Government Technology - December 2008 - (Page 17)

Your Favorite Blog Posts The most-read blog posts on govtech.com for 2008. algorithm. If not, the champion predicts crime for another week. The RPD introduced the project in 2006, and in one year, murders dropped 32 percent, rapes went down 20 percent, robberies decreased 3 percent, aggravated assaults and burglaries dropped 18 percent and auto thefts fell 13 percent. Observers are waiting to see if the system’s new functionality — performing the same analytics on six, narrower categories of crime — drops the crime rate further. Indiana Overhaul STATE IT DEPARTMENTS that are consid- ering whether or not to consolidate and outsource welfare eligibility processes are watching how the strategy works for the FSSA. The agency has slowly rolled out its program — outsourced to IBM and its partners — across the state, enabling any caseworker answering the phone to handle all clients’ issues, no matter who they are. In the past, clients often had to wait and call back if their assigned caseworkers were unavailable. The project aims to accelerate the eligibility filing process, but that goal has been slow in reaching fruition. In the early stages of the rollout, which started in November 2007, the automation slowed processes in the participating pilot counties. In June 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) sent FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob a letter of concern because of the project’s troubles. “Indiana’s most recent monthly reports indicate a decline in the timeliness of application processing that has occurred in the pilot region since the transition to the modernized service delivery model,” said the letter from Ollice Holden, regional administrator of the FNS. The automation program was deployed in 59 of Indiana’s 92 counties. Before the rollout, participating counties approved 85 percent of benefits applications within 30 days of receiving them. With the new system, those counties approved less than 50 percent of benefits applications within 30 days, according to the FNS. Most of those applications were approved within 60 days, however, which Roob said is Top 10 Digital State Road Trip Kevin Mitnick: The Magic Hacker Reformed Beauty in the Eye of the (Millennial) Beholder Fake CNN and Olympic Headlines Bring Malware A-Space: A Social Networking Model for Government? Public Finance Disaster Film Debuts Thursday in PPV Event Bejing Olympics Bring Network and Security Threats Hacking the Boston Subway Committee McCain on IT: Need to Catch up With History The New Media and the 2008 Presidential Election Indiana’s maximum acceptable time limit from the FNS. The FNS letter found its way to the press in August, but at the time Roob cautioned Government Technology that projects often experience difficulties like that during the transition phase. However, as of early October, the FSSA’s welfare automation project had improved its numbers dramatically. The FNS’s latest figures show a jump to 91.5 percent success rate in the agency’s 30-day window for approving food stamps, which is well above the national average. Citizens also found reaching a caseworker easier than before, said Lauren Auld, FSSA director of media relations. “Over the past four weeks, less than 6 percent of individuals calling the service center abandon their calls, compared to slightly more than 11 percent in the previous month,” Auld said in late September. If the FSSA’s modernization results continue to improve, look for imitations from other states. Legislation &Technology BY HILTON COLLINS, STAFF WRITER With 2008 drawing to a close, we decided to look back at some recent tech-centric federal and state legislation that came about. Here’s a collection of bills, some in progress, some that are already law and some that never made it, and how they might affect public sector IT — or might have had they had the chance. H.R. 5442 Technologies for Restoring Users’ Security and Trust (TRUST) in Health Information Act of 2008 Level: Federal Introduced: Feb. 14, 2008 What It Means: This bill would enhance the security and privacy protection of citizen health information and allow citizens greater access to and control over it. And if any of this information is breached, the citizen in question must be notiﬁed. The bill also requires the secretary of Health and Human Services to create a health information privacy ofﬁce within the Department of Health and Human Services and also disseminate guidelines on how the security standards should be upheld. Possible Impact: States, counties and other health-records-holding entities will likely have to adhere to additional standards in order to meet compliance. Where It Is Now: This bill hasn’t moved much past the introductory phase. It was last referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions in April 2008. S. 1492 Broadband Data Improvement Act Level: Federal Introduced: May 24, 2007 What It Means: This would improve the quality and availability of broadband services across the nation. It would require the FCC to revise deﬁnitions of advanced telecommunications capability and establish deﬁnition of broadband types. The FCC would also have to identify areas of the country that don’t have advanced telecommunications capability. Possible Impact: The bill would foster grants that would support statewide initiatives to track and implement broadband capabilities. Where It Is Now: This bill was passed in the Senate and the House in September 2008 and was presented to the president in October. 19 17 Prescription IT AS PRIVATE COMPANIES determine that health insurance benefits are too costly to offer their employees, the demands on Medicaid are increasing. It’s now the C O N T I N U E D O N PAG E http://www.govtech.com http://www.govtech.com http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - December 2008

Government Technology - December 2008 Contents Point of View Four Questions for... On the Scene Big Picture Year in Review Who Controls Your Network? Paper Makes a Comeback Halting Meth Abuse Spectrum Up Close signal:noise Digital Communities Contents Becoming a Digital Community Rethinking 700 MHz Smart Grids: Powering the Future Gearing Up for Crime 2.0 Software Predicts Crime Local Portals on the Red Carpet More Than Just a Pretty Face

Government Technology - December 2008

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