Paper Weight

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In modern American government, agency administrators manage a growing number of challenges. Diminishing budgets and increasing service demands present a particularly difficult hurdle to clear.

In response, jurisdictions have consolidated agencies and resources to lower costs and improve overall service delivery. For example, Illinois combined all or part of six agencies to form the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) in the late 1990s. The 14,500-employee agency has offices in nearly every county in the state and manages everything from food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), to vocational rehabilitation and mental health services.

Like many states, Illinois faces severe budget limitations. Consolidation efforts like DHS are paying off, but these initiatives also create challenges that must be addressed. In the case of Illinois, combining multiple agencies into one "super-agency" means that DHS handles a lot of paperwork. In fact, it quickly became apparent that the volume of paper forms and documents threatened to overwhelm the new agency. The solution was intelligent document technology from Adobe.

Forming Solutions
The DHS mission is to help Illinois citizens become self-sufficient. But when it came to managing more than 6,000 hard-copy forms used to deliver services, the agency found itself struggling. As DHS Forms Manager John Rigg explained, his staff battled valiantly against the daily onslaught of paperwork.

"We did the best we could," said Rigg. "I had some very experienced and dedicated staff. We seemed to keep on top of things, but it was obvious that the old paper forms scenario just wasn't going to cut it for an agency this size. It became very clear very quickly that logistically even supplying offices with forms -- the cost involved in production of forms, keeping that many forms updated -- was just an incredible task."

Human services agencies are at a particular disadvantage when it comes to managing their paperwork. Many of the benefit programs operated by states are federally mandated. These programs are subject to the wish and whim of the federal government, and the programs' regulations are ever-changing.

Even the slightest change demands an updated form, which must be duplicated millions of times and shipped to every DHS office. Changes also render the old forms useless, wasting thousands of existing paper copies. In addition, there's a chance citizens could use outdated forms to apply for food stamps or TANF benefits, which may delay their services.

Rigg knew it was time for a change in Illinois and upon taking his position as forms manager, he actively began seeking solutions to the DHS paper problems.

"After doing a lot of research, it was obvious we needed a reasonably priced, quickly implemented solution, and Adobe seemed to offer that solution for us," Rigg recalled. "It was something we could get up and running in a very short amount of time, something that was effective and met our needs to get the documents out there and in a format that was easily recognizable and easily usable by everybody."

Putting the "E" in Human Services
In 2000, Rigg and his staff laid the foundation for an e-forms strategy through which they could build a more effective, more efficient human services agency. At first, the goal was simple: to see if e-forms work as well as paper.

"I started looking at the options we had right after DHS was formed," said Rigg. "About five years ago we implemented an eforms project and started putting static PDFs on our intranet."

The project started with internal operations forms. Administrative forms, leave requests, personnel evaluations and other similar documents constituted the initial test group. The test group grew quickly, so Rigg realized he was onto something. The project evolved from static PDFs into an interactive online forms initiative.

"Over time the forms evolved into fillable PDFs, and now they're all enabled using Adobe LiveCycle^TM Reader Extension server software," said Rigg. In September 2005, DHS will unveil the first 300 interactive online forms for the public. "Those PDFs are fillable, enabled and totally functional documents as far as being able to fill them out online and save them."

Many of the internal forms used by DHS now can be submitted online, a feature the department plans to soon roll out to the public.

The benefits of Adobe's intelligent document approach are wide-ranging. Internally, the chaos of tens of millions of paper forms is being transformed into an efficient, highly manageable system of electronic documents. Illinois also used Adobe technology to eliminate duplication within the forms themselves.

"It's allowed a lot of additional time to really analyze the forms and see which forms we are able to combine, which just physically takes the number of forms down," said Rigg. "[We are] finding there is duplication in processes that can be handled by the same electronic form."

DHS now uses far fewer forms. In fact, the number of DHS forms dropped from more than 6,000 to about 2,000 -- nearly half of which are available electronically.

The Adobe solution is extremely cost-effective for the agency. Since implementation, the DHS cut its annual forms printing budget by nearly 70 percent. Rigg said the agency now creates 10 million to 15 million fewer paper copies annually.

"I don't think there is a more cost-effective solution out there," Rigg said.

The electronic document strategy produces savings for almost every DHS business function. One of the most critical benefits, especially for those on the receiving end of DHS services, is time-savings. Adobe helps DHS respond much more quickly to changing federal mandates.

"An electronic form change is immediate, so you have the time factor there," Rigg said. "Once the form is approved, the electronic format is immediately available to staff. We don't have preprinted stock sitting in a warehouse, waiting to be shipped out and never going to be used now because it's been changed."

Service Delivery
In the end, Illinois citizens benefit the most from these changes. Taxpayers appreciate the increase in government efficiency. And convenient electronic forms mean DHS clients will no longer need to travel to a government office or take time off work to complete some paperwork.

Citizens will be able to complete DHS electronic forms online, then print them out and submit them. That process will become even easier, as DHS hopes to roll out submittable online forms in the next year. This will allow DHS clients to complete the forms online then send the forms electronically to the agency.

"Our whole goal as an agency is to get people as self-sufficient as possible," said Rigg. "DHS Secretary Carol Adams' motto is 'online not inline.' What can we do to make life easier for people? If we're here as a social service agency, what services can we provide to make that easier?"

As Rigg and DHS have found, the Adobe Intelligent Document Platform is a good answer to that question.