Oregon Employment Department Overpayment Recovery Unit Overpayment Recovery Unit A study of practices and processes to increase recovery

November 2009-Start of process improvement Issue with private sector/government Majority of time is spent ‘Working-in-the-Business’ Running on the treadmill trying to keep up and you cannot jump off The need? ‘Work-on-the Business’ Look at your processes/practices Why do you do things the way you do?

Processes/Practices Researched and Improved Staffing structure Suspended Overpayments Warrant and garnishment process Credit Card payment process Team lead Standardization of training Reducing tracking codes The Future of Recovery at OED

Organizational Chart November 2009 December 2009 10 Revenue Agent 1’s-digits 0 thru 9 2 Revenue Agent 2’s-BK’s & Convictions 2 Office Specialist 1’s-Support staff Supervisor December 2009 11 Revenue Agent 1’s-digits 0 thru 9 & suspended accounts 1 Revenue Agent 2-BK’s & Convictions 1 Team Lead

Suspended Overpayments Auto suspend after 3 years and no payment activity What we found out? Many accounts in suspense were warranted had assets and we were not working them The extra RA1 due to Organizational change allowed us to devote collection activity to these accounts. Start of collection activity-December 15, 2009

Suspended Overpayment Results Recovered Jan. 15, 2010 $14,722 January 30, 2010 $24,305 June 30, 2010 $419,771 January 3, 2011 $775,205 SOIL(State tax refund intercept) $958,524 CY 2011 $657,143 Inception thru Feb. 1, 2012 $1,505,166 RA1-Suspended accounts, refunds, misapplied payments and SOIL posting-50/50

Warrant & Garnishment Process 12 to 15 Step Process from initiation of Civil Action until Garnishment Response Process required maximum effort on the unit’s part for a 30-60 day response 2009-10,000+ Warrants and Garnishments for $3.5 million in recovery

Current Civil Action Process 3 Steps From initiation of Civil Action to Response is 10-20 days 2011-15,677 Warrants and Garnishments for $5.2 million in recovery Each month for last 4 months-$500K+ On pace to recover $6 Million + for 2012-Doubled since 2009

Civil Action Recognition

Civil Action Recognition

Credit Card Recovery Process 2009 Philosophical Change Credit Card payments took top priority $$ in the Bank Included Cashier’s Cheques to boost individual totals Trophy and certificates each month

Credit Card Recovery Recognition

Credit Card Recovery Results 2009-$1.9 Million 2011-$3.1 Million-40% increase 2011-Average number of transactions/month-1,143 January 2012-$339K and 1,295 transactions February 2012-$413K and 1,523 transactions Records for unit, however, at 3 minutes per call it equates to 76 hours. Implemented recurring payments in November 2011-currently have 189 recurring accounts established.

Overall Recovery Recognition

Introduction of Team Lead January 2011 introduced Team Lead Responsibilities include: Escalated calls Training New employee orientation Assessing work flow/processes Assigning work load Warrant & garnishment approvals Assist with monthly reports

Standardization of training Our current policy/training manual

Standardization of Training

Standardization of Training

Standardization of training

Standardization of training

Queue Management Follow-Up Codes 00-LIQUIDATED-ZERO BALANCE 99-Check DOJ status Everything in-between: overwhelming Currently using 45 Follow-up Codes

The Future of Recovery at OED Process Improvement Group OED Website payment processing Predictive Dialer UC TOP

The Future of Recovery at OED Proud to be a P.I.G.-Process Improvement Group Meet bi-weekly to discuss process improvements Ideas come from the unit Decide which ideas have merit Prioritize them Implement them Train on them Update the Policy Manual to include the new process

The Future of OPR at OED On-line payment ability at OED website Credit card/ACH payments Designed for claimants and employers Move away from the need to have one on one conversations with claimants to take a payment Free RA’s time to skip trace and set up voluntary payment arrangements Make it easy for claimants and employers to pay us-24/7

The Future of Recovery at OED Predictive Dialer Washington currently using this system since 2001 Reduce the number of out-bound calls and increase the number of in-bound calls Program to make contact with us and payment reminder messages Track the results from the predictive dialer

The Future of Recovery at OED Participation in UC TOP Currently working on Safeguard Procedure Report Agency Profile submitted Test in September 2012 Implement by Tax Year 2013 $?? Million to Submit Recovery Expectations: $3-5 million per year

Contact information Oregon Employment Department Kevin McCarron Overpayment Recovery Manager UI Benefits (503)947-1375 (503)947-1376 FAX Kevin.e.mccarron@state.or.us