Among those technology projects to be highlighted at a national conference next month is the California Department of Rehabilitation’s (DOR) electronic records system which helps the state administer the largest vocational rehabilitation program in the country, providing services to 115,000 individuals with significant physical and mental disabilities.
The new system implemented in August 2011, called the Accessible Web-based Activity Reporting Environment (AWARE), has been nominated for National Association of State Chief Information Officer (NASCIO) award in the category of Improving State Operation.
According to the nomination paperwork, the DOR has 750 vocational rehabilitation counselors in more than 85 offices throughout the state to who help constituents prepare for and obtain employment in mainstream work settings. Specific services include employee assessment, counseling and guidance, the purchase of individualized rehabilitation services and job placement. The program provides services to individuals with a full range of physical and mental disabilities, pursuant to federal law.
The department risked losing federal funding due to its decades-old mainframe case management being unable to effectively track and report performance. Officials had been looking to replace their existing system, which had been in place since 1990 and was fraught with problems, including a lack of real-time data, poor case flow and outdated technology.
Since DOR concluded that a fully customized system would be too costly to implement, they decided to use AWARE, which they estimated would require less than 15% customization.
The commercial off-the-shelf system, which will save the department $2 million annually in mainframe costs, provides real-time data, easily customizable report templates and automated case-flow to improve the DOR’s efficiency. The system also vastly reduces the necessity of paper reports.
Category winners will be announced at the annual NASCIO conference held this year in San Diego on Oct. 21-24.
