Social Services: Meet The New, Worse Than The Old
By Vince Leibowitz on Apr 19, 2007 in 80th Legislature, HHS Boondoogle
Should this be a surprise to us?
The new social services computer system that the state has spent six years and $425 million developing is slower, less accurate and more difficult to use than the old system it is supposed to replace, according to an audit released Wednesday by the Health and Human Services Commission’s inspector general.
The Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System, or TIERS, was supposed to improve access to state benefits by reducing operating and maintenance costs and improving the accuracy and timeliness of eligibility and benefit decisions. The system was implemented in Travis and Hays counties in 2003 and rolled out into Williamson County last year.
TIERS was paired with another new program that aimed to allow people to apply for benefits online, over the phone or by fax through the use of four new call centers run by a private contractor.
Should this be a surprise? No. No matter how much HHS seems to spend on new systems, they never can get it right, or, at least, the private contractors can’t.
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