BenefitsCal CalSAWS Electronic Processes

BenefitsCal CalSAWS Mobile Application

BenefitsCal CalSAWS Mobile application can be download by users through their smart phones. BenefitsCal Mobile application provides the following benefits.

Users are able to:

Apply for Disaster Food Assistance (when Governor/President declares area as disaster zone)
Obtain an overview of the 4 major programs and be directed to BenefitsCal website to apply for:
CalWORKs
CalFresh
Medi-Cal
GA (can obtain an overview of the program, but cannot apply on BenefitsCal)
Find the nearest Benefits office, by GPS, ZIP code, or selecting location from list
Access case status
Access EBT balance
Access benefit amounts information for the above programs including GA/GR program.

Electronic Notifications (e-Notices)

Clients who elect to receive e-notices will get a notification that a correspondence is available for viewing in their secure account. e-Notices will alert clients to view county correspondence via their secure personal online account in BeneftisCal CalSAWS. CalFresh, CalWORKs, and Medi-Cal clients may opt in or out of receiving e-notices and receive traditional paper notices at any time. Clients have the option to receive their notifications both electronically and in hard copy.

Guidelines

The State of California provides the following guidelines:

The household/AU must receive an initial email and paper notice that confirms the household/AU has opted to receive e-notices, the rights and responsibilities of receiving e-notices, and instructions regarding how to retrieve the e-notices.
All e-notices must be provided through an online account on a secure website or portal (i.e., BenefitsCal).
An email must be sent to the household/AU when a new e-notice is available on the secure website or portal.
e-Notices must provide the same information as hard copy notices within required time frame and include the most current NA Back 9. In addition, hard copy versions of correspondence will be available to clients upon request. All clients’ state hearing rights will be preserved and Notices of State Hearing will not be sent electronically.
When the county discovers that e-notices cannot be received by the client, the county must revert to traditional hard copy mail. e-Notice will be considered undeliverable if the county receives a message that the e-notice was not deliverable or confirmation that the email used does not belong to the intended person. When this happens, the county must send a mailed notification to the last known address for the client advising them that the email was undeliverable, and that traditional paper notification will resume, and a hard copy of the notice that the undeliverable e-notice was pertaining to. Journal Entries must be entered that document when an email is returned because the email address on file is invalid.
The client will be informed that in order to resume receiving e-notices, the client will need to complete the enrollment process again.
All electronic correspondence must be accessible to both federal and state QC reviewers and cases must be identified as having opted to receive an e-notice.

Client Opt-In Agreement

Clients who opt in for e-notice are required to sign the form, “Electronic Notification Agreement” (NA 1273) and the “Consent To Receive Electronic Communications From The County Of Santa Clara” (SCD 2551).

The NA 1273 must be signed in BenefitsCal CalSAWS. The NA 1273 notification agreement includes the following information:

They agree to receive all correspondence from the county via e-notice, except hearing related notices.
Agree to read all e-notices sent to their email account and to view the documents through their secure personal online account.
Agree to keep the county informed if their email address changes by filling out a new Electronic Notification Agreement within ten days of the changes.
The county must give the client a paper copy of any document posted in their secure personal online account, if they ask for one.
The county will revert to traditional paper correspondence if the e-notices could not be received by the email address provided by the household.
They can stop getting e-notices at any time and go back to getting notices by paper correspondence.

The SCD 2251 is available online and in all Intake packets. The SCD 2551 agreement states that the client:

Has read and understands the consent form and authorizes the County to utilize electronic communication which includes email and text messages.
Agrees to update contact information within a reasonable and timely manner.
Understands that in order to unsubscribe the request can be made over the phone or in writing.
May be subject to fees from their service provider and understands that the County has no obligation to pay fees or charges.

Note: CAPI applicants and recipients must provide their consent by completing the appropriate questions in the CAPI forms SOC 814 or SOC 804.

Types of Correspondence

Electronic correspondence includes the following written communication, but not limited to:

The Notice of Missed Interview
Notice of Denial
Notice of Required Verifications,
Notice of Eligibility (i.e., Notice of Approval)
Notice of Expiration of Certification,
Notice of Adverse Action,
Notices of Action regarding changes to the CalWORKs grant or CalFresh benefits including discontinuances or other changes to the case, and
Notices regarding Intentional Program Violations, claims, and disqualification.

The following notices are not sent electronically and remain in hard copy:

Any notifications or correspondence related to a client’s fair hearing will remain in hard copy, written format only.
Any informal county contact not mandated by state or federal statute or regulation will not be sent by this secure personal online account.
Overpayment notices, repayment agreement, and time on aid notices.
Notices of referral to the Treasury Offset Program.

Note: State Hearings notices may be sent electronically but must be sent via the ACMS to those recipients who have an account with ACMS and have elected email as their communication preference.

All other correspondence, that is not an official program notice mandated by state or federal statute or regulations, may be sent directly to the household’s email address or via text message. Informal county communications (i.e., request to schedule an appointment or request for a call back) do not need to be sent through a secure website or portal.

Forms

The following forms are created for e-notice:

NA 1273 (7/13) Electronic Notification Agreement: Clients can sign the agreement only in the BenefitsCal CalSAWS portal. CalSAWS sends a signed copy of the agreement in both electronic and hard copy format.
NA 1274 (7/13) Electronic Notification Notice: After signing the notification agreement in BenefitsCal, CalSAWS sends the client the confirmation notice (NA 1274) both by a paper correspondence and email regarding the decision to receive e-notice. The confirmation will direct the client to log-in their secure personal online account to view all correspondence.
NA 1275 (7/13) Electronic Notification Cancellation Notice: This notice informs the client that they are being switched back to paper correspondence. This form will be generated in hard copy only.
SCD 2382 Electronic Notification Option: This flyer must be included in the intake packet.
SCD 2551 Consent To Receive Electronic Communications From The County Of Santa Clara: This agreement is available in all Intake packets and online in the DEBs library.

Process

Enrolling in e-Notifications

Households/AUs must be notified of the option to receive e-notices at application and recertification. If a household/AU chooses to receive e-notices, then the NA 1273 and SCD 2551 must be signed stating that they agree to receive and read the e-notices. After the agreement has been signed, an email confirmation and a paper NA 1274 confirming the decision to receive e-notices will be sent to the client. A confirmation email will be sent to the household/AU with instructions on how to log in to their account to view the e-notices. EWs must document in Journal Entries the households/AUs decision to receive e-notices instead of traditional paper notices.

The following steps show the process for e-notice:

To opt in for e-notices:

The Clients complete the SCD 2551 and sign the e-notice agreement (NA 1273) in BenefitsCal.
BenefitsCal sends a signed copy of the NA 1273 and the NA 1274 in both electronic and hard copy format.
The Clients:
1. Receive an alert in their personal email account when a new notice is available for viewing in their BenefitsCal CalSAWS Portal account.
2. Log into their BenefitsCal account and view, print, or save the e-notices.

Discontinuing e-Notifications

If it is discovered that the e-notice could not be received by the household/AU, then the household/AU is required to revert to paper notices. When this happens, the NA 1275 must be sent to the last known address advising the household/AU that email is undeliverable and that traditional paper correspondence will resume. To resume receiving e-notices, the household/AU will have to repeat the enrollment process.

The following steps show how to discontinue e-notice when mail is undeliverable.

To Stop e-notices:

The Clients:
1. Cancel e-notice by updating their settings in their BenefitsCal Portal account, or
2. Contact the county to request their correspondence revert to paper, or
3. It is discovered that e-notices are undeliverable.
BenefitsCal sends a hard copy of the NA 1275 to inform the client that he/she is being switched back to traditional paper correspondence per their request.
1. Note: CalSAWS also defaults to traditional paper option and sends a paper copy of the NA 1275 when an email delivery is failed.
The EW updates the delivery option at the Case Summary page and documents in the Journal Detail page, the client’s decision to change back to paper correspondence.

CalSAWS

Clients who opt in for e-notices must have a BenefitsCal CalSAWS Portal account to receive notifications in a secure manner.

Clients can only opt in for e-notices through BenefitsCal; however, they can opt out in BenefitsCal or by contacting the county.

e-notices produced on the client’s BenefitsCal account are printable by the client. No modification is allowed prior to printing.

e-notices are sent by CalSAWS in the overnight batch. When CalSAWS receives a delivery failure notification from the clients email account, the system will default back to hard copy notifications and will send the undeliverable notice to the client by batch.

The following Client Correspondence and Data Collection windows are modified with new fields relating to eNOAs:

Case Summary page-eNOA [Y/N] field is added,
Search for Printed Correspondence window - Email [Y/N] and Hardcopy [Y/N] fields are added, and
View Printed Correspondence Details window - Email [Y/N] and Hardcopy [Y/N] fields are added.

Text Messaging

Text Messaging Accounts

Text messaging is one of the electronic messaging methods used by the County to maintain communication with clients. MessageMedia Hub is the platform used by staff to send text messages to clients.

MessageMedia Team Communication

An email is sent to new users. Once an email message similar to the screen below (1.) is received, you may set up your user profile as per instructions given below.

Instructions for setting user profile:

Click the link Drop-down TitleDrop-down Title in the received email.
Click JOINJOIN on the next screen.
Enter First Name, Last Name, Email, Password, Repeat Password, and click the Update Details buttonUpdate Details button.
Close Web BrowserWeb Browser.