More than a thousand state employees in Indiana will wake up Monday morning working for private companies as part of Governor Mitch Daniels' privatization of the Family and Social Services Administration. But even as Daniels and FSSA director Mitch Roob tell the state what a great opportunity for efficiency and savings this is, the federal government appears nervous that things may not go as smoothly as planned.
As the change takes place, the federal government is alerting the Family and Social Services Administration that it's monitoring its moves.
Days before 1,500 state workers officially go to work for IBM and Affiliated Computer Services to process Indiana food stamp and welfare applications, the U.S. Department of Agriculture signals they're keeping close watch.
The consistent government oversight comes as good news to David Warrick, a well-known opponent to the privatization.
"We're not aware of FNS ever having this kind of oversight over any kind of privatization project anywhere in the U.S. So I think that kind of emphasizes how leery of the program they are themselves," said Warrick, executive director of AFSCME Local 62 in Indianapolis.
But why such a negative outlook, federal government? To find out, and with Monday looming on the horizon as the official start of Mitch's planned privatization of the Family Social and Services Administration, I think it is only appropriate that we ask our neighbors to the South how well their experiment with such a program turned out. Texas?
They said it wasn't working; now they say it's about time.
Leaders from the Rio Grande Valley praised the announcement last week that the state would phase out its contract with Accenture LLP, the company hired to help the state process eligibility applications for human-services benefits and oversee the Children's Health Insurance Program.
In 2005 the state entered into an $899 million contract with a group of companies led by Accenture. State leaders wanted to privatize the eligibility system for Medicaid and food stamps and let Accenture process CHIP applications.
The contract came after lawmakers in 2003 made cuts to the human-services budget.
But problems with the company's performance arose. Advocates of the working poor said families who applied for CHIP benefits found that the company lost and mishandled applications. CHIP enrollment dropped below 300,000 for the first time since the program started, but has since rebounded.
"The continuous mishandling of documents has resulted in thousands of children being dropped from CHIP, Medicaid and other services," said the Rev. John Lasseigne, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in San Juan and a leader of Valley Interfaith. "This has not only produced a loss of federal funding, but more importantly has jeopardized the health of our children."
Responsibility for handling CHIP applications is slated to be gradually returned to state employees.
Now, when the Governor walks around telling us that privatization can lead only to better, more efficient services, you might ask where he is coming from. The problem is that we are assuming he is talking about servicing the public with this program, when he may just be talking about the private sector. You know, the private sector that once employed FSSA director Mitch Roob over at ACS, a company that will be raking in millions with this new privatization scheme?
A computer company that Indiana's human services chief used to help run stands to profit from a $1 billion contract with the agency despite problems fulfilling similar deals in other states.
That company, Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services Inc., is part of a team negotiating with the Family and Social Services Administration for the 10-year contract. If the state strikes a deal, the team led by IBM Corp. would take over processing applications for food stamps, Medicaid and welfare programs.
Critics of FSSA head Mitch Roob -- a former ACS vice president -- and advocates for the approximately 1 million needy, elderly and disabled Indiana residents who would be affected by the change question whether private, profit-driven companies should determine who qualifies for the vital services.
ACS, like other companies, has struggled to fulfill smaller such contracts in other states.
Ah, the benefits of privatization are as good as Mitch told us...just not for us.
(Originally posted in a different format at Blue Indiana, where we will be covering the campaign to replace Bush-crony Mitch Daniels with someone who understands what it means to really serve his or her constituency.)