Texas

Web-based Case Management Initiative

Goal: Employ a tool to help managers develop effective case management strategies to meet their individual unit's annual performance goals.

Description: Texas Office of the Attorney General Child Support (OAG) handles over one million cases a year. The Information Delivery Analysis System (IDEAS) is an innovative web based application that provides managers around the State with the power of Statistical Analysis System (SAS) to extract and use data from the Texas automated system, TXCSES, via the Intranet. Case data is extracted monthly from the TXCSES and transferred to a server that is independent from the TXCSES mainframe. This allows 24-hour/7-day access without interfering with ongoing TXCSES operations.

IDEAS allows field managers to:

• Create customized legal or financial ad hoc work lists;
• Generate state, region, or unit caseload profiles and financial reports;
• Review caseload profile down to the unit level; and
• Examine the Federal OCSE-157 incentive data numerically or graphically down to the unit level.

IDEAS was developed by OAG Management Information Services (MIS) staff and has been in operation since December 2001.

Results: IDEAS successfully extends the power and flexibility of SAS to field managers, and allows them to obtain many reports and work-lists in under one minute. Field staff generated 7,010 reports and work-lists in the first three months of operation. Examples of reports and work-lists are: cases for which an acknowledgement of paternity exists, but no support obligation has been established, cases that are 45, 60 or 90 days delinquent, field office, regional and state caseload profiles, and federal incentive reports drilled-down to the field office level.

Location: IDEAS is available statewide to all IV-D field managers through the Child Support Intranet site through an "icon" on their computer.

Funding: Regular Federal Financial Participation (FFP).

Replication Advice: IDEAS' biggest shortcoming is that the data is only updated once a month. Field managers are requesting that it access more up-to-date information. MIS staff are reviewing possible ways to refresh the data more frequently.

Contact:

Victor Mantilla

Assistant Deputy Director for Field Operations

phone (512) 460-6109

e-mail: Victor.Mantilla@cs.oag.state.tx.us