Social Services Eligibility
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Mission Statement:
The mission of the Department of Social Services
(DSS) is to work with many local and regional
partners to provide excellent services to county
citizens needing social, eligibility, or employment
and training services.
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Service Description:
The Eligibility Division of the Department of Social
Services is responsible for the administration of
several aid and services programs: Medi-Cal;
County Medical Services Program (CMSP);
CalWORKs, Employment and Training (Welfare to
Work) and Child Care; Food Stamps; General
Assistance; Foster Care and Adoptions and the
Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
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The Eligibility Division issued approximately
$44,975,622 of benefits in calendar year 2006. This
continues the upward trend from $51,231,509 in
$40,437,551 in 2004 $39,345,603 in 2003 and
$35,000,000 of benefits in calendar year 2002.
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Major Accomplishments in 2007-08
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Sponsored the 2006 Annual Truckee
Community Health Fair to increase access to
health and human services.
Continued to provide staff support to the Adult
and Family Services Commission.
Partnered with the Emergency Assistance
Coalition to enhance existing services in
Western County to serve CalWORKs
participants in need of emergency services.
Provided Eligibility Services on site at Nevada
County Behavioral Health Department, Miner’s
Clinic, Sierra Family Medical Clinic, Sierra
Nevada Memorial Hospital, Community
Recovery Resources and Progress House
Substance Abuse Treatment Center.
Provided targeted outreach and eligibility
services in rural isolated areas including North
San Juan and the town of Washington.
Provided targeted outreach and eligibility
services at local sites, such as Hospitality House
and Progress House, in order to increase access
to eligibility programs.
NEVADA COUNTY BUDGET 2008-09
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Co-sponsored the third annual Nevada County
Job Fair to increase awareness of local and
regional employment opportunities.
Expanded the video-eligibility project to include
Community Recovery Resources, joining the
Truckee H&HSA office, Adult and Children’s
Behavioral Health offices, Sierra Family
Medical Clinic, and multiple Social Services
offices, increasing access to services by
providing interactive interviews with videoconferencing equipment. Partially funded by a
grant from the Northern Sierra Air Quality
Management District, this project is in
partnership with the Rural Health Network,
Sierra Family Clinic, Behavioral Health and
Information and General Services.
Presented a workshop on the video-eligibility
network at the Statewide County Welfare
Director’s Association Conference.
Was noted by the State as one of the most
“exemplary County teams” in the Medi-Cal
Eligibility Process Improvement Collaborative
to maximize the efficiency, effectiveness and
accuracy of the Medi-Cal eligibility system.
Spread the knowledge learned in the Process
Improvement Collaborative by initiating a new
internal
team
to
improve
efficiency,
effectiveness and accuracy in another area of the
division.
Networked with local and regional Workforce
Investment Act Programs to develop a plan to
increase CalWORKs enrollments in appropriate
programs and services.
Co-located continuing CalWORKs eligibility,
employment and therapist staff to enhance
customer service delivery system.
Developed a formal CalWORKs Employment
Services training program based on applicable
federal and state regulations as well as county
policies and procedures.
Continued partnership with Nevada Joint Union
High School Adult Education Program to
provide training at San Juan Ridge Community
Center.
Redesigned
and
improved
CalWORKs
Employment Service activities and customer
service delivery systems to increase client
engagement and active participation.
Social Services Eligibility
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Objective:
Assist CalWORKs clients to increase their selfsufficiency by providing employment referrals,
counseling, trainings, education, substance abuse
and mental health treatment.
Performance Measures:
 Increase by 5% the number of participants who
go to work, compared to the FY07-08 baseline.
 Increase by 5% the number of participants who
go off of CalWORKs due to employment, as
compared to the FY07-08 baseline.
 Make monthly contact with all sanctioned adults
(removed from cash assistance for noncompliance) to encourage re-engagement in
social service activities.
Created a dynamic CalWORKs Job Readiness
Program and Job Search Workshop that includes
employability skills, life skills, and soft skills
training.
Objectives & Performance Measures
for 2008-09:
Objective:
Provide access to public assistance benefits for
qualified individuals by processing applications
and/or providing direct benefits within mandatory
time frames.
Performance Measures:
 Process 90% of 160/month Food Stamp
applications within 30 days.
 Process 90% of 190/month Medi-Cal
applications within 45 days.
 Process 90% of 50/month CalWORKs
applications within 45 days.
 Process 90% of 20/month General Assistance
applications within 30 days.
 Process 90% of 190/month CMSP applications
within 45 days.
 100% of renewal packets will be mailed out on
time.
Objective:
Increase awareness and delivery of services through
continued collaboration with community partners
and public outreach activities.
Performance Measures:
 15 community partners will inform and educate
Employment Services and/or Eligibility staff of
the range of services they provide.
 Increase from zero (0) to ten (10) the total
number of CalWORKs Employment Services
clients enrolled in Workforce Investment Act
training programs.
 Conduct program outreach and education at 5
community events and issue one Public Service
Announcement to reach members of the public
unaware of our programs.
Objective:
Assist families and individuals in maintaining access
to medical, financial and food safety net programs
by encouraging clients to complete their annual
renewals and by eligibility and clerical staff
processing renewals within mandatory time frames.
Performance Measures:
 Process 90% of 320/month renewals on time.
 100% of renewal packets will be mailed out on
time.
Objective:
Improve the effectiveness of the Employment and
Training One-Stop Center, and increase its use by
unemployed and underemployed residents of Eastern
and Western Nevada County, by developing and
implementing a marketing strategy.
Performance Measures:
 Approximately
6,600
employment-related
services will be provided to a minimum of 600
unduplicated clients.
 Engage 75 employers to provide recruitment
opportunities at the One-Stop Center.
 Ensure that a minimum of 10 partners will
provide services to One-Stop Center clients.
Objective:
Provide positive, accurate and knowledgeable
customer service by providing relevant training to
staff.
Performance Measures:
 Maintain average eligibility and Welfare-toWork accuracy success rate of 80%.
 Based on California Department of Social
Service’s Work Participation Rate (WPR)
calculations, increase WPR by 5% based on 0708 monthly calculator.
NEVADA COUNTY BUDGET 2008-09
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Social Services Eligibility
Objective:
Increase efficiencies and accessibility to community
resources through the expansion of video eligibility.
Performance Measures:
 Increase the number of video eligibility sites by
two.
 Develop protocols and procedures, and train
staff.
Service Budget Unit Code
Office/Department
Major Service Area
- 50105/50205
- HHSA/Dept. of Social Services
- Public Assistance
NEVADA COUNTY BUDGET 2008-09
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