Workplace Supports to Improve Georgia's Child Protective Services

II. Recommendations (continued)

2. Technology as a Tool

   While Georgia is still many years away from a statewide child welfare case-management system, nearly every state child welfare worker has access to a computer with word processing, web browsing, and email software.  Case managers report that the tools provided thus far are helpful.  Word processing templates are a good first step toward moving work processes away from paper documents.

   Private providers now put databases of placement resources and substance abuse treatment programs online via the World Wide Web.  DFCS workers routinely search for Department of Corrections prisoners and Georgia Bureau of Investigations sex offenders online.^[66]  DFCS, in partnership with the courts, is moving to a shared, online Caseplan Reporting System (CPRS).^[67]  Some efforts have been made to move the DFCS policies and procedures manuals online for more convenient searching and to ensure current information.^[68]  Children in DFCS custody are tracked through the Internal Data System (IDS), which has been available through a web interface for two years.^[69]  Reports of child maltreatment are not yet accessible over the Internet, but plans are being made to combine the Protective Services Data System (PSDS) into the web-based IDS system.

   A May 2001 national survey of states reported that only two out of 40 states responding supplied "None or Few" of their direct services workers with internet access.^[70]  Only three out of 39 states responded that they supplied cellular phones to "None or Few" of their direct services workers.^[71] Georgia's Office of Planning and Budget policy allows only department heads to have cellular phones paid for with state dollars.^[72]  This and other barriers to local procurement of technology should be addressed by the Georgia Technology Authority's (GTA) Converged Communications Outsourcing Project (CCOP) to be awarded in July 2002.  County funds can be used to supply cellular phones to case managers. In Richmond county, a local taskforce headed by a Superior Court Judge was able to get new cell phones donated by a private company for all the Richmond County DFCS case managers.  The State DFCS office has agreed to pay the monthly phone bill.^[73]

   It is well understood that a high quality case management tool is a necessity for improving the child welfare system.  Such a system would provide case histories and record-keeping organization to the worker, management information to the local supervisors, and aggregate data to state and federal managers.  The United States Congress recognized this in 1993 when it authorized funds to reimburse up to 75% of the costs to states that built a Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).  Georgia, along with at least 17 other states, has had a difficult time building a SACWIS.^[74]  The Barton Clinic's previous policy paper elaborated some of these difficulties.^[75]  As of this writing, plans from the GTA call for completion of a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) in June 2002 leading to a four-phase SACWIS rollout with release dates in December of 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007.^[76]  Georgia SACWIS, as it will be known, will be built on top of the new State of Georgia Web Portal, an infrastructure of web services that will be shared by all state entities.  For example, the portal's web services might provide an application such as SACWIS with the ability to seamlessly interact with a case manager using a mobile device, such as a cellular phone or personal digital assistant (PDA).  Another web service might provide a scheduling capability for family conferences.  Georgia's web portal is scheduled to debut in June 2002, followed by a pilot of the state Health and Human Services portion of the portal in July 2002.

   1. Recommendation:  Enhance the usability of existing reporting applications (IDS, PSDS, and CPRS) as they are integrated into the new state web portal.

      Together, three reporting applications currently make it possible for Georgia to meet federal reporting requirements (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, and IV-E), saving millions of state dollars each year.  With meager budgets and little or no user training, these applications have achieved nearly 100% adoption by all 159 counties, simply because the need is so great.  Modern web interfaces to enhance the usability of these applications might save the State thousands of person-hours each month, yet decision makers refuse to improve these interfaces for fear of laying "digital concrete" (the phenomenon of rigid information systems locking an organization into a way of doing business).  Since these are merely reporting systems, the probability of business processes and user acceptance building to the hardness of concrete around these applications is very small.  It is worth this risk, and the small dollar costs, to provide some immediate relief to the reporting burden of workers in the field.^[77]

   2. Recommendation:  Contract an independent vendor to perform regular security audits on all DHR data systems containing confidential information.

      Children and families that trust their most personal information to DHR have a right to know how that information will be protected.  An unintended release of data could be devastating to DHR's clients, and, in some cases, even life-threatening.  DHR should move quickly to publish departmental information technology (IT) security policies.^[78]  These policies should be guided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Federal Information Technology Security Assessment Framework, including a requirement for regular security audits (including penetration testing) by an outside contractor.^[79]  DHR IT security policies and records of audits should be made available to clients and the general public on the DHR website.

   3. Recommendation:  Build a comprehensive Georgia SACWIS website to keep DFCS staff and partners well informed on information technology resources, plans, and implementation.

      Despite the false starts, state and county managers remain committed to Georgia SACWIS.  The hope generated by Georgia SACWIS leads to a great deal of speculation about timelines and functionality.  The state and county management should not have to speculate about the future of such a critical tool in their arsenal;  they should have summary and detailed planning documents available to them via the web.  Reporting from the BPR project is of particular importance, since thorough review and feedback from county level staff is crucial to good reengineering.  Websites and listservs are particularly well suited to this task.

   4. Recommendation:  Staff a Project Management Office (PMO) in DHR to provide basic project management supports, not just to technology projects, but throughout the department.

      Georgia's Child and Family Services Review and the Safe Futures for Georgia's Children initiative have recently generated more than 25 new projects.  Most of the leaders of those project teams have little or no formal training in project management and are largely unfamiliar with the tools of the project management trade.^[80]  Georgia SACWIS is likely to be one of the largest software projects ever undertaken in the 50 year history of computing.  State managers need support from a PMO that can tackle the complexity of SACWIS development, while still "right-sizing" their services to the many small to medium sized social services projects at the division or section level.  A PMO working with social services managers should err on the side of too little process, being very careful not to drown clients in methodologies.

   5. Recommendation:  Increase the use of mobile devices to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of case managers.

      It goes without saying that the quality of social service work is directly proportional to the time spent with the families and children in need.  Mobile digital devices (phones, PDA's, palmtops, laptops, email pagers, video phones) on the market today hold the promise of untethering case managers from their desks.  Cellular phones promote teamwork and collaboration, as well as providing immediate access to law enforcement and other resources.  PDA's costing less than $300 can now store large resource databases listing substance abuse, family counseling, housing, utilities, childcare, and many other service providers, as well as an electronic copy of the organization's policies and procedures.  Desktop video phones that transmit over normal phone lines and cost about $500 could be used in some family conferencing situations and court appearances.  If all paper forms were converted to word processor templates, a room full of forms could be carried in a small palmtop or laptop and filled out in the client's home.