The Letters Review Board (LRB) has the authority to set standards for, review,
and approve automated letters by:
· Standardizing the criteria to make letters for easy to read, translate, and understand.
· Establishing a system to efficiently produce and revise letters.
· Notifying administrations of the review criteria review process and meeting schedule.
· Meeting at regular, scheduled times to address letter issues and review letters that have been submitted.
· Reviewing all proposed new letters and letter modifications for clarity, completeness, and legal requirements.
· Sending recommendations and comments to the appropriate stakeholders and administration(s) after review.
· Prioritizing Letter Problem Reports and Change Requests for each ACES Release.
Who is on the LRB?
The LRB currently includes:
· 1 ACES Business Analyst
· 1 ITD Help Desk Representative
· 1 member from Aging and Disability Services Administration (AASA) HQ
· 3 members from Economic Services Administration (ESA) Headquarters
· 2 members from Medical Assistance Administration (MAA) Headquarters
· 2 members from Community Services Office of the Division of Employment and Assistance Programs (DEAP) field offices
· 1 member from Home and Community Services (HCS) field offices
· 1 member from Columbia Legal Services.
What is the LRB Process?
In addition to reviewing proposed letter changes, we compile a list of letter
problems and suggested changes. These are identified through our own research,
ACES testing, and comments from our stakeholders. We prioritize this list as
follows:
1. Fixes: These are changes that are necessary because key programming or
requirements were missed. Examples of items in this category are:
· Correcting the WAC citations in the
Reason Codes and in the text of certain
letters.
· Correcting the generation criteria of the 0002-24 Approval for Expedited
Food Assistance and revising some of the language so that it is only generated
when a Basic Food AU is approved with waived verification.
· Adding the PIC and AUID to all medical approval letters.
2. Workload Saving Enhancements: These are changes that could help reduce some
of the workload staff are now experiencing. Examples of items in this category are:
· Adding the ability to add multiple copies of attachments
· Allowing workers to create a letter by inputting the letter number instead of
choosing the letter category and then scrolling through the list of letters.
· Allowing workers the option to mail reprinted letters from State Office.
3. "Nice-to-Have" Enhancements: These are changes that are not crucial for letters
to function correctly, but workers would like to see these implemented.
Examples of items in this category are:
· Creating the ability to mail the same letter to multiple clients.
· Adding spell check functionality.
· Displaying the User ID of the worker who created the letter in Letter History.
We research the issues, draft any necessary text block changes, write the
ACES Work Request (AWR), and review all of the material prior to submitting
it to ACES. After AWRs have been submitted to ACES, we review our list of
issues to ensure that it is up-to-date and prioritize our next steps.
How are Letter Changes Prioritized by the LRB?
To determine the priority for Letter-Related Problem Reports and
Change Requests, the LRB uses the following standards:
Priority 1:
· Affects all administrations (AASA/ESA/MAA);
· Affects a large number of clients;
· Will result in substantial cost savings;
· Legally required; or
· Requires a change in Letter Maintenance System (LMS) only. LMS is the
data system that contains the text block information for all letters.
Changes that do not require related changes to the ACES Mainframe can
usually be implemented with few programming hours.
Priority 2:
· Affects more than one administration;
· Affects a moderate number of clients;
· Will result in moderate cost savings; or
· Could prevent a potential lawsuit.
Priority 3:
· Only affects one administration;
· Affects a small number of clients; or
· Results in minimal cost savings.
There are only a set number of programming hours available for letter
changes in each ACES Release. Once the LRB recommends the Letter changes
for a specific release, these recommendations are the evaluated with the
priorities of all administrations within the department.
History of the LRB
The Letters and Notices Workgroup was first commissioned in
November 1998 to redesign the Notices and Letters produced by and
for the Community Services (CSO) Offices, Medical Eligibility
Determination Services (MEDS) and Home and Community Services (HCS)
Offices. The primary goals of the group were to:
· Ensure that the required language and rights of clients were in each letter, and
· Simplify the format, creating "user friendly" letters easily understood
by the public, advocates and workers.
The workgroup redesigned all of the letters and notices into a group of
approximately 150 letters. These letters were user-tested for content and
clarity, sorted, and numbered in text blocks that can be used on multiple
letters. The text blocks were also translated into the supported languages,
using fonts that create a consistent look for all letters and languages.
In addition, the group transformed the letter/notice process so that
letters are created in ACES online, allowing increased flexibility for
workers. Workers can edit, attach forms, and refine letters as needed.
They can look in Letter History and see all of the letters and attachments,
when they were sent, how they were printed (central, local or auto printed),
and inserts included. The system now populates many fields in the letters,
saving time for the worker. Workers also have access to additional
information such as WAC codes and reason code text.
With the implementation of the new ACES Letters, the Letters & Notices
Workgroup became the Letter Review Board (LRB).
Contact the LRB
If you have a letter or text block that you want the LRB to review or would
like additional information about the LRB, please contact Alice Adams at (360)725-4651 or
adamsa1@dshs.wa.gov .
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