Q&A
Communication with families about delayed services
1:49:51
ยท
71 sec
Council Member Shahana Hanif asks about how the DOE is communicating with families regarding the impact of delayed services. Liz Vladeck explains the DOE's efforts to improve communication.
- The DOE has stopped taking escalation phone calls from vendors to clear phone lines for direct communication with parents.
- This change caused frustration for vendors but allows the DOE to get necessary information faster from parents.
- The DOE is in the process of setting up a customer service center, expected to go online in the next month or two.
- The new system will allow parents, attorneys, and vendors to check the status of their cases and expected timelines via a website or call center.
Shahana Hanif
1:49:51
Do you have permission to ask a few more questions?
1:49:53
Thank you.
1:49:55
And then, could you share how you all are communicating with families about the impact of delayed services?
Liz Vladeck
1:50:04
Yes.
1:50:05
That's I'm so glad you asked.
1:50:07
We're doing a few things.
1:50:08
One of the things we've done, which caused a lot of noise at the beginning of this year, is we said, we we have to stop taking escalation phone calls from vendors in order to clear our phone lines to be able to speak directly to parents.
1:50:24
We know and so that's really the shortest answer is when we're directly in touch with parents, we are always able to get the information we need faster, which allows us to move faster.
1:50:35
Obviously, that created a lot of frustration for vendors.
Althea Stevens
1:50:39
Mhmm.
Liz Vladeck
1:50:40
We knew we had a solution coming.
1:50:42
We are we are in the process of standing up, and I think we're going online in the next month or 2.
1:50:47
We're in the process of standing up a customer service center, where parents, attorneys, vendors can check on our website or call into a call center and say what exactly is the status of my case?
1:50:59
What is the time line that I should expect?