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Aug 20, 2018

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20th Anniversary Milestones: How CCLP Mitigated a Statewide ‘Disaster’

by | Aug 20, 2018

Family Economic Security, Health

In celebrating the 20th anniversary of Colorado Center on Law and Policy, we are publishing a series of vignettes about the organization’s most significant accomplishments.

Colorado has suffered its share of deadly natural disasters over the last 20 years from the Hayman Fire of 2002 to the 2013 floods that claimed at least eight lives and damaged more than $1 billion worth of property.

Yet, one of the most significant disasters to hit the state was the result of a computer system “upgrade” that was ill-conceived, mismanaged, poorly planned, inadequately funded and badly implemented.

All told, the massive failure of the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) — a statewide computer network used to determine eligibility and process payments for public assistance programs such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and others — put hundreds of thousands of Coloradans in jeopardy without access to health care, medications, cash assistance and food. In 2010, a nine-year-old boy with severe asthma died after his mother was unable to obtain prescription drugs because of the failure.

To mitigate the destructive effects of the CBMS failure for Colorado’s residents most in need, Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) worked with the Colorado Lawyers Committee and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice to bring a lawsuit against the state when the system consistently failed to make accurate determinations of eligibility for benefits. Ultimately, CCLP secured a settlement requiring the state to meet benchmarks for processing applications on a timely and accurate basis, and held the state accountable until it consistently met the benchmarks. To their credit, the state complied and was released from oversight in 2017.

A tragedy of errors
Intended to streamline Colorado’s human service programs with a faster, more efficient computer system, the project went horribly wrong due to miscalculations from contractor Electronic Data Systems over how much time and effort the project would take and unrealistic expectations from the state, which changed the design mid-stream and failed to adhere to its own benchmarks before going live. To further complicate matters, Colorado’s economy took a turn for the worse, further tightening the state’s budgetary constraints. State legislators perennially expressed frustration over missed deadlines and budget overruns related to the project. In 2004, representatives from county governments approached CCLP with grave concerns about the much-needed update of the state’s legacy systems serving more than 538,000 Coloradans enrolled in benefits programs such as Medicaid, Child Health Plan Plus, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“The counties came to us and said ‘this is not going to work,’ recalled Elisabeth Arenales, Director of CCLP’s Health Program. “They saw the writing on the wall.”

Part of the problem from the beginning was that state and county agencies historically had not worked well together on IT projects.“Cohesion is incredibly important in a project like this,” Arenales said. “Any IT project needs a clear chain of command and an absolute decision-maker and we didn’t have it with this one.”  Though the state had agreed not to “go live” until they reached a target of 95 percent processing accuracy they proceeded with the launch despite a dismal 67 percent accuracy rates.

CCLP and the Colorado Lawyers Committee went to Denver District Court seeking to stop CBMS from going live through a Temporary Restraining Order. The judge declined to issue the order.

“The judge essentially said, ‘Well, this is worrisome, but it hasn’t gone live yet, so there is no actual harm,’” Arenales said.

Unfortunately, despite dire warnings from county administrators and a tech consulting firm, the state proceeded with the launch of the new system, and the Colorado Lawyers Committee, CCLP and NCLEJ returned to court.

“We came in a few months later and said: ‘look at the actual harm! Tens of thousands of people are going hungry and without medical care,’” Arenales recalled.

Among the problems: the data didn’t transfer from the legacy systems to the new system properly and the new system was built so that it couldn’t sort out its data in a meaningful way. Case workers who didn’t understand the system had to construct time-consuming work-arounds. On top of that, there wasn’t adequate capacity in the computer system itself. If enough workers used the system at the same time, it would crash. CCLP received so many complaints from people who could not access their benefits that it hired a full-time employee, Muriel Arvey, to field the calls.

Arvey started with CCLP as a volunteer but was put on the payroll when it became evident that more help was needed.

“We were very, very busy,” Arvey recalled. “Once people knew there was an organization working on this, we had lots of calls.”

The court issued an injunction ordering the state to establish a back-up customer-service unit so that people could get their benefits, address noticing issues and ensure that the state did not go after people who had been overpaid SNAP benefits because of system error. A settlement agreement was reached in 2006, which among other things, required the state to improve the timeliness and accuracy of benefits processing.

According to a 2011 report by two researchers from the University of Denver detailing the troubled system’s history: “The new system was not capable of processing transactions as efficiently as the systems it replaced… Huge backlogs of unprocessed transactions developed, which resulted in employees working overtime, the hiring of temporary employees, and the installation of additional computer servers to add capacity.”

The project ran $75 million over-budget and the state spent $481,000 defending CBMS in court in 2005.

And as many Coloradans were being denied benefits, a 2006 legislative audit revealed that the state had accidentally administered about $90 million in improper over-payments.

According to a 2005 article in The Denver Post:  “The state realized early on it could not afford all it wanted out of the system, but forged ahead anyway…. Counties administer the programs CBMS is designed to handle. But some of them failed to participate in the computer system’s development or get their employees trained.” In the end, Arenales noted, “it was nearly impossible to train workers to perform well on such an ill designed system.”

Fixes required time and money
The disaster spanned more than 10 years through three governors; costing hundreds of millions of dollars and leaving a trail of disgruntled caseworkers and tech firms in its wake. Over the years, the state has gradually improved its performance so the system processes applications more accurately and with shorter lag times.  Among the state’s biggest changes was the establishment of the Office of Information Technology (OIT), within the Governor’s office, designed to oversee major IT projects.

While CCLP earned much credibility in advocacy circles for taking on the state and winning, the effort tapped out many of the organization’s resources.

“I’d say it was an absolute 24-7 job for six to nine months,” Arenales said, noting that she continued to work on CBMS on and off for a full 13 years. “I probably spent the better part of two years on that case. In fact, we spent so much time on that case that we barely did a bit of fundraising during that time.”

Fortunately, local grant-makers stepped up their support of CCLP so that the organization could continue its important work and grow.

“It was a complex but important case,” said Ed Kahn, an attorney who helped found CCLP and worked on the CBMS case. “The more you see due process not being given by the federal government the more you realize how important that case was. I’m thinking of the immigrants in detention and the way that’s been screwed up. That’s a worse example than CBMS but it is similar in that there was a lot of willful conduct in implementing something without fully testing it first.”

In the end, the CBMS case not only improved what was a severely flawed computer system — sparing Coloradans aggravation or unnecessary crises — it also established CCLP as an advocacy force to be reckoned with.

“The case has defined my relationship with state government departments — particularly HCPF [Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing],” Arenales said. “They know that we mean it when we say somethings not right and they need to do something so that people don’t get hurt.”

-By Bob Mook

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Recent articles

HEALTH:
HEALTH FIRST COLORADO (MEDICAID)

Health First Colorado is the name given to Colorado’s Medicaid program. Medicaid provides public, low-cost health insurance to qualifying adults and children. It is an entitlement program funded by the federal, state, and county governments and is administered by counties in Colorado. Those who are required to pay must pay a small co-pay when receiving certain health care services.

State Department: Department of Health Care Policy and Financing

Eligibility: Most adults 18 to 64 are eligible for Medicaid in Colorado if their household income is at or below 133% of the federal poverty limit (FPL). Pregnant women are eligible with incomes of up to 195% FPL, while children under 18 may be eligible if the live in a household with income at or below 142% FPL. Some adults over 65 may also be eligible for Medicaid.

Program Benefits: Through Medicaid, low-income Coloradans are eligible for a range of health care services at little to not cost. Services provided include doctors visits, prescription drugs, mental health services, and dental care. Co-pays for certain individuals may be needed for certain services.

Program Funding and Access: Colorado funds our Medicaid program through state and federal dollars. Medicaid is an entitlement program, which means that all who are eligible for Medicaid can access the program, regardless of the funding level in a given year. This does not mean that it is always easy to access Medicaid, even when eligible. And since the program is administered by counties, funding levels for county staff and other administrative roles can make it easier or harder for Coloradans to access the program. On top of this, not all medical providers accept Medicaid which limits the ability of Coloradans to seek health services even if enrolled, such as if the nearest provider is a 2+ hour drive away.

Note: This data is from before the pandemic and does not reflect changes in enrollment rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and public health emergency.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 89.0% of the population at or below 133% of FPL (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for Medicaid) were enrolled in Medicaid in Colorado.

FOOD SECURITY:
SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP helps low-income Coloradans purchase food by providing individuals and families with a monthly cash benefit that can be used to buy certain foods. SNAP is an entitlement program that is funded by the federal and state governments and administered by counties in Colorado.

State Department: Department of Human Services

Eligibility: Currently, Coloradans qualify for SNAP if they have incomes below 200% FPL, are unemployed or work part-time or receive other forms of assistance such as TANF, among other eligibility criteria. Income eligibility for SNAP was different during the study period of this report than today—it was 130% FPL back in 2019 for example. The US Department of Agriculture uses the population at or below 125% FPL when calculating the Program Access Index (or PAI) for SNAP. We follow this practice in our analysis despite Colorado currently having a higher income eligibility threshold.

Program Benefits: SNAP participants receive a monthly SNAP benefit that is determined by the number of people in their household and their income. Benefit amounts decrease as income increases, helping households avoid a sudden loss of SNAP when their incomes increase, even by a minor amount. Benefits are provided to an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card that can be used to purchase eligible food items, such as fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry, and fish; dairy products; and breads and cereals. Other items, such as foods that are hot at their point of sale, are not allowable purchases under current SNAP rules.

Program Funding and Access: SNAP, like Medicaid, is a federal entitlement program. This means that Colorado must serve any Coloradan who is eligible for the program. As such, funding should not be a limit to how many Coloradans can be served by the program. However, funding for administration of SNAP at the state and county level can limit the ability of county human service departments to enroll those who are eligible. Other program rules and administrative barriers can make it difficult for Coloradans to receive the benefits they are legally entitled to receive.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 61.1% of the population at or below 125% of FPL (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for SNAP) were enrolled.

FOOD SECURITY:
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN (WIC)

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also know as WIC, provides healthcare and nutritional support to low-income Coloradans who are pregnant, recently pregnant, breastfeeding, and to children under 5 who are nutritionally at risk based on a nutrition assessment.

State Department: Department of Public Health and Environment

Eligibility: To participate in WIC you must be pregnant, pregnant in the last six months, breastfeeding a baby under 1 year of age, or a child under the age of 5. Coloradans do not need to be U.S. citizens to be eligible for WIC. In terms of income, households cannot have incomes that exceed 185% FPL. Families who are enrolled in SNAP, TANF, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or Medicaid are automatically eligible for WIC. Regardless of gender, any parents, foster parents, or caregivers are able to apply for and use WIC services for eligible children.

Program Benefits: WIC provides a range of services to young children and their parents. These include funds to purchase healthy, fresh foods; breastfeeding support; personalized nutrition education and shopping tips; and referrals to health care and other services participants may be eligible for.

Program Funding and Access: WIC is funded by the US Department of Agriculture. The state uses these federal funds to contract with local providers, known as WIC Clinics. In most cases, these are county public health agencies, but that is not the case in all Colorado counties. Some WIC Clinics cover multiple counties, while others are served by multiple clinics. Private non-profit providers are also eligible to be selected as a WIC Clinic.

Statewide Program Access 2015-17: Between 2015 and 2017, an average of 52.2% of the population eligible for WIC were enrolled in the program in Colorado.

Financial Security:
Colorado Works

Colorado Works is the name given to Colorado’s program for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF. It is an employment program that supports families with dependent children on their path to self-sufficiency. Participants can receive cash assistance, schooling, workforce development and skills training depending on the services available in their county.

State Department: Department of Human Services

Eligibility: In general, Coloradans are eligible to enroll in TANF if they are a resident of Colorado, have one or more children under the age of 18 or pregnant, and have very low or no income. For example, to be eligible to receive a basic cash assistance grant through TANF, a single-parent of one child could not earn more than $331 per month, with some exclusions—and would only receive $440 per month (as of 2022). That said, there are other services provided by counties through TANF that those with incomes as high as $75,000 may be eligible for. In addition to these, participants in TANF are required to work or be pursuing an eligible “work activity” or work-related activity. Any eligible individual can only receive assistance if they have not previously been enrolled in TANF for a cumulative amount of time of more than 60 months—this is a lifetime limit that does not reset. Counties may have additional requirements and offer benefits that are not available in other counties in Colorado.

Program Benefits:  While the exact benefits that one is eligible for under TANF can vary, all qualified participants are eligible to receive a monthly cash payment, call basic cash assistance. Other than cash assistance, counties are have a lot of choice in how to use their TANF funding; generally a use of TANF funds is appropriate so long as it advances one or more of the four purposes of the program: (1) provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of their relatives; (2) end the dependence of needy families on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; (3) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and (4) encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

It is important to note that those eligible for TANF are also eligible for many of the other programs we’ve included in this report, such as SNAP, Medicaid, and CCCAP.

Program Funding and Access: Colorado funds its TANF program through funds received from the federal government through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant. Most of the federal funds are allocated by the state to counties, which are required to provide a 20% match of state funding. Federal and state rules allow the state and counties to retain a portion of unspent funds in a TANF reserve.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 50.7% of the population at or below 100% of FPL (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for TANF) were enrolled in TANF in Colorado.

EARLY LEARNING:
COLORADO CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (CCCAP)

The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program provides child care assistance to low-income families and caregivers living in Colorado in the form of reduced payments for child care. It is a program funded by the federal, state, and county governments and is administered by counties in Colorado. The share owed by parents/caregivers is determined on a sliding scale based on the family’s income.

State Department: Department of Early Childhood Education

Eligibility: Counties set eligibility for families separately, but must serve families with incomes at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Limit. Families accepted to the program are no longer eligible once their income exceeds 85% of the state median income. Parents or caregivers must be employed, searching for work, or engaged in another approved activity to be eligible for CCCAP. Parents and caregivers enrolled in Colorado Works (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF) or in the child welfare system are also eligible to participate in CCCAP. Generally, CCCAP serves families with children under 13, although children as old as 19 may be eligible under certain circumstances.

Program Benefits: If a family is eligible for CCCAP and has income, they may likely have to pay a portion of their child’s or children’s child care costs each month. The amount that families owe is based on their gross income, number of household members, and the number of children in child care in the household. As such, households tend not to experience a benefit cliff with CCCAP when they see their incomes increase

Program Funding and Access: Colorado funds the CCCAP program using federal dollars it receives from the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. The state allocates federal and state funds to counties using a formula that takes into account factors like current caseloads and the number of eligible residents. Assistance is available until the county’s funds are spent, so the number of families that can be served is often a function of how much funding is available and the income and composition of the household that applies. It is not uncommon for counties to overspend or underspend their allocations of funds. The state reallocates unspent funds from counties who underspent to those who overspent. While underspending could indicate a problem with the way a county administers its CCCAP program, it could just as likely be a sign that there are few providers in the county who participate in CCCAP—or a lack of providers generally.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 10.8% of the population at or below 165% of FPL and younger than age 13 (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for CCCAP) were enrolled in CCCAP.

Housing:
HUD rental assistance programs

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has three housing assistance programs that we look at together: Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8), Project-based Section 8, and Public Housing. In Colorado, these programs provided assistance to over 90% of the households who received federal housing assistance from all HUD programs. Through federally funded, local or regional public housing agencies (PHAs) are the agencies that administer these programs, through not all are available in all counties. These are not the only programs available in Colorado that assist households afford the cost of housing, such as units funded through federal and state tax credit programs.

State Department: Department of Local Affairs

Eligibility: Generally, households with incomes under 50% of the area median income (AMI) of the county they live in are eligible for these rental assistance programs, although PHAs have discretion to select households with incomes at higher percentages of AMI. That said, HUD requires that 75% of new vouchers issued through the Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 program in a given year are targeted to households with incomes at or below 30% of AMI. PHAs are also able to create criteria that give priority to certain types of households who are on waiting lists for these programs.

Program Benefits: These rental assistance programs help households afford the cost of housing by reducing their housing costs to around 30% of their household income. In the case of the Housing Choice Voucher program, the PHA pays the voucher holder’s landlord the remaining portion of the rent.

Program Funding and Access: Funding and access are both challenges for these rental assistance programs. In addition to limitations on the number of public housing units or housing vouchers a PHA can manage or issue, lack of funding compared to the need constrains the ability of PHAs to assist low-income households. In 2020, Coloradans were on waitlists for Housing Choice Vouchers for an average of 17 months. Waitlists also exist for the other rental assistance programs.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 21.1% of renter households with incomes at or below 50% AMI (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for HUD rental assistance programs) were living in subsidized housing.