The state Department of Social Services is proposing a reorganization that would consolidate offices, eliminate nearly 200 jobs and create more automated ways for people to apply for services.
If approved, the changes would eliminate layers of midlevel management that were targeted by a government streamlining panel as inefficient and unnecessary bureaucracy in the department that oversees foster care services, food stamps and welfare payments across Louisiana.
"It's a better model for our clients," Social Services Secretary Kristy Nichols told the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday as she described the proposal.
The department would cut 197 jobs, saving $11 million in the upcoming budget year that begins July 1, Nichols said. Most of the jobs are vacant or would be cut through attrition, though Nichols has said up to 40 layoffs might be needed. Layoffs would include clerical, administrative and midlevel management jobs, she said.
"We're really targeting positions that don't affect client services. We're really trying to eliminate overhead," Nichols said.
The DSS overhaul is recommended in Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget for the upcoming 2010-11 fiscal year, and it also would require changes in law in the regular legislative session that begins later this month.
Four program offices would be collapsed into one office, an agency that helps disabled Louisiana residents find jobs would be moved to the state labor department and 18 DSS offices around the state would be closed and their functions consolidated to other locations. Nichols said the offices slated for closure are administrative and small food stamp locations in cities that have other delivery sites.
Systems that allow people applying for food stamps and welfare assistance to enroll by phone will be expanded, and they'll also be able to submit applications electronically, shrinking the need to travel to DSS field offices to get government aid, Nichols said.
"We're very focused on automating our systems. We can't afford the system that we have today. The growth that we see in the need for public assistance, if we don't do business differently, we're not going to be able to absorb the need," she said.
For example, food stamp rolls have grown by 19 percent over the last year. More than 332,000 families receive the food assistance from the state, according to DSS.
Some lawmakers have urged Nichols to proceed cautiously with office closures, particularly in rural areas where people don't have access to public transportation to travel farther distances to get to DSS offices.
Rep. Jim Fannin, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, told Nichols to devise cost-cutting strategies that will continue to save the state money in later years, when federal stimulus dollars being used in her department fall away.
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The state Department of Social Services is proposing a reorganization that would consolidate offices, eliminate nearly 200 jobs and create more automated ways for people to apply for services.
If approved, the changes would eliminate layers of midlevel management that were targeted by a government streamlining panel as inefficient and unnecessary bureaucracy in the department that oversees foster care services, food stamps and welfare payments across Louisiana.
"It's a better model for our clients," Social Services Secretary Kristy Nichols told the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday as she described the proposal.
The department would cut 197 jobs, saving $11 million in the upcoming budget year that begins July 1, Nichols said. Most of the jobs are vacant or would be cut through attrition, though Nichols has said up to 40 layoffs might be needed. Layoffs would include clerical, administrative and midlevel management jobs, she said.
"We're really targeting positions that don't affect client services. We're really trying to eliminate overhead," Nichols said.
The DSS overhaul is recommended in Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget for the upcoming 2010-11 fiscal year, and it also would require changes in law in the regular legislative session that begins later this month.
Four program offices would be collapsed into one office, an agency that helps disabled Louisiana residents find jobs would be moved to the state labor department and 18 DSS offices around the state would be closed and their functions consolidated to other locations. Nichols said the offices slated for closure are administrative and small food stamp locations in cities that have other delivery sites.
Systems that allow people applying for food stamps and welfare assistance to enroll by phone will be expanded, and they'll also be able to submit applications electronically, shrinking the need to travel to DSS field offices to get government aid, Nichols said.
"We're very focused on automating our systems. We can't afford the system that we have today. The growth that we see in the need for public assistance, if we don't do business differently, we're not going to be able to absorb the need," she said.
For example, food stamp rolls have grown by 19 percent over the last year. More than 332,000 families receive the food assistance from the state, according to DSS.
Some lawmakers have urged Nichols to proceed cautiously with office closures, particularly in rural areas where people don't have access to public transportation to travel farther distances to get to DSS offices.
Rep. Jim Fannin, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, told Nichols to devise cost-cutting strategies that will continue to save the state money in later years, when federal stimulus dollars being used in her department fall away.
