House File 369

                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  FREVERT


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act establishing minimum requirements for the staffing of the
  2    county offices maintained by the department of human services.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 2830HH 80
  5 jp/cf/24

PAG LIN

  1  1    Section 1.  Section 217.42, subsection 2, Code 2003, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    2.  The department shall maintain an office in each county.
  1  4 Based on the annual appropriations for field operations, the
  1  5 department shall strive to maintain a full=time presence in
  1  6 each county.  If it is not possible to maintain a full=time
  1  7 presence in each county, the department shall either have
  1  8 staff present in the office during regular business hours at
  1  9 least three days per week or assure that if telephone calls
  1 10 made to that office during regular business hours are
  1 11 transferred to another office, the calls shall be answered
  1 12 directly by a staff person and not by an electronic system.
  1 13 In any event, if it is not possible to maintain a full=time
  1 14 presence in a county office, the department shall provide
  1 15 staff based on its caseweight system to assure the provision
  1 16 of services.  The department shall consult with the county
  1 17 boards of supervisors of those counties regarding staffing
  1 18 prior to any modification of office hours.
  1 19                           EXPLANATION
  1 20    This bill establishes minimum requirements for the staffing
  1 21 of the county offices maintained by the department of human
  1 22 services.  Under Code section 217.42, if the department does
  1 23 not maintain a full=time presence in the department's county
  1 24 office, the department is required to utilize its caseweight
  1 25 system to assure provision of services.  The bill requires the
  1 26 department to either have staff present in the office during
  1 27 regular business hours at least three days per week to assure
  1 28 that if telephone calls made to that office during regular
  1 29 business hours are transferred to another office, the calls
  1 30 are answered directly by a staff person and not by an
  1 31 electronic system.
  1 32 LSB 2830HH 80
  1 33 jp/cf/24
  1 34
  1 35