In the near future, “iPhones are going to be rolled out to all the (Department of Human Services) service workers. Land lines are going to become a thing of the past very soon for services.
“iPhones will have wifi hot spot capabilities so they can have computers out in the field and be able to input dictation data,”  Department of Human Services Director Cindy Underwood said in an interview Monday.
“We’re trying to move workers out of brick and mortar into the field. We just recently went online for all applications for payments. You can apply for cash assistance, food stamps, Medicaid and state emergency relief online without ever having to come into the office.”
“We see fewer and fewer people on services,” she said of how Michigan’s economy looks from her perspective heading field offices in Cassopolis and Centreville in eastern neighbor St. Joseph County.
“There’s a little bit of increase in day care, which is an indication to us that people are getting jobs. Or, that compliance is tightening up so people who were drawing assistance who probably shouldn’t have been are being identified and those cases are being closed.”
During the recession her agency saw “a lot of people coming in who have always worked and been able to pay their bills. Now, all of a sudden, their bills outdo the income they have and they’re applying for services. The asset test affects it a little bit.
“As of Jan. 1, having a vehicle is exempt from applying for food stamps. A lot of families have worked all their lives and all of a sudden they don’t have any.”