Office of Children and Family Services

Contract with Accenture LLP for the Development of the CONNECTIONS Systems

The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), together with 58 local social services districts, administers programs that protect children against abuse and neglect, and provide temporary and permanent homes for children in the State’s custody. The administration of these child welfare programs is supported by the CONNECTIONS system, an automated information system that connects OCFS with the local districts. The development of the CONNECTIONS system was initiated in 1996. At the time of our audit, the CONNECTIONS software was expected to be fully developed in 2005, nearly seven years late and at a cost (about $150 million) that would exceed the original contract cost by about 300 percent. We examined the most recent amendment to the original contract for the development of this software, and found that the hours billed by the contractor for software development were not adequately verified by OCFS. As a result, OCFS could have paid for hours that were not worked on the CONNECTIONS software. We recommended that OCFS more closely monitor the contractor’s billings for the remainder of the contract.

For a complete copy of Report 2001-R-8 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.