Bill Text: NJ A3821 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Office of Information Technology to review Consolidated Assistance Support System development project and issue recommendations.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-10-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Human Services Committee [A3821 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A3821-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CARMELO G. GARCIA
District 33 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman CLEOPATRA G. TUCKER
District 28 (Essex)
Assemblywoman GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Fiocchi
SYNOPSIS
Requires Office of Information Technology to review Consolidated Assistance Support System development project and issue recommendations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning development of the Consolidated Assistance Support System.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Office of Information Technology shall immediately undertake a review of the development of the Consolidated Assistance Support System (CASS). The review shall seek to determine the following:
(1) The expected timeframe for completion of the development project and deployment of the software to the county welfare agencies;
(2) The reasons for the delays in the development project to date;
(3) Whether the software, as planned, would employ appropriate technology and information systems to accomplish its purposes;
(4) Whether any alternative technology or software is available that is better suited to the objectives of CASS; and
(5) Whether it would be advisable for the State to cancel the development of CASS and employ an alternative system.
b. The Department of Human Services shall cooperate fully with the Office of Information Technology in its review.
c. No later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this act, the Office of Information Technology shall report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the findings of its review, and shall include in the report any recommendations for corrective action to be taken under the development contract or for alternatives to the CASS development project.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to immediately undertake a review of the development of the Consolidated Assistance Support System (CASS). The review would seek to determine the following
(1) The expected timeframe for completion of the development project and deployment of the software to the county welfare agencies;
(2) The reasons for the delays in the development project to date;
(3) Whether the software, as planned, would employ appropriate technology and information systems to accomplish its purposes;
(4) Whether any alternative technology or software is available that is better suited to the objectives of CASS; and
(5) Whether it would be advisable for the State to cancel the development of CASS and employ an alternative system.
No later than 90 days after the date of enactment, the OIT would report to the Governor and the Legislature on its findings, and include in the report any recommendations for corrective action to be taken under the development contract or for alternatives to the CASS development project.
CASS is a computer system intended to consolidate the functions of approximately 20 different computer systems that support public welfare programs, most of which are administered by the Department of Human Services and the county welfare agencies. The CASS development project is currently being undertaken by Hewlett Packard under a contract that began 2009. The contract has been repeatedly amended and the project significantly delayed from its original 2012 deployment date. The delayed deployment of CASS is also a contributing factor to the State's poor performance at making timely eligibility determinations for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which may result in the loss of tens of millions of dollars in federal funding.
