Thursday, January 18, 2001

Troubles continue to mount for Georgia's long-delayed child welfare computer system.

State officials said Wednesday they once again are reworking the problem-plagued Family and Children Electronic Tracking System, or FACETS, and are revising the timetable for the availability of the system, meant to track child welfare and abuse cases throughout the state.

Steve Love, deputy director of the state Department of Human Resources, told the agency's board of directors that the FACETS system --- which has cost more than $31 million in state funding over more than seven years --- is not being dumped entirely but is being restructured to meet federal requirements.

"We're not replacing it; we're making it better," Love assured board members.

DHR officials last year were trying to get FACETS ready for a test run this month in Cobb County, with a gradual rollout statewide until completion in 2002.

But in October, federal officials denied $2 million in funding and rejected a state contract with a private vendor because of the way the system was being developed. Federal officials have repeatedly expressed concerns about the project's direction.

Love said state and federal officials have met several times to address concerns about the development of the system.

All states are required by federal law to develop child welfare information systems, and FACETS was Georgia's answer.

When completed, the system is supposed to enable child welfare workers and supervisors to track not only abuse and neglect cases statewide, but also to monitor information about foster care, adoptions, welfare, Medicaid and other services families receive from the state.

Acting DHR Commissioner Gary Redding called the computerized tracking system "a huge part" of the state's efforts to reform its much-criticized child welfare system. "You've got to have in this day and age a system that allows you to work smarter and a lot more intelligently, and that's what we want the new system to do," he said. Redding said Wednesday that because of the redesign, a new timetable for implementation of FACETS has not been determined.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2001