Work begins to make social services new computer system actually work

NOMADS Administrator Gary Stagliano says getting federal certification for the controversial social services computer system will free up the expertise and time to fix problems many people say make it nearly unusable.

"Once that objective is achieved, there is a mountain every bit as high as certification," he said. "Work items have been deferred."

There are an estimated 500 "work items" - problems that require new programming - waiting in NOMADS.

Stagliano said the challenge will be to make the complicated system easier to operate for the more than 1,500 users on it every day.

NOMADS is the computer system which will handle nearly all social services from welfare and food stamps to child support payments. It has been sharply criticized, particularly by county child support officers who say it causes more problems than it cures in trying to get payments to custodial parents.

They also complain it is so complex with more than 600 screens that it takes months for a worker to be able to find their way through it and take care of a client's needs.

It has also been criticized by computer experts who say the program used to develop the system is archaic and inflexible. Some officials have suggested tossing it out and starting over despite the $130 million or more invested in the system.

Stagliano told the committee this past week all the issues put off while working to meet federal certification standards will soon be the top priority.

One of the perennial complaints from caseworkers both in the welfare and the family support sides of the system is the sheer complexity and inflexibility of the system.

For example, there is no single screen that provides a synopsis of case information for a welfare or family support worker.

Because the program is far older than Windows, it often means several minutes are spent navigating back and forth through previous screens to a starting point and then forward along another computer path to get where they need to go next.

It's difficult to jump directly to another place in the program unless that place happens to be the next screen over.

Caseworkers in counties including Douglas and Washoe say simply moving around in the program takes far too much time, frustrating both caseworkers and clients.

But Stagliano said that is the sort of problem that will become high priority once the federal government certifies NOMADS later this year.

Computer developer R.D. Kumar said one fix would involve a new screen that provides all the basic information about a case including current payment status.

Maddie Shipman of Washoe County raised another local government concern - that once federal certification is received, there will be very limited appetite for putting more state money into the already expensive computer system.

"What I heard you say is we're going to have tough times maintaining the system and there are going to be reduced revenues to do it," she said.

NOMADS technical manager Chris Apple and Stagliano said the user committees will set priorities once certification is finished. Apple said there is a large backlog of problems that need to be fixed but that they will begin on them as soon as possible.

"Basically, you'll set priorities," he said.

Acting Welfare Director Mike Willden said how long that takes will depend on budget but that his office has asked for "significantly more resources" to do the job. He added that he believes Gov. Kenny Guinn places a high priority not just on getting NOMADS certified but making it usable and efficient.