departments & agencies
department of social services / news
40 Coxe Avenue
Asheville, NC 28802
(828)-250-5500
Food Assistance Customer Service Team Receives Award
Buncombe County’s Food Assistance Customer Service Team was one of 10 county teams in N.C. that were recognized and rewarded for their innovative initiatives at the NCACC’s 102nd Annual Conference in Catawba County.
The Food Assistance Customer Service Team (Marty Phillips, Erin Henderlight, Rae Gibbens, Angie Jenkins, Karen Hart, Linda Rogers, Margie Allman and Dottie Medford) were awarded for their work to accommodate a 30 percent increase in food stamp caseloads and improve accuracy benchmarks.
Their efficiency improvements enabled the division to process higher caseloads with minimal staff increases, saving the county $171,000. In addition, the county was able to reduce lobby wait time from 57 to 14 minutes, process applications under time standards (staff average was nine days compared with the state standard of 30 days), and maintain a 100 percent accuracy rate.
The team’s efficiency improvements altered scheduling from half-day intake to full-day intake to process additional applications, streamlined the training manual to have new staff on regular intake in three months instead of six months, implemented timed standards to decrease client wait time in the lobby, restructured staff meetings to ensure full-day intake, reworked forms to expedite case processing times, and requested that clients complete much of the application in the lobby while waiting for a caseworker. This alone cut the actual interview time by 40 percent.
The Local Government Federal Credit Union has assumed the sponsorship of NCACC’s employee productivity recognition program (formerly known as the Ralph Ketner Employee Productivity Program) and has begun donating $10,000 annually to reward outstanding county employees for their successful productivity initiatives. This year marks the Association’s 18th year in organizing the program, and the first year of LGFCU sponsorship. To date, the program has attracted 1,400 project applications representing more than $105 million in savings to North Carolina counties.