Name of contact Person: Brittany Naylor, Director of Social Services Corrective Action: This finding is listed as a repeat finding on Technical Errors cited finding in previous audit 2023-002 and continues to be an issue for Lenoir County. Several of these are system issues, but the primary root causes of these findings again were due to extreme staffing shortage of trained individuals during this fiscal year. Many of new staff in this division have been employed less than a year and are still in training. The work increase has caused a significant impact on this unit, but the unit works as a team to try to ensure work demands are being met daily. New staff members have been added and are showing improvement of policy and how to apply policy to case actions, which will help reduce the increased number of technical errors found during this audit period. Supervisors and Lead Workers continue to train with staff when errors from 2nd party reviews are discovered. Lenoir County takes immediate action to correct any findings and ensure that workers are made aware of job duties and expectations. Trainings, staff meetings, and conferences have already been conducted or planned to help workers to understand these errors that were cited and the importance of mitigating these errors while completing daily case actions. Lenoir County has always been committed in completing work demands effectively, timely and efficiently as possible. Lenoir County will continue to implement the strategies and work diligently to ensure that the following goals and standards are being met. Lenoir County has effectively maintained the required accuracy standards rate of 96.8% or higher when determining eligibility for case actions, approvals, terminations and denials Implementation of new Staff Development Specialist, Jacqueline Thomas, to the team to help lead and direct Lead Worker to fulfill job duties and requirements and to ensure that work demands and goals are being met effectively and timely. Staff Development Specialist and Lead Workers to implement hands on classroom activities using a variety of sources and techniques in an attempt to guide and teach staff. Tools used to implement training would include but not limited to the following: Learning Gateway modules Magi Budgeting, Magi Budgeting: Income Determination, NC DHHS Medicaid Manual, etc. Modules are given in self learning type atmosphere and then followed up with classroom discussions and activities in an effort to enhance the retainability of information learned to the worker. Traditional lecture type atmosphere provided in a classroom setting. Structured tests given to workers to detect where weaknesses could be in an effort to streamline and strengthen a workers skill set. • NCFast Help Job Aids, NC DHHS policy for Medicaid for Families and Children or for Medicaid for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled manuals created and given to each worker for reference material to study during training processes. • Review and application templates provided to each worker to give them a guided checklist to aide them with completing case actions in work assignments. • Supervisors will run and monitor NCF AST O&M reports daily to disparage overdue reviews or overdue applications. • Lead Workers turn in 2nd party reviews at least once or twice a week to be evaluated for error trends to the Staff Development Specialist for review. • Error trend reports are compiled by Staff Development Specialist and turned in monthly to Economic Services Administrator. • Staff Development Specialist will keep an excel spreadsheet detailing the errors cited and determine any error trends that need to be addressed. Unit meetings and individual conferences provided by the Supervisors in an effort to effectively catch and manage error trends that have been reported by the Staff Development Specialist. • Meetings held with Lead Workers, Medicaid Supervisors, Staff Development Specialist and Administrator to evaluate error trends. Monthly trainings held, as needed, to review error trend findings of 2nd party reviews completed with staff. • Providing staff with the knowledge of the audit information, the performance improvement plan and what staff expectations are. Staff Meeting to be held to address audit findings and to start training process for staff to obtain knowledge needed to remain in compliance with policy standards. • Continue to complete 100% 2nd party reviews on all new workers and pull findings within month of completion. New workers should be released from 100% 2nd party review process and move to process listed above when accuracy rating meets 98% for three consecutive months. Proposed Completion Date: For policy compliance will start immediately and goal completion is set for February I5, 2025. Trainings conducted to remedy policy misinterpretations, by conducting monthly meetings, one-on-one conferences, and completion of remedial testing either through the Learning Gateway or unit created tests.