1730 Miscellaneous Information

1731 - Voter Registration - The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires voter registration to be available in public assistance offices. The Act also requires that anyone applying for or receiving public assistance, including TANF, Food Assistance, Child Care, Summer EBT and LIEAP, be offered the opportunity to register to vote at the time of initial application, each eligibility review, and each report of a change of address.

1. Each individual must be informed of this registration service and offered the same level of assistance in completing the voter registration application or declining the registration activity as the agency provides in completing our benefits applications or other processes. The requirement to provide “equal assistance” in filling out voter registration materials means that staff must understand and be able to answer questions about Kansas’ voting eligibility requirements and must offer assistance in completing a voter registration application.
   
   
   1. Application, review, and reporting documents offer everyone the opportunity to register to vote or to decline to register, by answering the “voter preference question.” If an individual does not complete this page of the application, it is considered a declination of voter registration at that time. Completion of the voter registration page of the ES-3100 is not a condition of eligibility for assistance and has no bearing on case processing or eligibility.
      
      
   2.  The agency is required by law to provide voter registration applications to clients unless they decline in writing. This means that if the individual does not indicate a choice regarding the “voter preference question” on this page (leaving it blank), the agency must provide the individual with a voter registration application.
      
      
2.  Those applying on-line are offered the opportunity to link to the State’s voter registration site or to have a voter registration application mailed to them.
   
   
3.  DCF staff taking a report of a change of address or name change by telephone or in person should inform the individual that a change of address or name requires new voter registration and DCF staff should ask the individual if they wish to register to vote. Change of address forms developed by local offices must include the same voter registration and declination preference language as is included in application, review, and reporting documents and local staff must react to a “blank” response to the “voter preference question” by providing or mailing the voter registration application. All those who answer "yes" are to be handed or mailed a voter registration application. The individual’s response to the offer to register to vote is to be recorded on a voter preference form.
   
   
4. During an in-person transactions, the clients or applicants should complete the voter preference form themselves. During telephone transactions, DCF staff should record the response on the voter preference form. Local offices must keep all voter preference forms for at least two years. See Web Links for a copy of the Voter Registration Application. (Information on eligibility requirements will be provided to staff and further questions about voter registration can be directed to the Secretary of State’s office at 1-800-262-VOTE(8683).) DCF is also responsible for ensuring that any voter registration applications returned by clients to agency staff or offices are transmitted to the appropriate local county elections officials within five days of receipt.

1732 Quality Assurance - The QA system was established to improve program management by providing management information related to payment accuracy. The QA system is also mandated for the Food Assistance Program by the United States Department of Agriculture. The EES Administration Corrective Action (CA) Coordinator has the responsibility to review all potential QA errors before and after the local agency response. The local agency has the following responsibilities when QA submits a QA-7202:

1. Review the report.
    
2. Review the case to make sure proper corrective action is taken.
    
3. Respond to the report in writing on error cases by stating how the case was corrected and what action has been taken to assure that similar errors are being corrected in the total caseload. Claims must be prepared in accordance with the time frames in 11123 for all identified overpayments.
    
4. Identify the problem (policy, implementation procedure, etc.) and make sure that workers have enough information to implement the programs.  

Retain one copy of the QA-7202 for the case file and mail the other copy to the CA Coordinator. The Performance Reporting staff will place a return date on the QA-7202. If the Quality Assurance decision is to be contested, all information needed to contest the decision must be received by the CA Coordinator no later than the date shown on the QC-7202.

The procedures noted below shall be followed when there is disagreement with a QA finding (not applicable to uncontested findings).

1. The EES Specialist and/or supervisor shall clearly state on the QA-7202 that the agency does not agree with the QA finding. Manual references and other documentation to support the correctness of the case shall be provided.
    
2. The QA-7202 on contested cases shall be routed through the EES Program Administrator who will review the agency's response and consult with the CA Coordinator if necessary.
    
3. If the EES Program Administrator agrees with the QA finding, it shall be so stated on the QA-7202, which will be forwarded to the CA Coordinator. The EES Program Administrator is responsible for clarifying with staff the reason for not contesting the finding.
   
   This should provide an excellent opportunity for training and clarifying existing policies and procedures.
    
4. If the EES Program Administrator decides to contest the QA finding, it shall be so stated on the QA-7202 and forwarded to the CA Coordinator.
    

1733 Kansas State Employment Services (KES) - KES maintains a listing of job openings in communities which can be used as a resource for clients seeking employment. The job listing can be accessed in KES offices and via the Internet where available.

KES provides DCF with weekly unemployment compensation reports which are sent to the local DCF offices. Unemployment compensation information is also available from the KES online system along with quarterly earnings data. In addition, DCF receives a new hire report cross matched with DCF clients.

1734 Out-Of-Town Inquiries - Care needs to be taken to make requests of other agencies only when necessary. In making inquiries in other states, consult the latest edition of "The Public Human Services Directory" for information regarding the agency and whether the state agency acts as a forwarding center. Inquiries should be addressed to the agency concerned whether inside or outside of the state, unless the local office considers this a particular problem which needs to be routed through EES Administration.

A signed copy of the Information Release Form should be included in the correspondence whenever the consent of the client to the giving of that information is needed. This would include information such as medical, legal, or financial.

Out-of-town inquiries should be answered promptly and in sufficient detail to enable the inquiring agency to plan effectively. The EES Program Administrator or supervisor must read and sign all correspondence when agency policy rather than individual case planning is involved.