An Audit Report on the Development of the Texas Child Support Enforcement System 2.0 at the Office of the Attorney General
July 2011
Report Number 11-035
Overall Conclusion
The Child Support Division (Division) within the Office of the Attorney General (Office) has implemented substantial controls that increase the likelihood that it can successfully deliver the new automated child support enforcement system on time, on budget, with adequate security, and with agreed-upon functionality.
As of May 2011, the Division estimated that it will complete the Texas Child Support Enforcement System 2.0 (TXCSES 2.0) initiative by December 2017 at a total cost of $202.7 million. The federal government is expected to pay 66 percent ($133.8 million) of those costs, and the State will pay the remaining 34 percent ($68.9 million). The TXCSES 2.0 initiative received approval from the U.S. Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement in July 2009 and, as of January 19, 2011, the Division had spent $43.9 million on the initiative.
The Division is implementing the TXCSES 2.0 initiative so that it can (1) meet increasing customer service demands, (2) manage a growing and changing child support enforcement caseload, (3) improve its automation of processes, and (4) adapt to a changing workforce. Among the expected improvements from the TXCSES 2.0 initiative are:
- The elimination of paper case files.
- The ability to access the system through the Internet.
- Enhanced access controls.
The Division plans to complete the first of the TXCSES 2.0 initiative's three phases by October 2013. The Division originally planned to complete the five projects that comprise phase 1 between August 2012 and December 2012; however, the Division postponed the completion of phase 1 to comply with budget reductions by shifting its spending of $27.6 million from the 2012-2013 biennium to the current and subsequent biennia.
The Division contracted with two firms to help it redesign its business processes for delivering child support enforcement services and to develop and implement the TXCSES 2.0 initiative. The Division's contracts with those development firms state that the contractors will be paid based on a fixed price for the completion of each TXCSES 2.0 initiative deliverable. This complies with guidelines in the State of Texas Contract Management Guide, which indicates that dividing contractor payments into amounts that each reflects a small deliverable is an effective technique for managing financial risk on a large project.
The Division also has developed and implemented controls that are designed to reduce the risk of project delays, budget increases, security weaknesses, and functionality problems. The Division could improve its management of the TXCSES 2.0 initiative by properly monitoring the initiative's status, risk, and schedule.
The Office should ensure that the Division strengthens its communications management plan for the TXCSES 2.0 initiative so that communication needs and expectations are communicated to all appropriate stakeholders, including the Office's internal audit division. In addition, the Division should ensure that it consistently complies with the State's requirements for reporting project activity.