Customer Concerns Page

The Customer Concern page is used by the Ombudsman Unit to record and track all formal feedback received from clients who submit Client Feedback (CF-1) forms. SNAP, TAFDC and EAEDC regulations require that DTA accept, document and resolve concerns made by stakeholders on behalf of clients and potential clients by the Ombudsman Unit. The definition of stakeholder includes clients themselves, family members of clients, advocacy groups, legislators, the Governor’s Office, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA/FNS) and other state agencies. Other state agencies include: the Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Department of Revenue/Child Support Enforcement Division (DOR/CSE) and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, etc.

The Ombudsman Unit’s primary responsibility is to work with our stakeholders to resolve concerns and accept feedback. Clients and applicants will continue to call the Assistance Line or assigned Economic Assistance case manager to address their concerns.

The Ombudsman Unit uses the Customer Concern tracking system to review concerns communicated to the Department and make decisions about improvements to business processes and customer service.

The following federal regulation outlines DTA’s responsibilities for responding and tracking complaints about interactions with clients received from all sources.

7 CFR § 271.6 (a) Complaint procedure.

“It is the Department’s responsibility to identify potential or actual patterns of deficiencies in local offices, project areas, or throughout the State and any identification of causes of these problems.”

Whenever clients or other DTA stakeholders state they want to offer feedback regarding:

• Customer service
• Benefit access and EBT
• Benefit Determination
• Access
• Other topics

they must be offered an opportunity to complete the (CF-1) and submit it to DTA. See Client Feedback Form Procedures . Stakeholders will continue to contact the Ombudsman Unit directly.

The CF-1 can also be utilized if a client states that they would like to recognize a staff member who has gone above and beyond their roles and responsibilities.

The CF-1 is not intended to be utilized as a client survey or distributed widely. The form is to be offered to clients when they indicate they would like to file a complaint or officially recognize a staff member.

Staff should assist clients in making sure the form is complete if they are filling it out in the office.

All Customer Feedback forms and stakeholder inquires received by DTA must be entered in the Customer Concern page by the Ombudsman Unit.

Locating an Existing Concern

Once the Ombudsman Unit has received a Client Feedback form, Ombudsman Unit staff must search the client’s Electronic Case Folder to determine if s/he has any pending or resolved customer concerns. All concerns for a particular client will be visible on one page after a general search using an AP ID or SSN. The search can also be narrowed.

To search for an existing Customer Concern:

1. select Customer Concerns on the My Office tab
2. click Concern Search. T he Customer Concern Search page defaults to the Social Security Number (SSN) field
3. enter the SSN or s elect one of the other search criteria radio buttons (i.e., Personal, AP ID, Concern Details or Concern) and enter the relevant data. Entering SSN or AP ID are the easiest methods for finding a client with a concern
4. click Search
5. click the check box next to the appropriate Customer Concern record, then click the Customer Concern “ C ?” icon. If the search was conducted with a client SSN or AP ID, all concerns ever expressed by or for a client will be listed. If a search is conducted by selecting the Concern or Concern Detail radio buttons, the results will be narrowed to the criteria selected

Entering a New Concern

The following procedures are used to enter new concerns, add narratives on the Notes tab, and disposition concerns.

Complete steps 1-4 above. If the search does not show that the concern has already been logged:

1. click New to initiate a new concern. If the client is known to DTA, a new Client Search page will appear, with the client’s name. If this is the correct client, click the check box to the left of the client. The Customer Concern – New page will appear with Client Name, SSN, Phone, AP ID, Office and Case manager
2. complete all applicable fields as details are available
3. click Save to establish the new concern

Components of the Customer Concern page

The Customer Concern -New page is comprised of two tabs: Concern and Notes.

Concern tab

Staff initiating the concern should complete the Source, Program and Reason fields.

• Source – opens a drop-down list with the individual or agency who contacts the Department. The selection here will determine the choices in the Originator drop-down list in the Origination section:
  • When a client, staff from the Governor’s Office or Secretary’s Office has contacted the Ombudsman Unit, select “State Executive Office” from the drop-down list
  • When an advocacy group, legal aid or another state agency has contacted the Ombudsman Unit, select the appropriate term from the drop-down list
  • When a state legislator’s office has contacted the Ombudsman Unit, select State Legislative Office from the drop-down list
  • When a Federal Agency has contacted the Ombudsman Unit, select Federal Agency from the drop-down list
  • When a city or town has contacted the Ombudsman Unit, select City/Town from the drop-down list
  • When the mayor's office has contacted the Ombudsman Unit, select Mayor's Office from the drop-down list

  Example 1: All Client Feedback Forms, Commissioner calls, letters written to the Commissioner or direct email to the director of the Ombudsman Unit from the client. Enter Source: State Exec, Originator: McCue, Name: McCue, Office: McCue.

  

  Example 2: Advocate emails and phone calls. Enter Source: Advocacy Group, Originator: Name of Agency, Name: Name of Advocate.

  

  Note: For any advocacy group in which we do not have a drop-down selection in the Originator for their agency, please select “Other” and then the Name will be the Advocacy Group, not the name of the person submitting the request.

  

  Example 3: Legal Aid emails and phone calls. Enter Source: Legal Aid, Originator: Name of Legal Aid office, Name: Name of Legal Aid staff.

  

  Note: The same policy applies to Legal Aid if they are not available in the drop down Originator box. Please select “Other” and then the Name will be the Legal Aid office, not the name of the person submitting the request.

  

  Example 4: Legislative calls and emails. Enter Source: State Legislative Office, Originator: State Legislative Office Name: Representative’s Aide or the actual Representative, Office: Representative’s Office where the email is coming from.

  

  Note: The same policy applies to Legislative Office’s if the Representative is not available in the Office selection page. Please select “Other” and then the Name will be the Respresentative’s office, not the name of the Representative Aide submitting the request. If the Representative is sending the email/call and they are not available, “Other” must be selected. Enter his or her name in the Name box.

  

  Example 5: All EOHHS emails should be entered under Source: Executive, Originator: Secretary Sudders, Name: Person sending email, Office: Sudders.

  

  Example 6: All Governor’s emails should be entered under Source: Executive, Originator: Governor Baker, Name: Executive Aide sending the email, Office: Baker

  

  Ensure that the Office drop-down is completed for the current Governor or Secretary of Health and Human Services, and all Legislative Concerns. Select the name of the office holder in the Originator drop-down box for the current Governor or Secretary.

  Ensure that when a concern comes in directly to DTA, select the name of the current Commissioner in the Originator drop-down box.

  Make sure to review the “Reason” for the concern and update it as accurately as possible. Program must be updated as accurately as possible too. Reports are being run to gather this data.

  The name of the TAFDC/EAEDC case manager or the local catchment area of the office is available when the concern is created for the client something has to be sent to the local TAO.

  For all “Other” options selected, the name needs to be the Office/Agency where the concern is coming from, not the person sending the request.

  Concern tab, Origination Section

  The Origination section is used to capture contact information about the source of the concern.

  • Originator – The selection in the Source drop-down list determines the selection in the Originator drop-down list
    • If State Executive Office has been selected in the Source field, select the current commissioner here
    • If State Legislative Office has been selected in the Source field, State Legislative Office will populate here
    • If City/Town has been selected in the Source field, City/Town will populate here
    • If Mayor’s Office has been selected in the Source field, Mayor’s Office will populate here
    • If State Agency has been selected in the Source field, select the appropriate state agency here
    • If Advocacy Group has been selected in the Source field, a list of advocacy groups will be available for selection
    • If Legal Aid has been selected in the Source field, a list of legal aid organizations will be available for selection

    The legal aid organizations are not the same as the advocacy groups.

    • Name - enter the name of the source. This is a required field
      • enter name of advocate when the agency can be selected from the originator drop-down list
      • enter name of organization when originator is identified as Other
      • enter name of current commissioner when the client has called DTA directly
      • enter the name of the person who is calling in every other situation
      • Phone - enter the phone number where the source can be reached. When the information is known to BEACON this field will populate automatically. Verify the information is correct
      • Office – click the “i” next to this field. The Origination Office page will pop up. Select one of these individuals
        • select the appropriate State Representative or Senator if the Originator is State Legislative Office
        • select the current commissioner if the Originator is the current commissioner
        • select the current Governor if the Originator is the current Governor
        • select the current Secretary if the Originator is the current Secretary
        • select Other if the Originator is Other
        • I f the source is a State Legislative Office, this field is required to identify which legislative office the concern comes from. Use the “i” button to select the Legislator. If the source is State Executive Office, this field is required to identify the current Commissioner, Governor or Secretary
        • Make sure Source and originator are linked. For example: If the Source is Legal Aid but the agency is not listed under “Originator,” “Other” must be selected The “Name” next to Originator must be identified as the name of the Legal Aid Group, not the person contacting the Ombudsman Unit from the Legal Aid Group
        • Email – if one is available, enter the email address where the source can be reached. This will populate automatically if the Office is a State Legislative office. Otherwise, it must be entered manually

        Concern tab, Client Section

        If staff has already entered client information on the Customer Concern Search Page and the client is known to BEACON, the client information will populate this section. The Client Search page will be available to select for a client not previously chosen. Select “i” next to Client name.

        • Name
        • SSN or assigned identification number
        • Phone if one exists
        • AP ID
        • Authorized Rep if one exists
        • Phone – client’s authorized representative or payee’s phone number, if one exists
        • Office
        • Case manager

        After clicking Save, BEACON will assign a unique Customer Concern number. This number will be displayed at the top of the Customer Concern page.

        Concern Tab, Dispositioning a Customer Concern

        A Customer Concern is dispositioned by updating the Resolution section in the Concern Tab. A Disposition reason must be selected to close a concern.

        This tab can only be completed by the Ombudsman Unit.

        After resolving the concern, select one of the following Disposition reasons from the drop-down list in the Resolution field:

        • Case closed or denied correctly
        • Concern created in error
        • Error corrected
        • Existing policy/reg(ulation)
        • Manager addressed issue
        • Provided requested information/update
        • Referred to appropriate agency. Select the appropriate agency from the drop-down list. If this reason is selected for the Disposition, a list of agencies will appear in the Agency field. Select the appropriate agency in that field. If the appropriate agency is not listed, select Other. When selecting Other, write the name of the appropriate agency in the field “Other agency”

        The Resolved field will have today’s date when any Disposition reason is selected.

        If one of the first six Disposition reasons has been selected, the Resolved, Agency and Other agency fields will not be available.

        Click the Save button to save the entries.

        When a Disposition reason has been selected and saved, the following pop-up message will appear: “Since a disposition has been selected the Customer Concern will be Closed. Do you wish to continue?” If YES is selected, the Status field will change to Closed. If NO is selected, the customer concern will remain pending.

        Any concerns that cannot be dispositioned within 24 hours of the initial entry require an update in the Notes tab. Concerns should be dispositioned and closed within three business days. If concerns are not resolved within three business days, the manager for the office in which the concern is assigned must follow-up.

        If appropriate, enter text in the Narrative tab. The text must describe the action that was taken and how the action impacted the case. Describe any follow-up that is needed as a result of the response to the concern that was raised.

        Any time an action is taken on a concern, staff must annotate the Notes tab accordingly.

        The Notes tab is similar to the BEACON Narrative Tab and must be used to enter all updates related to the concern. This tab may be used to attach documents related to the concern. All entered notes are permanent and become part of the Customer Concerns historical information.

        To enter text in the Notes tab in the Concerns page:

        1. select the Notes tab
        2. click New to call up the Note pad. Text may be entered here. Attach relevant documents by selecting the Attach button
        3. after entering text or attaching a file, click the Save button in the upper left-hand corner. The Created (date), Author (name), Attachment (y/n) and beginning of the text will appear
        4. once the entering and saving of new text is completed, close the page
        5. to read the text, select the check box, then click the Details button

        Text entered in the Notes tab must describe the action that was taken and how the action impacted the case. Describe any follow-up that is needed as a result of the response to the concern that has been raised.

        Example of completed Notes tab

        

        Last Update: May 16, 2019