Office of Children and Family Services

Contract with Accenture LLP for the Development of the CONNECTIONS System (Follow-Up Report)

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 and was still ongoing in 2005.

In our initial audit report 2001-R-8, we examined the most recent amendment to the original contract for the development of the 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 spent on software development. We recommended that OCFS more closely monitor the contractor’s billings for the remainder of the contract. When we followed up on our audit recommendations, we found that they had been implemented by OCFS.

For a complete copy of Report 2004-F-46 click here.