Improvements and Successes

2023 Highlights

We improved processes.

  • MHD received approval from CMS on the most significant updated Hospital payment structure in more than 20 years. This update is a steppingstone to more modern payment methodologies for the program, but it will still eliminate outdated payment streams, adjust rates for the acuity of the patient, stop abuse by out-of-state providers, and increase fairness among providers to the payment structure.

  • FSD reduced the average number of days it took them to process an application for Medicaid (MAGI) from 106 days in July of 2022 to 15 days in July 2023.

  • In July 2023 MMAC had $2,182,994 in actual recoveries for fraudulent or improper Medicaid billing. That is roughly double their normal monthly average.

We helped Missourians meet their basic needs.

  • In April 2023, the Family Support Division launched the FSD Benefit Portal to help Missourians complete their Medicaid annual renewals online. Additionally they launched a webpage, mydss.mo.gov/renew which is targeted at helping give guidance to MO HealthNet participants in completing their annual renewals so they didn’t risk losing coverage.

  • Our Child Support Enforcement team collected $554 million to support Missouri children and families, and established paternity for 3,226 Missouri children, and Rehabilitation Services for the Blind provided training, assistive technology, and preventative eye care services to 4,092 individuals. In FY23, The Family Support Division processed 598,894 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications, and served more than 650,568 people.

  • Through the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, we provided over $3 million in assistance to 9,738 Missouri households helping them pay their water and sewage bills while the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program provided over $75.7 million in assistance to nearly 100,000 Missouri households. Our Child Support Enforcement team collected $595 million to support Missouri children and families, and Rehabilitation Services for the Blind provided training, assistive technology, and preventative eye care services to 3,342 individuals. The Food Banks distributed 21.5M pounds of food from the DSS administered The Emergency Food Assistance Program. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) served over 333,000 households and more than 675,000 people.

We prepared our youth for their future.

  • The Division of Youth Services, hosted high school graduations for 176 youth, while 76 youth successfully passed the High School Equivalency Test. Out of 524 youth discharged in FY23, 85.7% are productively involved with an improved family relationships rate of 96.2%.

  • Additionally, Our Office of Workforce and Community Initiatives (OWCI) has successfully contacted 169 Resource Parents and Foster Care Youth to provide employment and training resources. OWCI also provided funding for Jobs for Americas Graduates (JAG) which supported 104 programs in 70 schools. During the 2022-2023 school year, there were 3,868 students in either the middle or high school program, which resulted in 913 graduates. JAG Missouri leads the Nation with a 98% graduation rate.

We moved more children and youth to permanency.

  • The goal of permanency is to find the youth in foster care a safe, permanent home that will allow them to grow and thrive. Sometimes this means returning home safely with their families, other times this means finding alternate options that are best for each individual youth. Last year, 6,671 children exited Alternative Care in Children’s Division. 45% reunited with their family, 22% were adopted, 22% are now in a guardianship, and 11% for other reasons, such as aging out as an adult.

We helped Missourians with employment.

  • The Office of Workforce and Community Initiatives (OWCI) engaged with 33 faith-based organizations, 75 veterans organizations, 642 employers, 607 non-profits, and 621 government agencies in its effort to educate employers on hiring individuals with barriers, and provide information to community based organizations on DSS benefits to ensure Missouri citizens have access to meet their basic needs, and reach their employment goals. Additionally, 3,343 Missourians were served through SkillUP, with 3,086 verified employment resulting in $2,006,829 more in earnings on average per quarter, and 41% of Missouri Work Assistance participants cases were closed due to employment.

We helped more Missourians with access to healthcare.

  • The Family Support Division reduced the average number of days it took them to process an application for Medicaid (MAGI) from 106 days in July of 2022 to 15 days in July 2023.

  • The MO HealthNet Division Transformation Office, in conjunction with the Third-Party Liability group sent letters to participants who are eligible for but not enrolled in Medicare. Six months later when they checked 2,405 of those individuals were enrolled in both! That translates to $21,500,700 annual savings to the state.

  • In December 2023, the MO HealthNet Division, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Senior Services, Department of Mental Health, and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education launched the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies website. The mission of Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies is to achieve better health outcomes by connecting women to quality healthcare and supportive resources that will provide healthy, successful pregnancy and post-partum experiences for both mom and baby. According to the Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review, every year an average of 70 women die while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy in Missouri. 84% of these pregnancy-related deaths were determined to be preventable. The Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies efforts are designed to address not only maternal health concerns, but also pre-term pregnancies, and low birth weight and very low birth weight babies.

We invested in our team members.

  • Governor Parson purposed, and the General Assembly gave its final approval to the early supplemental budget legislation that included an 8.7% raise for all state employees. It also included an additional $2 per hour shift differential for evening and overnight workers in residential facilities (such as our DYS residential campuses). This increase was historic in its size, and allows us to continue to recruit, retain, and reward employees.

We helped our team members grow and develop professionally.

  • In early 2023, the Operational Excellence team launched the Department of Social Services Leadership Academy. This unique opportunity was developed as a result of feedback from our own team members who showed a desire to have more meaningful professional development and expand leadership skills and opportunities. As a result, the DSS Leadership Academy was created for rising leaders in our agency with goals of providing skill building opportunities, helping to create a shared vision and identity in our agency, and equip team members with proficiencies in transformational work to propel our agency forward, lean into our strategic vision, and serve citizens better. With this momentum, DSS team members will develop into stronger, more informed leaders to keep DSS moving towards success. In December, the inaugural class of 29 team members graduated after presenting their capstone projects to department leaders on topics including non-traditional staffing solutions, training solutions, retention solutions, time management solutions, and increasing participation in the Quarterly Pulse Survey.

  • Additionally, the department rolled out DSS specific MO Cred badges as a new and innovative way for team members to showcase their professional development.

We continued to make great strides in staffing and recruitment.

  • The Human Resource Center averaged 39 days time to fill for FY23, which is well under the recommend 45 days from OA. During FY23, DSS attended 108 community and college job fairs and hosted a High School Career Day introducing over 70 students to entry level careers at DSS. Additionally in 2023, DSS hosted 28 hiring events offering on site applications and interviews across the state. At those 28 events, 275 job offers were made.

Past Performance