113-2          METHOD OF QUALITY ASSESSMENT REVIEW

DPA’s Eligibility Information System (EISEligibility Information System) is the information technologies platform supporting the delivery of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Alaska Temporary Assistance, Adult Public Assistance (APA), and Medicaid benefits.  Every month EISEligibility Information System randomly selects open, closed, denied, and suspended SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for QA Quality AssessmentQuality Assurance review. All cases (correct or error) are assigned to the office the case is CARC’D to when the sample is pulled. All cases will remain with the original office for reporting purposes.

For Child Care Assistance, sample cases from several programs are combined to create an all-encompassing "universe" for analysis.  PASS I program cases are provided through EIS.Eligibility Information Syste PASS II & III are quarried from ICCISIntegrated Child Care Information System, while Office of Children's Services cases are recorded in the ORCA Online Resources of the Children of Alaskasystem.  Monthly, all cases from these three systems are combined and sampled through SPSSStatistical Package for the Social Sciences syntax by federally-approved methods.

The QA Quality AssessmentQuality Assurance Supervisor assigns reviews to each reviewer.  When the QA Quality AssessmentQuality Assurance Reviewer requests a case file, the field, region, or local office must send the case file to QA Quality Assessment Quality Assurancewithin three working days.  QA Quality Assessment Quality Assurancemay need to keep the file for up to seven working days before returning it.

The case record (EIS and case file) is the QA Quality Assessment Quality AssuranceReviewer's primary source of information regarding the eligibility determination and case management activities.  The QA Quality Assessment Quality Assurancereviewer obtains information from recipient case files, EISEligibility Information System, ICCISIntegrated Child Care Information System, ORCAOnline Resources of the Children of Alaska, and other interagency databases.  QA Quality Assessment Quality AssuranceReviewers also make independent collateral contacts to determine if the information used in the eligibility process is accurate.  

Reviewers use the Alaska Temporary Assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Child Care, and Medicaid program policies to determine if the caseworker appropriately applied the policies to factors of eligibility, work activities, benefit amounts or authorized payments of childcare.  The reviewer will also use State statutes and Federal regulations to ensure the policy manuals accurately reflect current regulatory guidelines.

The Federal Quality Control FNS Food and Nutrition Service Food and Nutrition ServiceHandbook 310 provides guidance on how to conduct the review, verify and document information, and determine errors for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Generally, the same standards apply to the Alaska Temporary Assistance, Adult Public Assistance and Medicaid review processes.

Alaska's Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP Child Care Assistance Program) is monitored by the Federal Child Care Bureau, which requires each state to submit yearly the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) report on the state's program.  In addition to numerous policy, program, and market rate survey requirements, Alaska fulfills the quality assessment component through the QA Quality AssessmentQuality Assurance review process.  Furthermore, CCAP Child Care Assistance ProgramChild Care Assistance Program is responsible for compliance with Alaska Administrative Code Title 7, AAC Chapter 41, and Alaska statute AS4725.001 through AS4725.095.