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A partnership between DCF Circuit 8 A partnership between DCF Circuit 8
and The Alachua County Board of County Commissionersand The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners
December 2008-August 2009
Project Final Report
Local FS participation rates were below national averages which resulted in a loss of potential benefits for citizens and loss of income for the local economy
PRAB Members questioned ability of local citizens to seek assistance at DCF ACCESS Service Centers and via the ACCESS Call Center in Jacksonville
Locally and across the state we were seeing an increase in applications, wait times in lobbies and volume of calls to ACCESS Call Centers
DCF volunteered to provide site and access to trained staff and through funding from the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners we began our Food Stamp Assistance Hotline.
$14,973 requested to fund local call in number to assist Food Stamp applicants and participants to gain access to info about applying for and maintaining their benefits
Approved by BOCC on 11/25/08 Press Release from County on 12/8/09 Hotline up and running on 12/8/09 Thru August 2009 2601calls processed!
Line open from 8 to 5 pm, Mon thru Fri If line is busy customers can leave message Messages returned same day One temp services employee hired and paid
by county via Manpower contract Line is manned by DCF staff if this person is
not available Details of each call were recorded and
reviewed by supervisors
Mail applications, directions to application sites in community Answer questions regarding process and FS policy Referrals to other agencies as neededAnswer simple case specific questionsReferrals to Call Center for detailed
questions regarding ongoing casesEncouragement and support from a REAL
person!
Number of Calls per Day
N= 2601
Newspaper Sticky Notes
Types of Assistance Provided to Customers
Only 180 calls sent to CCC
15000
17000
19000
21000
23000
25000
27000
29000
Sep-08
Oct-08
Nov-08
Dec-09
Jan-09
Feb-09
Mar-09
Apr-09
May-09
Jun-09
Jul-09
Aug-09
27.3% Increase
Over a similar period of time the NE Region has seen a 16.9%
increase in participation rates.
Using ARRA Funding DCF will maintain the phone line in Alachua County
New initiatives for improving customer interviews, application processing and internet access to case information are improving services to our customers
Over 2.3 million people in the state of Florida are now receiving Food Stamp Benefits
Innovative ideas and community based partnerships are essential to our programs
Thank you again for making this possible….