them to services that may be available to them depending on their situation," she said.

Besides the two public partner sites in the county, there are more than 140 locations in the county where residents can find the help they need, D'Aiuto said. Not all of them, such as nursing homes for example, are advertised to the public.

But once people find themselves there, staff members can tell them what Medicaid services are available.

"There are different levels of partners and we continue to work and have discussions with groups in the area," D'Aiuto said. "We encourage the public to remember that they don't always have to come to the traditional DCF office. But if they want to, we'll be there to help them."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1432.

[Last modified August 14, 2006, 06:23:00]