Morrison County HHS outlines plan to buy CaseWorks document system to handle rising workload and fraud reviews

Nathan Bertram, Morrison County Health and Human Services director, told the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 26 that his department is proposing to adopt NextChapter Technologies27 CaseWorks electronic document management and casework system to cope with coming federal and state changes in program review cadence and to reduce administrative error rates. Bertram said CaseWorks is already used by 65 of Minnesota27s 87 counties and offers autofill, standardized document taxonomy across counties, a resident portal for secure e-signature, and workflow tools that could reduce the time workers spend on reassessments, transfers and verification. Why it matters: federal policy changes will require more frequent reviews of financial-support cases, Bertram said. That could double some annual workloads for financial eligibility workers; higher audit error rates on SNAP and Medical Assistance could also translate into more county costs. Bertram said a modern case-management system can reduce time per reassessment, speed inter-county file transfers and lower error risk. Bertram walked commissioners through a two-phase implementation he27s discussing with the vendor: in 2026 enroll financial eligibility and child-support teams and, contingent on 2027 budget approval, move social-services casework in 2027. He said CaseWorks offered a 20% discount if the county adopted both modules, and that the vendor agreed to spread implementation costs over two years. Cost and funding: Bertram presented an initial budget plan that uses HHS fund balance for a first-year implementation payment (about $81,000 in his estimate) and projects ongoing annual costs afterward in the $40,0002d$45,000 range for the financial-worker modules; adding social-services modules would raise multi-year costs substantially (his five-year projection for social services implementation showed a much larger amount after partial federal reimbursement). He said federal and state reimbursement rates differ by program (roughly 602d66% for child support, about 482d49% for financial eligibility work, and much lower for many social-services costs) and that more precise revenue offsets will be finalized during the budget process. Board questions and concerns: several commissioners probed sample-size and vendor history, whether the state27s SSIS replacement work will conflict with county choices, training and hosting options, and whether the county could apply for grants to offset costs. Bertram said CaseWorks has been deployed for many years statewide, that counties have invested already and that the vendor provides onsite and virtual training during implementation; he also said the vendor recommended a five-year contract with ongoing maintenance costs that include document updates tied to state changes. Next steps: Bertram asked for direction and said he would bring a formal budget request at next week27s budget meeting; no contract or formal action was taken Aug. 26. Commissioners asked for more detailed cost numbers, the size of fund-balance use proposed, and the net ongoing levy or budget impact for five years before approving any contract.