DSS Course Valuable Training Tool for Social Services

Richmond Community College’s Income Maintenance Case Worker course is proving to be very valuable for the local departments of social services.

The course introduces students to NCFAST, a software program that is used throughout the departments of health and human services (DHHS) and departments of social services (DSS). NCFAST, which stands for North Carolina Family Accessing Services through Technology, is a critical component of agency operations.

“NCFAST is now the program to process all applications for food nutrition services and Medicaid — for families, children and adults. All programs that are sponsored through DSS, all of our economic services, are processed through the NCFAST system,” said Lori Reynolds, income maintenance case worker at the Richmond County DSS office and an instructor for the RichmondCC course. “One of the main benefits from the NCFAST system is that it is accessible in all 100 counties in North Carolina. It used to be if somebody moved from one county to another, they’d have to close down their case and reapply in the new county. All they have to do now is notify the old county, and it can be transferred within the system, saving the client from having to reapply just because they moved.”

Reynolds said any new hires or recent hires for DSS will be required to take the Income Maintenance Case Worker course.

There are two phases to the Income Maintenance Case Worker course. In phase one, students gain entry-level skills required to become a DSS employee such as basic navigation in NCFAST, DSS terminology, keyboarding and computer skills. Students also complete a Work Keys assessment near the end of the course.

“It’s not only geared toward DSS and DHHS office jobs, but they also learn basic job hunting skills such as how to do an effective interview, how to complete a resume, and keyboarding — just basic job skills that most anybody is going to need who is new to the workforce or someone who has been out of the workforce for a while,” Reynolds said.

The course is a collaboration at the state level between DSS and the NC Community College System. Four community colleges were selected to test a pilot program for the Income Maintenance Case Worker course, and RichmondCC was one of them. The College worked with the local DSS office on establishing the course through its Workforce and Economic Development division.

“It’s been a wonderful partnership because everything we do here at DSS is all technology. We don’t take any paper applications at all,” said Lee Anne Sago, program administrator for Medicaid and Food and Nutrition Services at the DSS office in Rockingham. “The course has certainly been a godsend to us, and I’d like to see it eventually get into the human services college curriculum because so much of the human services arena focuses on DSS and DSS related services. Knowing the NCFAST system is paramount to being able to do any of the work.”

RichmondCC recently established an articulation agreement that will allow students who complete the course (Phase 1 and Phase 2) to receive college credit in the Human Services college curriculum.

In Phase 2, students will continue their study and practice with NCFAST, focusing more on processing Medicaid applications, said Adam Holland, an instructor for the course who works at the DSS office in Scotland County.

“Once you have passed Phase 1 and 2, you will have completed all the functions required of a income maintenance case worker. I’ve taught the class three times, and I’ve gotten great feedback on it, including employees who have been here six or seven months who said they learned something new,” Holland said. “The course is very beneficial.”

Holland also noted that the short, eight-week course is a great way for people who are looking for a different line of work to see if human services is a right fit for them.

“By taking this class, you learn the basics of the job before you even get in the door,” Holland said.

Reynolds said while completing both phases of the course doesn’t guarantee someone a job with DSS, it does give someone interviewing for the job an edge over other equally qualified candidates who have no training in NCFAST.

Phase 1 of the Income Maintenance Case Worker course will be offered Jan. 9 - March 6 on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m.

Students can choose from two class locations:
• Lee Building, Room 11, RichmondCC’s main campus, Hamlet
• Honeycutt Center, Room 123, Laurinburg

Phase 2 of the class will be offered March 21 - May 11 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. at these same locations.

For more information or to sign up, call WED Program Director Angineek Gillenwater at (910) 410-1848 or email ajgillenwater@richmondcc.edu.