CYFD fails to implement long-awaited case management system by deadline

The post CYFD fails to implement long-awaited case management system by deadline appeared first on Searchlight New Mexico.

The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department has announced yet another delay in the implementation of a new case management system and has no timeline for when it will be put into place.

Agency officials confirmed Wednesday they had not implemented a promised child welfare information system, known as New Mexico Impact, by a self-imposed deadline of Oct. 13. The project, which is estimated to cost more than $90 million and has been in the works for nearly a decade, is intended to replace an antiquated system and help caseworkers manage their cases and reduce workloads.

The agency will continue to use its old system and has not yet established an updated timeline for the rollout of the new one, spokesperson Matthew Mitchell wrote in an email.

“CYFD is working closely with its implementation vendor, RedMane, to resolve outstanding defects, complete data validation, and ensure operational readiness,” he wrote. “The agency will not determine a cutover until implementation requirements have been satisfied, and the system is ready to support essential child welfare operations.”

The rising costs and seemingly unending delays have prompted concerns from the Legislature.

CYFD leaders called some lawmakers on the Legislative Finance Committee in the days leading up to Tuesday’s deadline. In August, CYFD repeatedly assured legislators and the public that New Mexico Impact would become its new system of record on Oct. 13.

Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque, said that when CYFD Secretary Valerie Sandoval called her to deliver the news, she asked when the project would be ready. Tobiassen said she was told Sandoval was not comfortable giving a definitive answer, leading her to wonder if it would be ready before the end of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration on Jan. 1.

“It’s horrible that we find ourselves in this situation where we’ve used taxpayer dollars to the tune of $100 million, and all along the way, almost a decade into this, all we’re doing is failing the children and the families that try to support these kids,” Tobiassen said in an interview. “And honestly, we’re also failing the employees within the agency themselves.”

“Are we going to be going into 2027, in a whole new administration, who has to come in and try and figure out the mess?” she asked.

Longtime coming

The project has experienced a number of delays and obstacles since it was launched in 2017. The current system, known as the Family Automated Client Tracking System, is more than 25 years old and has been described as outdated and ineffective.

The new system, which has been available to caseworkers since Aug. 17 on a trial basis and not as CYFD’s system of record, aims to alleviate workloads by improving employees’ access to information, reporting and real-time data.

In August, CYFD spokesperson Jake Thompson said that on weekdays, FACTS averaged between 800 to 1,000 daily users. Since the new system was made available in mid-August, Mitchell said around 170 staff members have used the system on average per weekday.

Challenges have included issues with contractors, a number of delays attributed in part by CYFD to the system’s complexity and a bloating budget. Fiscal analysts have said the project was expected to cost $32 million and be completed four years ago.

The state has spent more than $57.6 million on the project, according to an online project management portal maintained by the state Department of Information Technology. That portal reports an estimated total cost of $90.4 million, though Legislative Finance Committee analysts put that number at $95.4 million in August after CYFD requested an additional $5 million for the project.

State officials have said they expect New Mexico Impact to require $2.2 million per year after it is rolled out for maintenance and other costs, though they have noted the older system it is replacing costs about $7.8 million annually.

Training delays

Legislative analysts expressed concerns in August that New Mexico Impact was behind schedule. They cited a failure by CYFD to roll out promised functions on Aug. 17, its previous deadline, and said late training in the new system may make it unusable by caseworkers by even October. But CYFD insisted it would fully roll out New Mexico Impact by Oct. 13.

“It’s incorrect to suggest that user training won’t begin until September. In fact, user training began in June, continues through August and will be ongoing through the fall,” Thompson wrote in an August email.

But training was one of the issues holding up the project, Sandoval reportedly told lawmakers in the days leading up to the deadline.

“There’s job-specific training that needs to be done that hasn’t happened yet, and … there are glitches,” Tobiassen said.

Mitchell said software defects, data validation and system functionality issues have posed challenges to the team developing New Mexico Impact in recent months. He said technical and operational issues needed to be addressed before it could “safely become the system of record.”

“Transitioning prematurely could create risks to case management operations, data accuracy and the agency’s ability to effectively support vulnerable children and families,” he wrote. “CYFD therefore determined that maintaining FACTS as the system of record while continuing NM IMPACT implementation activities was the appropriate approach to preserve continuity of services.”

Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, chair of the Legislative Finance Committee, said he also received a call from Sandoval signaling the project would not meet its deadline. He said the news disappointed him and that it is “a big problem” that CYFD does not have an updated timeline for the project’s rollout.

But Small also said the state must be thorough and argued that the missed deadline “cannot and should not be an excuse to rush a transition and actually end up endangering kids and causing more harm.”

He said the Legislative Finance Committee would press CYFD for answers about its challenges in completing this project, and that given its high costs, “there has to be the ability to utilize those resources effectively.”

“I think it is important to push for timelines, to push back on not meeting expectations,” he said. “But I take very seriously that internal assessment of readiness, and so that’s why we’re going to get more answers. We’re going to keep pushing.”

Esteban Candelaria is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. He covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth and Families Department. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.

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