Covansys works with SPIRIT

Chickasaw Nation

Chickasaw Nation officials awarded a $3 million contact to Covansys to develop a Web-based system for a new locally based management initiative under the Agriculture Department's Women, Infants and Children health program, company officials announced today.

The Successful Partners in Reaching Innovative Technology (SPIRIT) program is one of three model systems that the department's Food and Nutrition Service picked earlier this year under the State Agency Model project. That project is part of the USDA's efforts to support the Bush administration's E-Government Strategy, according to FNS officials.

Covansys' Web-based system is scheduled for completion by October 2007. According to company officials, the new system will:

Streamline the prequalification process, reducing the time it takes to enroll in WIC.

Determine eligibility more accurately through better information gathering from applicants and information sharing with other agencies.

Process checks faster so that participants will receive funds faster to purchase the foods supported by the program.

Although the Chickasaw Nation is the lead organization for the consortium overseeing the program, SPIRIT will serve 13 American Indian tribes across Oklahoma and New Mexico, replacing the WIC information management systems.