Manage Outreach and Intake of Authorizations
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Explain how a constituent applies for licenses and permits.
- Summarize the different actions you can take in the public web portal.
- List the tasks of a public reviewer.
- Describe the features of the Licensing and Permitting app that help public reviewers do their jobs.
Simplified Compliance
Information is key when it comes to regulatory requirements. That’s why Public Sector Solutions includes an easy-to-use web portal where constituents can find the right authorization information at the right time. With the web portal, prospective business owners and applicants quickly understand the various processes involved, submit applications, and track the status of license and permit requests, inspection results, and enforcement actions.
For example, Susan Adams, a resident of the town of Cosville, needs to apply for a business license to open a salon and spa near the beach. Her first step is figuring out which regulatory authorities she must contact to set up her business.
Business owners like Susan often require business licenses and occupational licenses from their local government agency. Municipal authorities must approve health permits, fire permits, signage permits, and other certifications to ensure that the business is compliant with applicable laws and regulations. Wouldn’t it be great if constituents could see all of the licenses and permits they need in one place?
With the web portal, constituents can easily find a list of all licenses, permits, and dependent permits needed for their business type.
Constituents can also track their applications, upload relevant documents, and manage authorizations right from the portal.
Note: You can use the Licenses and Permits community template in the Community Creation wizard to quickly create a web portal for sharing information and collaborating with constituents. To learn more, see Create a Community with the Licenses and Permits Template.
The Web Portal
First, you learn how constituents use the online government portal to find relevant information about different licenses and permits and submit applications.
From the License and Permit dropdown menu, constituents can view regulatory requirements, and apply for or renew licenses or permits.
For example, from the public portal, Susan can apply for an occupational barber’s license, an establishment license, as well as fire permits, health permits, and so on.
Prescreening
After registering a user account, prospective business owners enter general information about their business. By selecting the Assess Your License and Permit Needs menu item, they can fill out dynamic forms.
These forms guide the constituent through the prescreening process and present information about all of the licenses and permits required for their business type.
Dynamic forms streamline information collection for each application type. As the constituent responds to the questions in the pre-screening module, the web portal determines the list of applications they need to obtain the desired licenses.
After completing the forms, the prescreening results appear.
On this screen, the constituent learns what applications they need, the requirements for compliance, and other steps to pass inspections.
For example, Susan learns that she must obtain the following key licenses and permits for her salon and spa business.
- A new business license: The Salon Establishment License from the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
- A professional or occupational license: The Manicurist License from the Department of Medicine
- Various permits: Sign permits, fire permits, and health permits from the Department of Building Inspection
License and Permit Application
By selecting Apply for a License or Permit, constituents can fill out the necessary application forms.
Here’s an application form for the Sunshine Spa and Salon.
The constituent can also see the overall steps they must complete, which change dynamically based on their responses.
When a constituent applies for a business license, they can click Permit Dependency to view dependent parent permits and licenses.
This hierarchy includes details such as permit requirements, the time it takes to obtain the license, and the associated regulatory authority. Handy!
For example, Susan learns that she needs to apply for a business license and an individual license for her occupation. While applying for an individual license, Susan also fills out information on the mandatory Courses and Examinations that she’s already completed, such as the Barbering and Cosmetology Health and Safety Course. She can upload all relevant documents as attachments in each license or permit application.
License and Permit Status
The My Dashboard view gives constituents visibility over the status of applications. Constituents can select View License and Permit Status to bring up a list of their applications and their current status.
From the dashboard, they can also access saved assessment and application forms, even applications they’ve only partially completed.
There are separate tabs for the Licenses and Permits, Business License Applications, and Individual License Applications with details such as account name, submission dates, and, most importantly, status.
Approval Process Flow
When a constituent submits an application, this triggers an approval process flow and the application enters the reviewer’s workflow queue.
Here’s an example approval process flow that city employees might follow to review a business license application.
This approval process flow includes these seven stages: Submitted, Application Accepted, Inspection Phase, Violations Observed, Inspection Completed, Approved, and License Issued.
Typically, all applications go through a chain of approval. Reviewers check applicant eligibility, perform background checks as applicable, and verify that all documents are in place and fees processed. They also ensure compliance against all regulatory codes and policies. This job involves high levels of collaboration, both with the applicants and with other approvers who are often in different departments.
For example, Diego is a public reviewer responsible for reviewing and approving application submissions for licenses and permits.
To view the work queue, city employees open the Licensing and Permitting Management app.
On the Home page of the Public Sector Console, reviewers can see the Items to Approve component that shows a list of all applications in need of review.
Your trusted admin configures this component on the Home page so that reviewers can have easy access to their to-do lists.
You can also go to the Business License Applications or Individual Applications components to see the list of applications that need attention. For example, Diego clicks on Susan’s business application to drill down into the details. The Intake phase is now in motion.
On the Business License Application record page, you can see information such as license type, application status, business type, business description, and account details. Also, notice the Approval Path component on the application record page.
The path shows the different stages of the approval process and the guidelines on how to move on to the next step.
For example, Diego sees that he must verify the license attachments and business owner details to complete the application verification. He finds some errors in Susan’s application and documents during his review, so he rejects the application using the approval process.
As a result, Susan receives an email alert about the rejection and the reasoning behind it. She logs in to the web portal and views the returned application on her dashboard. Here, she edits the application, resolves the errors, and resubmits the application.
Diego reviews the reworked application, marks the status as completed for the first review phase, and provides some review comments based on his observations. The application then heads off to the next reviewer and the next step in the process.
Public Sector Solutions gives city employees involved in the process a few ways to stay informed of the status, documents and approvals, and application history.
The Approval History component on the business license application record shows a history trail of all approval actions taken on a particular record with the name of the approver and the date of approval.
The admin can also configure and name the Hierarchical View component. In this case, the component is called Unified View.
The Unified View tab shows all the visits, violations, and enforcement actions associated with an application.
Admins can set up the Hierarchical View component for business license applications, individual applications, accounts, visits, and case pages. They can configure up to four levels of records to form the hierarchy. To learn more about Hierarchical Views, see the link in the Resources section.
With Public Sector Solutions, reviewers, approvers, inspectors, and compliance officers have a 360-degree view of information before issuing or renewing licenses and permits. Speaking of inspectors and compliance officers, let’s explore their roles and responsibilities in the next unit.
