The system, called TRAILS, has existed since 2001 and serves about 5,600 users across all 64 counties in Colorado and multiple state agencies, according to bid documents. According to the Colorado Department of Human Services, some components of the system have lost vendor support, resulting in HIPAA violations. About 30 percent of county caseworkers’ time in the system is spent on documentation, and it’s difficult to navigate to boot.
“Trails is the backbone of Colorado’s child welfare system,” said Robert Werthwein, director of the CDHS Office of Children, Youth and Families, in a statement. “The existing ... system is a critical component in desperate need of a major overhaul. Partnering with CGI, this modernization will improve caseworker productivity, reduce data duplication and redundancy, and streamline intake processes.”
CGI recently won a bid to modernize Colorado's state employee payroll system as well.
According to the press release, the modular system overhaul will take about two years. Caseworkers will see changes made to the system throughout the course of the buildout, and the department described in its bid a plan for the new system to integrate with legacy components so there’s no interruption in functionality for users.
The update is meant to make the system mobile-friendly and allow users to work offline, syncing up their work later to support more productivity in the field.
CDHS specifically asked vendors in bid documents to build out the system using an agile method.
Bids are due for the next module on the contract — dealing with fiscal components of TRAILS — on April 21.