Supervisor Quality Assurance Reviews

Supervisors perform an internal quality assurance review to ensure accuracy of work completed within their unit is in compliance with Federal, State and County performance measures.

Supervisors record and track monthly task review results for each Eligibility Worker (EW) within their respective unit. Upon completion, all supervisor reviews are recorded into CARMA. Reviews are performed in two categories: Active and CAPER (formerly known as Negative).

Active Program Review

Active Reviews are performed on programs that are in an active status as identified in CalSAWS. Within Active status, one or more programs are currently approved. In CARMA, these reviews are coded as “Supervisor” reviews.

Case And Procedural Error Rate (CAPER), or Negative Review

CAPER or Negative Reviews are performed on programs that are in an inactive status as identified in CalSAWS. Within inactive status, the specific program(s) have been denied or discontinued. In CARMA, these reviews are coded as “Supervisor RTF-Negative” reviews.

Supervisor Review Policy and Guidelines

This section establishes the DEBS eligibility policy and guidelines for the design, scheduling and completion of supervisory case reviews. The results of the reviews will be used to evaluate problem areas, aid in developing individual, unit, office, and departmental corrective action plans, in addition to evaluating the effectiveness of corrective action activities.

Supervisors are expected to review the work of the unit. Typically, this is done through case reviews.

Case reviews are a valuable tool in assessing case accuracy and recognizing quality casework. Reviews are learning tools to:

  • Develop and strengthen worker and supervisory skills
  • Provide structure for measuring results
  • Identify, correct and prevent errors, and
  • Reinforce accountability.

Types of Reviews

There are two types of supervisory case reviews:

  • Full Case Reviews, and
  • Targeted/Focused Case and “Review Task Force” (RTF) Reviews, including negative reviews.

Full Case Reviews

A full case review consists of, but is not limited to, reviewing and ensuring the case contains the following:

  • A correct eligibility determination
  • A current application
  • Required verifications
  • Processed income/status reports
  • Sufficient case documentation
  • Appropriate actions taken, and
  • Proper client correspondences.

For the CalFresh program, the “CalFresh Case Review” form (SCD 949) and/CARMA are the tools used to perform full case reviews.

Targeted/Focused Case and RTF Reviews

Targeted/Focused and RTF case reviews are used to target specific areas (e.g., income, shelter expense, negative actions, etc.). The areas to be reviewed are selected by the Corrective Action Steering Committee. The areas of eligibility to be included in the these reviews may be selected from the following:

  • High error prone areas, as identified by DEBS, Quality Control (QC), Quality Assurance (QA) or Audit data, or
  • New program material which is complex and/or is expected to cause an increase in errors.

The “CalFresh Negative Case Review” form (SCD 949N) and/or CARMA may be used to perform RTF reviews which target denied or discontinued CalFresh cases.

Objectives

The following are objectives of the supervisory review process:

  • To comply with the recommendation of State audits.
    • This may include special mini reviews or targeted QA reviews.
  • To provide early detection and correction of errors.
    • Case reviews may be developed, which focus on trends identified. These can be utilized to provide staff with information to prevent errors from occurring.
  • To correct high error prone areas of eligibility.
    • Each program has particular areas of eligibility which are more error prone than others. This process focuses on corrective action activity in those areas.
  • To provide a systematic method of corrective action for error prone areas.
    • A system of regularly scheduled supervisory reviews will further focus staff’s attention on all areas of eligibility which are error prone. It is expected that increased staff awareness will result in fewer errors. This system also provides another way of finding and correcting existing errors, which may lower the error rate in all programs.
  • To provide Administrative Staff, DEBS Managers and Eligibility Work Supervisors with additional information to aid in corrective action strategizing.
    • The data and insight resulting from these reviews will assist corrective action efforts at all levels within the Agency.
  • To provide additional support to staff who may have problems with eligibility determinations.
    • Case reviews allow supervisors to assess if a worker is experiencing difficulty in a specific area. Once a problem area is identified, the supervisor may provide support and guidance in this area. Error trends will be identified in order to establish agency wide training.

Related Topics

Quality Assurance