Cosmic Software Technology, Inc.

Client:

State of New Jersey, Department of Human Services, Division of Youth and Family (DYFS)

Project:

DYFS Statewide Automated Child Welfare System (SACWIS)

Description:

In 1994, Federal legislation and funding was passed to encourage states to automate their child welfare information processes in order to improve child welfare and chiId protective services. The resulting information systems are broadly known as SACWIS systems. In 1997, DYFS used part of this funding match to place a personal computer on the desk of every employee, and now wanted to implement a full SACWIS system.

Because many other states had already begun or even completed development of their SACWIS systems, and because Federally-funded software may be transferred between states at no cost to the recipient state, Cosmic first evaluated three possible scenarios. New Jersey could transfer a system from another state, develop an entirely new system, or select a commercial case management software product used elsewhere within State government.

Cosmic performed a survey of other states concerning their SACWIS systems, and determined that systems did exist which substantially met New Jersey's needs. However, existing systems were largely client/server, and Cosmic strongly recommended the use of web-based technology. Further investigation concluded that the use of automated tools to convert client/server systems to web-enabled systems was feasible, and that it was unnecessary to design and build an entirely new SACWIS system. Another recommended approach was to select a suitable system design, and rewrite the underlying code to produce a web-based system. Cosmic also evaluated the commercial product used in other divisions, and found that it was not well suited to the DYFS' specific needs.

Cosmic conducted requirements analysis sessions with all functional groups within DYFS. SACWIS systems are extraordinarily broad, serving functions ranging from case management, adoption, human resources, tracking of training for staff and foster parents, tracking of Federally required timeframes, accounts payable, accounts receivable, contracts, tracking of payments for which are eligible for Federal reimbursement under programs such as Title IV-E, and facility inspection and licensing. These requirements were then merged with the Federally published SACWIS requirements, and resulted in almost 1,000 individual requirements and 50 pages of textual requirements.

Having reached consensus to transfer a SACWIS system from another state, Cosmic conducted an evaluation to identify the three states whose systems seemed to fit New Jersey's requirements well. DYFS and Cosmic staff conducted onsite visits to these states to view demonstrations of their systems.

The Federal agency responsible for the matching funds, Administration for Children and Families, requires that the implementation vendor must be selected through a competitive process. A handful of major implementation vendors had created the SACWIS systems in approximately 30 other states. To ensure competition, a state seeking a SACWIS system is not allowed to simply select an out-of-state system and thereby its vendor. Instead, each state must write an RFP describing its requirements, and evaluate bids in which each vendor proposes a specific transfer system, with customizations.

The recommended approach, projected budget, and schedule was compiled into the Advanced Planning Document required for Federal funding approval. Cosmic, along with State staff, made frequent visits to Washington, D.C. to ensure that the document and the process would win approval. It was approved in September 2000.

Cosmic next wrote the SACWIS RFP, outlining State system requirements. This also required and received Federal approval.

Client:

State of New Jersey, Department of Human Services

Project:

Implementation and Ongoing Administration of the Care Management Organization (CMO) Software System

Description:

Cosmic assisted the New Jersey Department of Human Services with its Children's System of Care Initiative (CSOCI). CSOCI serves children with emotional and behavioral problems with a broad scope of services when and where they need them. The Initiative utilizes the custom software developed for the Milwaukee Wraparound program, and Cosmic was brought on board in May 2001 for the system modifications, testing, training, rollout, and ongoing support. Cosmic has fostered a warm relationship with the three county Care Management Organizations (CMOs), which has led to improved communication and cooperation between the agencies and the State.

The current effort is to replace the Milwaukee software with a system supplied by the Contract Systems Administrator (CSA), the overarching administrative care coordinating entity, which will start operations in January 2002. Cosmic is coordinating the conversion of existing data to the new system, called Absolute, working on the system design and flow, and will be involved in the training for Absolute, to ensure a smooth transition for the existing CMOs and a smooth startup for the new CMOs which will follow.

Cosmic brings to the CSOCI project our previous experience with the New Jersey Department of Human Services, knowledge of child welfare and case management, and extensive experience in the selection, design, and deployment of information systems.

Client:	State of Maryland (MD CHESSIE)
Project:	Maryland Children Electronic Social Service Exchange
Description:	MD CHESSIE - represents Maryland's statewide child information system and follows Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) guidelines. CHESSIE is a 3-TIER distributed application and provides state of MD the ability to record and track children who are abused, neglected, receiving child welfare services or in the process of being adopted. MD CHESSIE follows federal guidelines for child welfare projects. There are 24 Jurisdictions in The State of Maryland (23 Counties and Baltimore City), About 3500 user will Use this application. Power builder is used as Front End and EA server (Jaguar) is used as Application Server. DB2 11.2 is used as RDBMS. A web-enabled version is being built using Oracle 8, PowerJ, EJB, HTML, Java/JavaScript and Servlets. Sybase is used for data transfers and UDB is the original Database.
Responsibilities:	Lead responsibility for web enabling the application using PowerJ, EJB, HTML, Java/JavaScript and Servlets. Responsible for Caseload Management Module. Includes troubleshooting, analysis and problem solving along with system/performance increasing inputs. Responsible for the entire Reporting Framework and OLE implementation involving MS Word and VBScript. Written Stored Procedures in DB2 7.3 Responsible for OOPS features of Power Builder by creating custom classes, OLE automation techniques, dynamic SQL's. Responsible for EA Server and PowerBuilder framework for Reporting. Troubleshooting, analysis and problem solving along with system/performance increasing inputs.
Environment:	Power Builder 8.0/7.03, Oracle 8, Sybase SQL Anywhere, DB2 UDB 7.3, EAS Jaguar Server 3.6.1, PowerJ, EJB, HTML, Java/JavaScript, JSP and Servlets, ASP, IIS, MS Word, VBScript

Client:	State of Ohio
Project:	Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS)
Description:	It was designed to track and support child abuse/neglect cases, investigations, and other casework/fiscal functions, including: provision of services, foster care, adoption etc. for the State of Ohio. The technical architecture was client/server. The client portion of the application was coded in C/C++ and using FOUNDATION for Cooperative Processing (FCP - version 3.1/3.0), it was deployed on PC workstations and operated under Microsoft Windows 2000. The server components of the application and the database (Oracle RDBMS version 8i) were deployed on a Hewlett-Packard server and operated under HP-UNIX (version 10.20). Had a critical role in the development, maintenance and application support. Responsible for conducting functional reviews, meetings with designers, understanding the current client needs and service code of assigned modules, developing in-depth knowledge of the relevant portions of the Oracle database. Implemented new modifications and enhancements to existing software based on business and technical requirements by utilizing the C/C++, Pro*C, Oracle 8i, PL/SQL, Power Builder 8, Crystal Reports 8 and Accenture's FCP case tool. During development cycle I was involved in all the phases of the project. By understanding the functional and detail design documents I was making sure user needs and the project's requirement. During coding I made sure that my programs fully lined up with the functional and detailed designs. Coded front-end screens in Power Script using user objects and data windows. Reports for SACWIS system written in Crystal reports and Power Builder, mainly three types of reporting methods used besides own Power Builder reporting capabilities. If the reports were simple, SQL was saved in the Crystal Reports template, and the data was displayed based on the requirements, otherwise embedded SQL was being passed in Crystal Reports from the Power Builder or in case if the data was very complex and it was not possible to run the SQL itself in Crystal Reports then it was saved in DBF files and Power Builder passed those files in Crystal Reports. These reports were quite handy and the users were able to change the filter criteria based on their needs as well as the report layouts by using Crystal Reports APIs written in C language. Responsible for the component and assembly testing and made certain that my programs fully integrated with the rest of the system. During the development cycle, also have done unit testing, white/black box testing and regression testing as well as maintained the users manuals and technical documentation. In the final phase of testing and during the user acceptance test (UAT) I was running the scripts manually and responsible for creating the test data for the whole application based on the design specifications.
Environment:	Powerbuilder v5.0, PFC, PVCS, Oracle v8i, C, Pro C, HP UNIX server 6, Middleware Entera. Oracle 8i, C, SQL, MS SQL Server, Power Builder 8.0, Crystal Reports 8.0, ProC, MS Visual Studio 4.0, HP UX 10.20, Windows NT/2000