Knox County Job and Family Services shifts call center to standalone operations

Knox County commissioners heard July 16 that the county’s Department of Job and Family Services has begun running its call center as a standalone operation to handle only Knox County cases.

Carla Poland, the department’s administrator of public assistance, told the board the county began standalone operations on July 1 and plans to formally exit its current CA group and join a different consortium in October so it can keep state technology funding while operating only Knox cases. Poland said the change is intended to improve customer service by giving the county direct scheduling and case control.

The department presented early performance numbers for July 1–14: 372 calls were offered, 360 were answered (a 96.8% answer rate), the average speed of answer was 1.9 seconds and the average handle time was 17.4 minutes. Poland contrasted those figures with the state averages she cited—26.8 seconds for speed of answer and 21.6 minutes for handle time—to show initial improvement.

Poland described staffing and workflow changes the department has made. She said four ERS‑2 caseworker positions are currently open and the plan is to hire one while leaving three positions unfilled to realize fiscal savings through improved scheduling and reduced cross‑county workload. Poland said staff morale has already improved because workers will not be on continuous call‑center duty and will have more time to process documents.

Scott Boone, who introduced Poland and who identified himself at the meeting as director of Fox County Job and Family Services, joined the praise for the staff’s work but the presentation and operational details were provided by Poland. Poland told commissioners the county will remain in a state‑required group for funding purposes but will operate independently for day‑to‑day case work and only provide mutual coverage in true emergencies such as weather‑related flooding.

Poland said the county will formally move from its current CA grouping to a so‑called “Group 10” of counties that operate standalone units. She listed several counties she said are in that group and said those counties reported few mutual‑aid activations, which supports Knox County’s plan.

The department offered to provide the board with its reports and data for posting, and commissioners said they will monitor results as the department continues to refine scheduling and staffing. Poland and Boone emphasized the transition is early and the department will report further as more data accumulates.

Next procedural steps: the department will operate under the new schedule through the summer and register the formal group change with the state in October as required to retain technology funding.