There is one outstanding technical issue that the Data Center at SIPS is working on and expects to get resolved by September. They are putting in a new version this coming weekend, and completed their user acceptance testing a week ahead of the implementation schedule, fully signed-off and approved. She commended the ACTS staff, both on the technical side and the functional side. This release will make them fully compliant with the federal certification requirements that must be in place by the end of September. Randy and her team were applauded for a job well done, and Council members encouraged DHR to publicize the success of this project.
Plans call for rollout in the Spring of next year.
Bill Cox reported that many of the lessons learned in the Child Support Collection project have been applied to the EBT project. A Quality Assurance committee has been put in place. There is also an oversight committee that includes several county members. Delores explained that the State is contracting with Citibank to provide plastic, magnetic-stripe cards. Citibank will be setting up accounts that equal the value of the current Food Stamp benefits levels that recipients receive.