What's Happenin'?

Greetings everyone!

Many things are happening in the world around us. Recently, we’ve seen disasters and tragedies, and with them we’ve seen the people willing to help others. All of these things affect our work and our personal life. During these stressful times, we should always be aware of the things in our lives that are causes for celebration. Things like your child’s first day of school, your spouse or partner’s hugs or kind words, or maybe a snuggle from your pet. These are just a few of the things that can make our life special; don’t overlook them.

What's Happenin'?

The Division of Public Assistance staff continue to embrace the principles of Business Process Redesign (BPR) by effectively and successfully following the principles!

What’s Happenin’ with Statewide BPR efforts?

Your daily efforts are directly impacting our Customer Interactions with every client you see! By taking care of the customers entering DPA through the various access points (lobby, mail, and fax) with one touch resolution, this reduces multiple customer contacts. Approximately 8 out of 10 (80%) customers receive a decision to their eligibility of benefits during the first contact with us. Remember, this is the most effective strategy to eliminate unnecessary touches and repeat client contacts to address customer needs at the onset of the request whenever possible. Keep up the great work of approving/denying eligibility during our first contact!

DPA Backlog Initiative

Greetings everyone!

Although we have been remiss with communicating what’s happenin’, there has been a lot of action within DPA!

What’s Happenin’ you ask? Well, the MatSu Region is rockin’ it! They have reached a point where they are able to staff their PathOS work effectively and efficiently AND they have staff “left over”. This means they are able to work what is coming in daily for the MatSu region and they are, dare we say, looking for work... Therefore, the managers are assigning some staff to work the Backlog Domain to assist with clearing the backlog. The managers are primarily monitoring the incoming MatSu work daily and adjusting where they deem necessary. YAY!

Virtual Contact Center update!

We wanted to provide an update to you pertaining to the Virtual Contact Center (VCC).

What is it?
The Virtual Contact Center (VCC) will allow customers to contact the Division in various ways and our staff will be located throughout the state (not like a call center where staff are in one location). The access point that we will initially focus on is phone calls. This VCC product is currently being used by other Departments and Divisions throughout the State of Alaska. Therefore, it is a familiar product and will be fully supported by IT and the State Enterprise Technology Section as we grow with the use of the VCC. Read more.

Six Non-Alaskan Residents Charged for Defrauding the Adult Public Assistance Program

Yesterday, an Anchorage grand jury indicted five non-residents for defrauding the Adult Public Assistance Program based on four separate incidents. One other non-resident was charged in Fairbanks. The Adult Public Assistance program is designed as a State supplement to the Federal Supplemental Security Income Program. The Adult Public Assistance program, which is funded entirely with state funds, is only available to Alaska residents. For full story