Office of Children and Family Services

Implementation of the CONNECTIONS System

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 and the 350 contracted agencies that provide child welfare services. The development of the CONNECTIONS system was initiated in 1995 and was expected to be completed in 2006. Full implementation has been delayed by several problems, which have been described in various audits and other outside reviews. We examined the status of the implementation process through October 31, 2005. We found that users were generally satisfied with the system and appropriate controls were being implemented for system use.

For a complete copy of Report 2004-S-70 click here.