Accenture to develop Georgia child welfare system

Georgia has awarded a three-year, $25 million contract to Accenture to design, develop and implement a child welfare information system, which it expects to deploy statewide in 2007.

The state’s Division of Family and Children Services will use the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) to monitor children under state supervision. Officials said it will allow case managers to make better decisions because more information will be accessible in a quicker timeframe. They will also be able to spend more time attending to children’s needs and less time on administrative work, in addition to sharing more information across county lines.

“Once it is implemented, SACWIS will give case managers the tools to perform their jobs more efficiently, thereby keeping Georgia children more safe,” Gov. Sonny Perdue said in a press release.

With SACWIS, case managers would be able to access case history, notes and activities through the Web-based system and find foster homes and resources that match a particular child’s needs. Supervisors will be able to better monitor caseloads and collect data about the availability and need for resources in a specific area via the system. It will provide alerts when certain duties or activities are due or past due.

Beginning in December, state officials will test the new system in Douglas County, which was chosen for its proximity to a metropolitan area, moderate size and diverse population. The county also opened up a new facility for DFCS and SACWIS officials and hired more caseworkers.

“By testing this new system on a local and limited basis before implementing it statewide, the state will be able to evaluate its components through real-world scenarios, while taking into consideration the experiences of actual caseworkers and making changes as needed,” said B.J. Walker, commissioner of the state’s Department of Human Resources, in a press release.