CCA: Library

[head.htm] Library

CWAC/POS SACWIS Advisory Committee
June 8, 1999 Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance
Jan Schoening - CCA
Jeff Buhrmann - DCFS
Kevin Singletary - CSS Peoria
Valerie Riley - Centers for New Horizons
Steven Minter - DCFS
Ken Dee - CHASI
Ciony Gawat - New Life Social Svcs.
Zack Schrantz - Uhlich
Priscilla Parker - LCFS
Debi Santini - CCA
George Thibeault - Chi. Catholic Charities
Deverrick Crawford - Lakeside Comm.
Foster Centola - DCFS
Sue Grady - YSB of Illinois Valley
Tom Teague - DCFS
Kevin Velten - DCFS (via conf. call)

Members Absent
Illeana Gomez - Casa Central
Richard Calica - Juvenile Prot. Assn.
Bishop Aaron Holmes - Reaching the Mark
Bob Lloyd - DCFS
Pat Devin - DCFS/Spectrum
Greg Dew - DCFS/Spectrum
Sam Traylor - DCFS
Rebecca Cook - IARF
France Pace Barnes - VOA of Illinois
Jimmy Lago - Chicago Catholic Charities
Carol Winn - Ada S. McKinley
Sally Verhelle - Firman
Tom Teague - DCFS
Darlene Sweeney - Allendale

Meeting Minutes

The meeting opened at approximately 10:35 a.m. The minutes of the May 4th meeting held in Springfield were unanimously approved.

Jan Schoening and Jeff Buhrmann provided updates on a variety of SACWIS-related projects and RFP's:

RFP's:

The 'Best and Final Offer' (BAFO) process with three of the four bidders on the Application Development and Implementation RFP is continuing as scheduled. The SACWIS project plans to make a recommendation to Director McDonald on 6/22/99. It is projected that the selected vendor will then be notified on 6/28/99. DCFS hopes to have state and federal approval on the contract by October 30, 1999. The vendor is projected to start work on 11/1/99.

DCFS has contracted with Wang Global Services for 40.9 million dollars for the FY99 Infrastructure RFP. The contract duration is 38 months with two 1 year extensions at the state's discretion. Every DCFS staff person will receive a desktop PC/workstation. In addition, 700 laptop PC's were purchased and DCFS will work with the best practice integration group to finalize the approach since no final decision has yet been made on how DCFS will deploy them. Jeff stressed that Director McDonald has stated that "technology will not impede the work of caseworkers".

DCFS posted the SACWIS Quality Assurance RFP on Purchase Point on Friday, June 4, 1999. The mandatory vendor conference is scheduled for 6/24/99 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Proposals are due 8/3/99. Jeff Buhrmann indicated that this RFP does require QA on POS components of SACWIS. It also includes technical assistance for managing the RFP process for POS enterprise equipment, if needed, based on the outcome of alternative financing negotiations.

Templates - A list of templates ready for DCFS approval was distributed by Tom Teague. DCFS plans to have the templates ready for download from their web site by 7/1/99. DCFS plans to hire a contractual employee to start converting all DCFS forms to templates on 7/1/99. No security clearance will be needed to download the templates but a disclaimer will be posted on the DCFS web site regarding the downloading and use of the templates.

Exemplar - Kevin Velten reported via conference call that the exemplar will not be affected by DCFS's infrastructure changes. In response to questions, Kevin stressed that there is no technical reason that additional agencies can't be added to the exemplar project. However, Jeff said that any recommendations for additions must be made through the CWAC Finance and Administration subcommittee. DCFS staff will still handle training and support for the exemplar project, but it will eventually be replaced with SACWIS.

Discussions with Federal officials Jeff reported that still no discussions have taken place with federal officials to address the SACWIS issues that will adversely affect private agencies in Illinois. Jeff said that the federal representatives recognize the unique relationship between private providers and DCFS in Illinois, but have been unwilling to look differently at it compared to other states.

Jeff prepared for Director McDonald a document outlining the issues to be discussed with the Illinois delegation. Director McDonald asked that a legal analysis be conducted to insure that all issues have been addressed in relation to ACF positions and precedents. DCFS's goal is to use the legal analysis as a basis for federal discussions. The legal analysis will be submitted to Director McDonald who will decide how to proceed with the federal issues. A copy will be provided to committee members if authorized by Director McDonald. It was again stressed that these discussions must happen before SACWIS development advances to the point that it is too late for private agencies to impact the process with these critical issues.

POS Involvement - Jan reported that the steering committee had recommended to DCFS that Steven Bradshaw be hired to serve in the team leader position. DCFS is interviewing Mr. Bradshaw on Friday, June 11th. Jeff is optimistic that the hiring process can proceed quickly with a July 1 start date planned.

SACWIS Presentations for POS Agencies: The schedule for regional SACWIS presentations was reviewed. There is still no firm date for the Southern Region presentation. Presenters for these meetings are being scheduled.

Jan noted that the private agency presentation had been forwarded to Jeff and that he felt that the opening screens were somewhat negative towards DCFS. The private agency Power Point screens were reviewed one by one. Those present provided comments and suggestions on revisions. Ken Dee will update the presentation and forward it to CCA for final review. It will then be forwarded to DCFS.

Jeff reported that DCFS did not have their presentation ready for review by the committee. It will be forwarded to CCA for distribution to the steering committee once it is ready.

Alternative Financing Strategies: Jeff reported that he had no update on the alternative financing option. He said that he continues to stress to Director McDonald the importance of this issue. The private agency members present stressed to Jeff that this is the top issue for POS agencies and that financing must begin no later than 1/1/2000 to provide adequate time for agencies to prepare for SACWIS.

Bridge/Interface: Foster Centola reviewed the bridge/interface JAD that took place on May 5th in Springfield. Jan Schoening followed up on the JAD by writing a letter to Jeff Buhrmann requesting that DCFS and/or Spectrum staff research and report on the various technological interface possibilities. Jeff Buhrmann answered with a letter responding to the options Jan had included in her letter and outlining various federal regulations that impact the interface issue.

Jan reported that the private agency members of the committee met on June 7th to further discuss interface issues. Based on those discussions the private agencies would ideally like to have a full 2-way interface between SACWIS and their own systems. At a minimum private agencies must be able to export all data relevant to their cases and must be able to import critical information from their systems into SACWIS. Although Jeff responded that he felt that federal funding for SACWIS would be jeopardized if a private agency import is included in SACWIS, DCFS will review and consider this option. In addition, Jeff reported that it is unclear whether federal SACWIS regulations will permit DCFS to provide customizable fields in SACWIS for POS agencies. Jeff and Foster requested that the committee provide to DCFS a written definition of what is meant by "customizable field".

A second bridge/interface JAD has been scheduled for July 14th in Springfield in conjunction with the next committee meeting. The steering committee will determine if that JAD is necessary and will notify DCFS as soon as possible.

Jeff reported that Y2K testing and certification of all DCFS systems is currently under way. He reported that the DCFS CANTS system had already been certified and that conversion of the MARS system took place over the May 15th weekend. CYCIS is scheduled to be fully converted around 9/1/99. Jeff stated that he assumed that the RFP's for 40 programmers that DCFS recently released were for assistance with the CYCIS Y2K efforts.

The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
The next meeting will be held July 13, 1999 at a location in Springfield to be determined.[foot.htm]

	The 'Best and Final Offer' (BAFO) process with three of the four bidders on the Application Development and Implementation RFP is continuing as scheduled. The SACWIS project plans to make a recommendation to Director McDonald on 6/22/99. It is projected that the selected vendor will then be notified on 6/28/99. DCFS hopes to have state and federal approval on the contract by October 30, 1999. The vendor is projected to start work on 11/1/99.
	DCFS has contracted with Wang Global Services for 40.9 million dollars for the FY99 Infrastructure RFP. The contract duration is 38 months with two 1 year extensions at the state's discretion. Every DCFS staff person will receive a desktop PC/workstation. In addition, 700 laptop PC's were purchased and DCFS will work with the best practice integration group to finalize the approach since no final decision has yet been made on how DCFS will deploy them. Jeff stressed that Director McDonald has stated that "technology will not impede the work of caseworkers".
	DCFS posted the SACWIS Quality Assurance RFP on Purchase Point on Friday, June 4, 1999. The mandatory vendor conference is scheduled for 6/24/99 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Proposals are due 8/3/99. Jeff Buhrmann indicated that this RFP does require QA on POS components of SACWIS. It also includes technical assistance for managing the RFP process for POS enterprise equipment, if needed, based on the outcome of alternative financing negotiations.