DCF pulls plug on computer system `fiasco'
More than a decade after state social services administrators turned on
a costly child-welfare computer system, they turned it off last weekend.
It never really worked.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/190070.html
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
HomeSafenet, Florida's controversial computer system designed to reduce
paperwork and improve efficiency for child-abuse investigators, has been
unplugged forever, after administrators pumped about $190 million in
taxpayers' money into the doomed project.
It was 13 years old.
Originally projected for a start date of 1994, HomeSafenet was never
fully completed. It was beset by a host of problems, including
persistent downtimes and search difficulties, and failed to meet
virtually every milestone.
Around 2005, administrators of the Department of Children & Families
finally agreed to scrap the entire project and start fresh with a
modification of computer systems employed in other states, such as
Wisconsin. For years, HomeSafenet served as a constant reminder of
Florida's failures in child welfare and was a frequent whipping boy of
the state Legislature.
''I never heard anybody say anything nice about HomeSafenet,'' said
Andrea Moore, a Coral Springs attorney and child advocate who heads
Florida's Children First. ``Everyone talked about what it couldn't do,
how hard it was to enter data and worse, how it didn't even have the
fields that are necessary for good oversight and good planning.''
``The sad thing for the children and the taxpayers of Florida is that
DCF desperately needs a good computer system that can provide real-time
data on the system and information on individual children. They couldn't
use it to plan, and they couldn't use it to keep children safe.''
Said former state Sen. Walter G. ''Skip'' Campbell, a Broward Democrat
who chaired the Senate's Children & Families Committee: ``I was there
when it was born, and I saw it turn from a little baby to a fat little
pig. It was a failure.''
The new system, called Florida Safe Families Network or FSFN, took 13
months to develop and install, for a total cost of about $26.8 million,
not including about $42 million in computer hardware DCF was able to
redeploy from HomeSafenet, said Al Zimmerman, DCF's Tallahassee spokesman.
In all, 8,000 employees of DCF and its contracted agencies use the
computer system, which also includes information on the abuse and
neglect of elderly or disabled adults, said Joe Vastola, FSFN's project
director. About 2,000 people, mostly investigators and their
supervisors, use the system daily.
DCF's abuse and neglect hot line receives about 400,000 calls each year,
and the FSFN system now stores about 2.6 million reports, dating back
more than a decade, Vastola said.
''We went from typewriters to computers with HomeSafenet,'' said
Vastola, who added the system served its purpose before being retired.
When FSFN is complete, perhaps by spring, it will enable foster-care
case managers to take detailed chronological notes directly into the
system, and it will be able to analyze budgets and trends.
Both Zimmerman and Vastola said DCF is still working out some glitches
with FSFN -- mostly involving users whose passwords or credentials won't
work -- but that they expect investigators and caseworkers will find it
a tremendous improvement over its predecessor.
State Sen. Nan Rich, a Sunrise Democrat who was vice chairman of the
Senate Health and Human Service Appropriations Committee last
legislative session, called HomeSafenet ''an unbelievable fiasco,'' but
added she has high hopes for the new computer system.
''At least they have found a system now that will serve these children
and, hopefully, will be successful. It took way too long to cut our
losses,'' she said.
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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