The pilot is being conducted in four phases and will last for approximately four months.  The first phase includes Carter County and will last for one month.  At the end of the first month, the second phase of the pilot will begin by adding Shannon, Howell, and Oregon Counties to the pilot.  The second phase will also last for approximately one month.  At the end of the second month, the third phase of the pilot will begin by adding Butler, Ripley, and Wayne Counties to the pilot.  The third phase will also last for approximately one month.  At the end of the third month, we will begin the fourth phase of the pilot by adding Dunklin and Texas Counties to the pilot.  The fourth phase will also last for approximately one month.  During the fourth phase of the pilot all nine counties will be operating within FAMIS.

During the pilot, we will be making necessary changes to FAMIS to prepare for statewide implementation.  It is the expectation to start statewide implementation immediately upon the completion of the pilot.  Once statewide implementation begins, it will take approximately six to nine months before all counties will be converted to the new FAMIS system that will include the Food Stamp Program.  Attached is a map that shows the planned rollout of the Food Stamp Program in FAMIS.  The legend depicts the order of the rollout beginning with the pilot counties that are depicted by the pink shaded area on the map. 

It is important to remember and understand that once a case is converted to FAMIS that it will stay in FAMIS.  This is an important point because each county will likely receive transferred cases that are already in FAMIS before that county is actually converted to FAMIS.  This will require the county to have someone who is able to process food stamp cases in FAMIS before that county is converted.  It is imperative that each county work with their area office to develop a plan that will enable each county to handle transferred cases that have already been converted from the legacy system to FAMIS.

Training of all caseworkers, case managers, supervisors, county directors, and area administrative staff for each conversion area must be completed before FAMIS Food Stamps is implemented for that area.  The training is a 38-hour course that will begin at 8:30 AM on Monday and end at 3:30 PM on Friday.  A training schedule for the pilot counties and the first seven weeks of the statewide rollout is attached to this memorandum.  The first three phases (see the areas in yellow, light blue and dark blue on the attached map) of our statewide rollout will be trained during these seven weeks.  If your county is part of the first three phases of statewide implementation, staffs from your county are required to attend FAMIS training during the first seven weeks of statewide rollout training. The numbers of staff to be trained shown on the training schedule are based on allocations.  Please review this information.  If the numbers are insufficient, advise Dennis McCallister or Liz Barack as soon as possible.  The remaining counties will be scheduled for training in the near future. 

Liz Barack and Dennis McCallister from Staff Training and Development are coordinating the training schedule and will contact each local office regarding the scheduling of individual training session assignments.  Your cooperation in assisting Liz and Dennis with this process is greatly appreciated.

Beginning with Training Session 13 of the pilot, we will have a number of training slots reserved to allow counties from the next conversion area to send staff to training early.  These slots will provide the areas/counties with an opportunity for one or more persons within an area/county to gain valuable experience before the remainder of that conversion area is trained and converted.  Once the individual from the future conversion area is trained, that individual's caseload will be converted at the same time as the area that is currently being trained.  Once a caseload is designated to be converted and added to the conversion schedule it cannot be changed.

Training Sessions 4 and 5 of the pilot training schedule are being reserved for a select group of supervisors.  The training provided in these sessions will be the exact training that is presented in all the other sessions.  These sessions are being offered early to some supervisors to allow each area to have trained supervisory staff available to train new workers and to assist with transferred cases.  Each area has five slots reserved in either Training Sessions 4 or 5.  For the training to be effective, each supervisor following training must take and process several initial applications and complete changes in maintenance for new cases added to FAMIS.  This is necessary so those newly trained supervisors will not lose the newly acquired FAMIS skills before their counties are implemented. More detailed information about the supervisors' training and training for new staff will be sent to you by the IM Staff Development Unit.

•     Share memorandum with all staff as appropriate.