Weekly Focus 3-18-16

Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities sent this bulletin at 03/18/2016 04:47 PM EDT

An update and information report for doctors who provide consultative exams for OOD’s Division of Disability Determination

The mission of the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency is to ensure individuals with disabilities achieve quality employment, independence and disability determination outcomes.

What's Inside:

VR Making Progress Toward Goals
DDD Progress Toward Meeting Goals
Did You Know? Five Hundred and Fifty-Six (556) Adults are Successfully Employed through Employment First
OOD by the Numbers

VR Making Progress Toward Goals

For Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2016, the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (BVR) and the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired (BSVI) are meeting or exceeding performance measures in the areas of applications, eligibilities, plans written, and successful closures.

At just under 45% through FFY16, BVR and BSVI are at 47% of their application goal. We are on pace to process over 1,500 more applications than in FFY15. BVR and BSVI are also on pace to process nearly 2,500 more applications than in FFY15. We have completed over 55% of the closed rehab goal for FFY16. This is over 600 more successful closures than at the same point last year. We are also on pace to meet the goals in eligibilities and plans written.

I am a firm believer that meeting consumer expectations through timely delivery of services and setting expectations for both our staff and those we serve is critical. While the individuals we serve continues to increase along with our successful outcomes, our engagement strategies are also paying off for both our staff and jobseekers.

For the current FFY (as of the end of February 2016), I am pleased to report that we are making progress and will continue to do better. We have more jobseekers getting into a plan for employment and receiving services to achieve the plan goals. The time investment our staff are making in processing applications and determining eligibility is resulting in greater rewards with an increased service rate.

All staff have worked hard to implement strategies in order to more efficiently and accurately provide quality service to Ohioans with disabilities. Their efforts have put us on track to not only meet all of our performance expectations, but exceed them.

DDD Progress Toward Meeting Goals

The Division of Disability Determination (DDD) continues to process claims to achieve the goals set forth by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Nearly half way through the federal fiscal year, the production by the Ohio DDD continues to rank near the top in the Chicago Region.

Providing timely and accurate service to claimants remains paramount. DDD is currently at 104.1% of our goals year to date; which means we are staying current and are a little bit ahead on our workload. DDD continues to lead the Chicago Region and continues to assist other states with their claims processing.

DDD is well positioned to meet production goals this year. The staff and medical consultants who diligently work on processing claims timely, efficiently, and accurately, are the strength of this effort as we strive to serve Ohioans.

As a testament to the good work being achieved by DDD, Ohio has been selected as an early adopter state to test the new Disability Claims Processing System that SSA is rolling out. This new case management system continues to be developed, and is a much more modern tool than what states are currently using.