DES Community Partner Spotlight: NATIVE HEALTH
Six months ago, the Department of Economic Security (DES) placed a Division of Benefits and Medical Eligibility (DBME) colleague one day a week in the NATIVE HEALTH office in central Phoenix. The goal was outreach—to serve those clients needing food and cash assistance and health insurance in a center where they had access to other social services.
Housing a colleague in the office and conducting business in a federally-qualified health center was a first for the program the Department calls “DES on the Spot.” The partnership has been a great success. Not only did NATIVE HEALTH give DBME another day at that clinic, they also want even more days at that location, and to expand DES services to the other two Phoenix locations.
“I think the need is there,” said NATIVE HEALTH Communications Director Susan Levy. “We’d definitely like to have five days a week. We could do 100 families a week.”
One DBME Program Service Evaluator (PSE) is on site at NATIVE HEALTH on Central and Indian School from 8am to 5pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. That PSE serves an average of 18 clients per day, and sometimes, has to turn people away. The center opens at 7am, and Levy says, often there is a line of people waiting for the PSE to arrive. But some who use the DES services, like “Jessica,” don’t mind what she considers a short wait to renew her Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
“I came in to do my interview…it was very easy, not hard at all,” said the 35-year-old mother of two. “I was the second one, it took about 45 minutes to get in. It was quick, really quick. It’s also helpful because here you can learn about other services.”
That seems to be one of the reasons for the program’s success. NATIVE HEALTH has 37 different programs on site, from legal services to prenatal care, to behavioral, medical and dental care. Clients waiting to see the PSE can actually have their children seen for a dental screening in the lobby. Making one stop for an array of services is what NATIVE HEALTH CEO Walter Murillo says is very important to their clients, many of whom rely on public transportation and aren’t able to make several stops.
“It just takes a lot to get a whole family here,” said Murillo.
Another reason for the program’s success is likely NATIVE HEALTH’s robust outreach efforts. Staffers are required to be out in the community a certain number of hours, and they attend all kinds of events, from tamale festivals and pow wows to school and church fairs and food box distributions. It’s at those events staffers start the process of signing up clients for SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and AHCCCS. Then, all that has to be done at the center is the interview with the PSE. The PSE in the NATIVE HEALTH center is Tara Eivers, who gets a great deal of satisfaction helping as many as she can.
“If we weren’t here, these people wouldn’t get help. Or they wouldn’t know where to go. Or they would go to offices that don’t have resources or give out other things they need,” said Eivers.
As a federally qualified health center, NATIVE HEALTH sees anyone and everyone who walks through their doors, not just Native Americans, though Native Americans comprise about 80% of their clientele. CEO Murillo believes many are more comfortable visiting DES there, than going to a DES office.
“I think that’s true of our native clients, or any clients who come here,” said Murillo. “Our goal is to establish a safe, comfortable environment, [and a place] culturally-appropriate for them to just walk in.”
Buoyed by the success of DBME at NATIVE HEALTH, the Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) now has a colleague available to clients on Tuesdays. While the DCSS doesn’t get the traffic at this particular center that DBME does, Levy says it’s still a valuable service utilized by clients who have child support issues. With a notary on site, clients have the ability to finalize their paperwork and handle child support modifications.
NATIVE HEALTH has two other Valley offices, one at 23rd Avenue and Dunlap and another at Metrocenter Mall. While DES continues to evaluate its DES on the Spot locations, Levy is hopeful that the DES on the Spot program can be expanded to those offices in the future.
For locations of DES offices and the services provided at various locations, please use our office locator.
By Connie Weber