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Saturday, June 17, 2006

Ind. Gov't. - Still more on: Governor Daniels imposes additional steps in FSSA contract review process

"FSSA outsourcing plan to get more review" is the headline to an AP story by Mike Smith that reports:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Gov. Mitch Daniels has given a review team more time to consider plans by the state's social services agency to outsource the application process for food stamps and other welfare benefits, his office announced Friday.

The Family and Social Services Administration has been considering plans to award a contract to a private vendor to handle the application process for food stamps, Medicaid and other government safety-net programs. Two groups of companies have participated in the bidding for the contract, estimated to be worth about $1 billion over 10 years.

FSSA had previously been looking at a timetable of completing negotiations with a winning vendor later this month.

Daniels appointed an interagency team in mid-May to review the welfare delivery system and the two responses that FSSA received to its request for proposals to privatize the application process. The governor originally asked the group to conclude its review by mid-June, but now has given it more time. * * *

Earl Goode, Daniels' deputy chief of staff and chairman of the interagency review team, said it has analyzed enough information to agree that Indiana must modernize its welfare system and that broad solutions proposed by FSSA were sound. But he said the team has not yet concluded how to accomplish that.

Goode said the team has identified some questions and tactical issues it wants to examine further before it makes a recommendation to Daniels about a specific agreement with a vendor to handle the eligibility process. He said the team would continue its efforts until it has either negotiated a proposed agreement for Daniels' review or prepared an alternative recommendation.

The two teams of vendors, one led by IBM and the other by Bermuda-based Accenture LLP, were to have submitted their final responses to FSSA by May 9. The IBM team includes Affiliated Computer Services Inc. of Dallas, which employed Roob as a vice president before he joined the Daniels administration last year.

For background, start with this June 3rd ILB entry.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 17, 2006 08:35 AM
Posted to Indiana Government