Jul. 18, 02:00 EDT CANADA - New service for disabled plagued with glitches: MPP Computer system heading to Toronto after Hamilton test Richard Brennan QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU A ``disastrous'' new computerized service for people receiving disability cheques in Hamilton is on its way to Toronto before the bugs have been ironed out, a government critic warned yesterday.

The pilot project for the Ontario Disability Support Program was launched in Hamilton in May and because of a lack of training and system glitches some people did not receive their cheques or other benefits, New Democrat MPP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie) said.

``We've learned from the staff in Hamilton a lot of things went wrong with this pilot project . . . and that could be disastrous,'' Martin told a press conference yesterday.

``As a result, a lot of people on ODSP in Hamilton did not get their cheques or prescription drug cards on time because staff was forced to scramble and manually write the cheques themselves.''

About 23,000 in the Hamilton/Niagara Region receive the benefits.

The new computer system is scheduled to begin operating in Toronto Sept. 10, where there are about 46,000 receiving the program's benefits. The system is to be province-wide by Jan. 26, 2002.

``My main concern is that people with disabilities in Toronto may not be getting their rightful entitlement - and that should be the government's main concern too,'' Martin said.

Dan Miles, spokesperson for Social Services Minister John Baird, said Martin exaggerated the problems.

``I think there are some minor bumps . . . but it is well overstated,'' Miles said. He said less than a handful of people didn't get their benefits.

The computer system was developed by the multinational consulting company Accenture, formerly called Andersen Consulting, as part of a much larger provincial contract with the company to overhaul Ontario's social assistance system. Coupled with the new computer system is an automated telephone service.

``A staff review of the process in Hamilton shows the staff was abandoned before getting proper training on the new computer system, and the computer itself had some serious glitches,'' Martin said.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=995407428217&call_page=TS_Ontario&call_pageid=968256289824&call_pagepath=News/Ontario&col=968342212737

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001