Action Learning ProgrammeAction Learning Programme

Project Khaedu

Social Welfare – Empangeni/Ngwelezane

Project Khaedu

Social Welfare – Empangeni/Ngwelezane

November 3rd 2005November 3rd 2005

Agenda

•Executive summary

•Situation

•Complications

•Some suggestions

Executive summary and key message

Social security can significantly improve its grant application process, but needs to decentralise.Social Welfare Services is critically short of key resources and could consider devolving some of the functions in order to cope.The disability grant is clearly readily abused and a new approach is needed to control fraud

Ngwelezane Social Welfare office is handling a large and growing number of clients but the over complex separation of process between District and Region greatly hampers efficiency as does shortage of basic tools of the trade. With disability grants a new approach is needed if fraud is to be curtailed.

SituationSocial security can significantly improve its grant application process, but needs to decentralise.Social Welfare Services is critically short of key resources and could consider devolving some of the functions in order to cope.

•Two serious backlogs are building in disability grant process; namely; backlog crisis in the office and backlog crisis at Ulundi

•Backlog in the office caused mainly by long fragmented and duplicative process•Statistics for Ngwelezane Office seem to indicate a marked increase in numbers of applications for disability grants

•There is a growing crisis in Foster Care Grant applications, e.g. average number of applications per month is 113, 38 are granted, while about 56 reports are finalised by Social Workers

•There is only one vehicle in working order for used by 9 Social Workers•Communication with applicants is totally inadequate, e.g. the ‘notice’ board at Social Welfare.

•Our citizens are unhappy with overall time taken by the process, a situation probably exacerbated by lack of ablution facilities, but are reasonably happy with the quality of service received

•Staff morale appears relatively low with major issues regarding training, career progression, conditions of work and lack of resources

The majority of grant applications are for child support and disability

APPLICATIONS JULY - SEPT 2005

2.9% 1.0% 3.8%

33.7%33.2% 28.6%

3.2%

2.2%

58.5%62.8% 62.6%

1.0% 1.1% 1.2%

1.3%

1.3%0.4%

0.6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

LOWER UMFOLOZI APPLICATIONS RBAY APPLICATIONS ULUNDI APPLICATIONS

DISTRICT /REGION

PE

RC

EN

TA

GE

ARRERS

U. BEN

GIA

CSG

CDG

FCG

DG

OAP

Two serious backlogs are building in disability grants

562

348

208.5177.5

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Applied Awaiting AnnexureE

Fowarded toUlundi

Received fromUlundi

Backlog crisis in the Office

Backlog crisis at Ulundi

Average volumes per month

Partly driven by an apparent increase in applications

577

880

453431

544

651

715

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

April 05 May 05 June 05 July 05 Aug 05 Sep 05 Oct 05

Average backlog is 200 per month

…and a high rate of renewals relative to other areas…

LOWER UMFOLOZIDISABILITY APPLICATIONS: JULY - SEPTEMBER 2005

83.0%55.5%

38.9%

0.7%

18.9%11.1%

0.0% 0.2%

25.6%

16.3%

49.7%

0.0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LOWER UMFOLOZI RICHARDSBAY ULUNDI

APPEAL

MISCH

REVIEW

NEW

Total DG applications = 1,488New: 243

Total DG applications = 1,268New: 324

Total DG applications =15,864New:7,892

…and over 10% of the population seem to be ‘disabled’ – Basic Income Grant by default?

56,056

6,744

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1

Annual applications

Balance of population aged 18-65

But the single biggest factor is the current disability grant application process is long, complicated, fragmented and duplicative

Applicant referral letter to a Dr. &

Surgeon

Messenger collects referral

letters from Surgeon

Registration of referral letter &

paste against the wall

2nd Attesting Officer: Check, verify Issue a receipt

3rd Attesting Officer: Check, verify &

signs of for capturing

Data CapturerCheck, verify &

capture data electronically

Files moved to registry

Files batched & moved to

RO for approval

Two weeks

1st Attesting Officer Fill application forms

(manually) File opened

Applicant told to return in 3 months

Clerk: Check & verify documentation

Take finger prints

Go Back home

Files moved backed to

registry with award letters

File to enrolment

officer

Applicant returns to enquire if approval granted

Applicant queues for enrolment

officer

Enrolment officer logs approval

Applicant to CPS officer for

payment cardBeneficiary leaves to collect payment

Currently 3-6 months

Applicant checks his/ her name

against wall list

EnquiriesCheck & Verify Issue application

forms

Yes

No?

Actual time taken to complete: 35 minWaiting period: 1hr: 35 min

Total period: 2hr: 10m

In addition, the time taken to process a grant varies enormously creating major uncertainty for clients

012

178

212

186

86

4834 29

1932

0

50

100

150

200

250

0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9 9-10 10plus

The ‘Tail of Frustration’

Theoretical ‘lapse’ pointNo. of awards

Months since applied

There is similarly a growing crisis in Foster Care Grants..

113

56

38

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Applied Report Finalised Granted

Average Applications per month

HUGE and growing backlog

..and the current foster care grant application process again plays a major part

Applicant arrives and sits in queue

Intake Interviews, checks and refer to Area

Social Worker. Open the file.

Conduct Investigatio

n

Magistrate enquiry Court

Order

Refer to Social

Security to apply for grant

1st Attesting Officer: Check &

Verify

Clerk fills the form on behalf

of the applicant

Files moved to electronic registration

Report writing with findings

Applicant told to return in 3 months

Open file and submit to

Supervisor

Check & Verify:Supervisor

2nd Attesting Officer

Check, Verify Receipt issue

Payment initiated

Files moved to registry

Files batched and moved

RO

DO Registry

Applicant returns to enquire if

approval granted

Applicant queues for enrolment officer

Applicant to CPS

officer for payment

card

Beneficiary leaves to collect payment

Currently 3-6 months

Finger Prints taken

SupervisorVerify

Sign off:Capturing

Data Capturer

…but as does the shortage of Social Workers and critically, their lack of working transport

Only 1 vehicle in use for both offices

Serving population > 400,000

Social Workers

14

9

0

4

8

12

16

Recommended Existing

Impacts on review of severely disabled

people

The one working vehicle for 9 social workers…why bother to employ them?

Staff morale appears relatively low with major issues regarding training, career progression and facilities

2.50 2.60 2.65 2.56

3.63

2.81 2.81 2.81

0

1

2

3

4

5Tr

aini

ngad

equa

cy

Car

eer

Prog

ress

ion

Com

mun

icat

ion

Qua

lity

ofFa

cilit

ies

Qua

lity

ofSe

rvic

e w

ede

liver

Effe

ctiv

enes

s of

PMD

S

Ove

rall

Man

agem

ent

qual

ity

Res

pons

ible

use

of b

udge

t

Very good

Good

OK

Poor

V. poor

Very good

Good

OK

Poor

V. poor

Our citizens are unhappy with the overall time taken in the process and access to toilets but are reasonably happy with the quality of service received

2.34

3.09 3.23

2.20

3.063.40

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

Time takenin process

Helpfulnessof staff

Cleanlinessof facilities

Acess totoilets

Quality ofserviceoverall

Skills of staff

ComplicationSocial security can significantly improve its grant application process, but needs to decentralise.Social Welfare Services is critically short of key resources and could consider devolving some of the functions in order to cope.

• Two serious backlogs are building in disability grant; namely; backlog crisis in the office and backlog crisis at Ulundi

• Backlog in the office caused mainly by long fragmented and duplicative process

• But also over 10% of the population seem to be “disabled” – basic Income Grant by default

• Versus census data on disabilities for Ngwelezane we seem to have many more applications

• A growing crisis in Foster Grants backlog, e.g. average application per month is 113, report finalized 56, and 38 granted

• Growing backlog is also the result of both a long fragmented and duplicative process

• Only one working vehicle for 9 social workers-why bother to employ them• The time taken to process a grant varies enormously creating major

uncertainty for clients, e.g. 3 months theoretical ‘lapse’ and the tail of frustration

• Communications are an issue, e.g. the ‘notice’ board at Social Welfare.• The notices are only in a rough date order making the search a lengthy

process• Our citizens are unhappy with overall time taken in the process and

access to toilets, but are reasonably happy with the quality of service received

• Staff morale appears relatively low with major issues regarding training, career progression and facilities

Situation

•Batching and movement of files causes severe backlogs.

•Physical facilities leave a lot to be desired as the corridors are narrow and crowded and some functions are outside.

•Physical facilities leave a lot to be desired… who is the service provider here?

•Communication with clients is inadequate

Complication

Batching and movement of files causes severe backlogs

Physical facilities leave a lot to be desired as the corridors are narrow and crowded and some functions are outside

Queue for checking

Physical facilities leave a lot to be desired…who is the service provider here?

These are maggots

The ‘notice board’ at Social Welfare

Notices of Doctors report receipts posted onto the garage wall

The notices are only in a rough date order making the search a lengthy process

Social security can significantly improve its grant application process, but needs to decentralise.Social Welfare Services is critically short of key resources and could consider devolving some of the functions in order to cope.

•Many of our clients could be reached using an automated SMS system

•Over 40% of our clients have bank or post Office accounts, but only 12% of our

clients use them for direct deposit of their grants

•But only 24% would like to have money deposited directly-even if the account was

free, however, the value of a concerted drive to use a subsidised bank account is

huge

Disability:

Shorten processes (integrated RO &DO) and time taken for referrals

Needs an independent Risk Management role to curtail large scale abuse.

Forster

Equip the social workers and consider “grant” principle, i.e. reverse burden of proof

Shorten the whole district/region process

Suggestion

Many of our clients could be reached using an automated SMS system

17

9

9

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1

No messaging

SMS

Cell Phone

Over 40% of our clients have bank or Post Office accounts…

16

19

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Do you have a bank account?

But only 12% of our clients use them for direct deposit of their grants

Yes

No

…but only 24% would like to have money deposited directly - even if the account was free

9

26

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Would you use a free bank account?

“The bank is too far from me”

“I prefer to receive my money in cash”

“The cash payout is where we meet people”

“I would like to have it deposited directly, how do we do that?”Yes

No

…however, the value of a concerted drive to use a subsidised bank account is huge

R 247,080

R 494,160

R 741,240

R 988,320

R 0

R 200,000

R 400,000

R 600,000

R 800,000

R 1,000,000

R 1,200,000

10% 20% 30% 40%

Annual Savings -Rands Thousands*

Increase in direct deposit over existing 12%

*Assumes R7.50 subsidy p.m. paid to bank or Post Office for a

Mzansi account for each client

But, the overall processes in disability and Foster need a radical redesign

Cut non-value adding processes

Decentralise approvals by integration of District and Regional functions

Introduce a risk management system:- Fraud and corruption

Non-value-adding and duplicative steps can be removed

Applicant referral letter to

a Doctor. &

Surgeon

Messenger collects referral

letters from Surgeon

Registration of referral letter &

paste against the wall

2nd Attesting Officer: Check, verify Issue a receipt

3rd Attesting Officer: Check, verify &

signs of for capturing

Data CapturerCheck, verify &

capture data electronically

Files moved to registry

Files batched & moved to

RO for approval

Two weeks

1st Attesting Officer Fill application forms

(manually) File opened

Applicant told to return in 3 months

Clerk: Check & verify documentation

Take finger prints

Go Back home

Files moved backed to

registry with award letters

File to enrolment

officer

Applicant returns to enquire if approval granted

Applicant queues for enrolment

officer

Enrolment officer logs approval

Applicant to CPS officer for

payment cardBeneficiary leaves to collect payment

Currently 3-6 months

Applicant checks his/ her name

against wall list

EnquiriesCheck & Verify Issue application

forms

Yes

No?

Actual time taken to complete: 35 minWaiting period: 1hr: 35 min

Total period: 2hr: 10m

…simplifying and shortening the process

Applicant referral

letter to a Doctor. & Surgeon

Messenger collects referral

letters from Surgeon

ApprovalSMS Client

1st Attesting OfficerFill application forms

(manually) Select payment

methodFile opened

Clerk: Take finger prints

Issue with award lettersFile to

enrolment officer

Applicant returns to enquire if approval granted

Applicant queues for enrolment

officer

Enrolment officer logs approval

Method of payment

Applicant to CPS officer for

payment card

Beneficiary leaves to collect payment

2 weeks

Help Desk or Enquiries

Check & Verify Issue application

forms

Actual time taken to complete: 20 minWaiting period: 35 min

Total period: 55min

In Foster Grants non-value-adding and duplicative steps can also be removed

Applicant arrives and sits in queue

Intake Interviews, checks and refer to Area

Social Worker.

Conduct Investigatio

n

Magistrate enquiry Court

Order

Send to Ulundi for

registration

1st Attesting Officer: Check &

Verify

Clerk fills the form on behalf

of the applicant

Files moved to electronic registration

Report writing

with findings

Applicant told to return in 3 months

Open file and submit to

Supervisor

Check & Verify:Supervisor

2nd Attesting Officer

Check, Verify Receipt issue

Payment initiated

Files moved to registry

Files batched and moved

RO

DO Registry

Applicant returns to enquire if

approval granted

Applicant queues for enrolment officer

Applicant to CPS

officer for payment

card

Beneficiary leaves to collect payment

Currently 3-6 months

Finger Prints taken

Supervisor/Verifier: Sign

off forCapturing

Data Capturer

…simplifying and shortening the process

Applicant arrives,

enquire and sits in queue.

Intake Interviews, checks and refer to Area

Social Worker.

Area Social Worker:Approved in principle

(Grand- mother & child)

Magistrate:Enquiry &

Court Order

Supervisor:Checking & Approval by

Clerk:Finger Prints

1st Attesting Officer: Check & Verify and

signs off for Capturing

Files moved to electronic registration

Social Worker:Subsequent

iinvestigation by Social Worker

Files moved to registry Applicant queues

for enrolment officer

Applicant to CPS

officer for payment

card

Beneficiary leaves to collect payment

Could be 1 day

Files moved to registry

In addition, these areas should also be addressed• Vehicles for Social Workers : contract vehicles versus review of the current

subsidy protocol• Physical layout – review need for broken spaces• End toilet contract and re-tender• Review actual staffing norms versus current complement• Staff development – concentrate on computer literacy on SOCPEN• Thoroughly investigate the role of the Private Doctors in the process,

replace with full time employees versus increase remuneration versus other options such as increased use of professional nurses in clinics

• IT infrastructure – increase SOCPEN access as process decentralized• Put in place regional Monitoring and Evaluation capability particularly with

regard to Disability grants• Additional inputs: Improve salary bands and career progression