The remote caseworker conundrum
As the
COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt every facet of human life and state and
federal governments enforce 'shelter in place', the caseworkers who handle
social and health programs are finding it difficult to adapt on the job.
Other
than making sure there is no disruption to any assistance to an already
vulnerable population, they need to figure out how to carry on with their day-to-day
operations. How does the eligibility worker handle the multiple face-to-face
interviews scheduled for the day? What safety precautions does the site visit
inspector have to take when inspecting a home or facility? Is it even advisable
for the welfare workers to physically work out of an office building?
Given the
importance of both uninterrupted service and the wellbeing of the workers who
are administering the programs, we need to tackle this from the perspective of
policy, operations, and public-private partnerships.
Policy:
- Face-to-face: It made a lot of
sense in the past as a means to prevent fraud, waste and abuse. However, only a
few of the states have used the waiver to transition to a phone interview. As
we have moved to electronic verifications, either this requirement needs to be eliminated
or all states need to get a waiver.
- Allow
data sharing across agencies: Move to a true person centric social welfare
system, which means re-evaluating project charters and removing any one-off single
program implementation bids like standalone SNAP or TANF or Medicaid.
- Allow
case load distribution across the state in times of emergency by relaxing case
ownership rules.
- Move to 'no-touch' or 'minimum-touch' processing of the application, interim changes and re-certifications
Operations:
- Studies from the private sector have proven that telecommuting, flexible work schedules, and remote working actually increase productivity and even employee morale.
- As HHS systems move to the cloud with infrastructure handled by the cloud providers, it is time to seriously consider embracing the 'remote case worker' concept.
- Benchmarking from the private sector, consider remote desktop technologies to connect to the required networks with appropriate security.
- Clearly establish communication channels and operational procedures as the workforce adjusts to the new work culture like defining work schedule, conference call procedures, Instant Message (IM) etiquette, and explicit direction on two-way communication across the organization.
- For workers that need to come into an office building, ensure a clean and safe work place based on the new 'social distancing' principles.
- Enable technology for all modes of communication between the case workers and the citizens from emails and texts to FaceTime, WebEx etc.
- Invest in self-service kiosks not only at the service centers but also in public libraries and shelters.
Public-Private Partnerships:
- Here's a radical thought - provide all social welfare recipients with a smart phone and an 'app' for the state's social programs for which the data usage is free (e.g., Netflix is free on T-Mobile).
- Team up with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide free Wi-Fi hotspots in populous areas.
- State CTOs should work directly with cloud providers to move their offerings to their preferred cloud.
- Use drone based cameras for site inspections wherever possible.
