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time; however, they will not necessaril y get an appointment to be seen . Board members <br />inquired how cases are counted if the client is in multiple services. In the past it would <br />result in a duplicated case in the statistics. Ms. Jorgenson explained it is difficult to count <br />the number of cases; however, there is a report that Chair Bollinger is working on <br />obtaining. <br />Under the Economic Assistance Redesign, Cass County will merge with other Zones in <br />the area to form a service region. The map of the regions will be provided to the Board <br />members. Each region will be responsible for covering applications coming from the <br />Zones within that area. Eventually, there will be a Cent ral Call Center and a Central Mail <br />Center to handle all calls and correspondence coming and going. Concerns were raised <br />regarding how other Zones will be able to offer services to cl ients if they are not familiar <br />with our area . Discussions continue regarding this issue. There are other Zones currently <br />assisting Cass County with applications and will provide clients with Firstlink 2-1-1 or <br />they wil l contact staff here with questions about resources and services. <br />Board members questioned if everyone in the State could be trained on the process but <br />still have some that are more specia lized on certain tasks. There have been numerous <br />discussions on this, but it was ultimately decided the only program that would continue <br />to be special ized is TANF, due to the nature of the program and how it has the least <br />number of cases. The goal of Process Management is to create a balance in workload <br />whereas specia lization creates an imbalance. <br />With the current Public Health Emergency, health care cases have not been closed fo r <br />the last two yea rs unless a cl ient moves out of state or requests their case closed. It is <br />estimated Cass County has over 13,000 cases currently open. Once the directive ends, <br />t here will be many cl ients not eligible, which will return case numbers to pre-pandemic <br />statistics. Each case will go through a review and if the review is not returned or <br />determined ineligible, the case will be closed. The division has seen an increase in Ch ild <br />Care Assistance due to income requirements being increased and more fami lies <br />becoming eligible. Families do still have difficulty locating daycares, however. Based on <br />federal guidelines, turnaround time on applications vary between 30 -45 days depending <br />on the program. It does not always take that long, but that is what Eligibility Workers are <br />allowed. <br />Board members questioned what the increase was regarding Child Care Assistance. The <br />supervisors expla ined there is a sliding fee scale used to determine. There is also no co- <br />pay required . This will continue until February 2023. It was requested that the sliding fee <br />information be sent to Board members for review. <br />Chair Bollinger expressed her appreciation to the supervisors and the Economic <br />Assistance staff as they continue to navigate through the many complex programs and <br />changes occurring. <br />Ill. Personnel Update <br />Heather Collins, Executive Staff Officer, reported 22 pos itions in various hiring stages. <br />There were an increased resignations in the last month with approxi mately eight staff <br />leaving for State positions. Similar moves have impacted many Zones across the State.