August 18, 2000
State's main computers face 'immediate crisis'
By Cy Ryan
SUN CAPITAL REPORTER
CARSON CITY -- One of the two primary state government computers is "on the verge of a meltdown" and the second is not far behind, prompting Gov. Kenny Guinn to declare an emergency to release more than $2 million to fix the problems.
"There is an immediate crisis," said Terry Savage, acting director of the state Department of Information Technology. He told a legislative oversight committee on technology Thursday that one of the computers "is going to max out in a week."
Included in the emergency upgrade is the computer program at the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, which has encountered a myriad of problems.
So far the department has not experienced any slowdown at its field offices in dealing with the public, a department official said.
"It's not an issue now, but it will be if the improvements are not made," Deputy Director Ginny Lewis said this morning.
There were long lines and delays in processing auto registrations last year when the "Genesis" system was installed. The department is on one of the state's main computers, which are near capacity and starting to experience slowdown problems.
The two systems are so close to capacity that there is a growing lag in response time. Savage said there is a 15-minute wait sometimes before entries can be made. The loss of productivity is costing $75,000 to $100,000 because of the slow down.
Unemployment and welfare checks won't be delayed since they are processed at night when the activity on the two computers is reduced.
A computer spokeswoman said this morning that the slow down means a "waste of time" for state employees who may have to wait 5 minutes or longer to switch from screen to screen to process such things as applications for public assistance.
Because of the overload, many state departments haven't been able to enter their detailed budgets for the next biennium into the computer. Instead these agencies have delivered the proposed spending programs on paper to budget officials.
The committee, headed by Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, endorsed the emergency declaration by the governor. And further improvements may be approved when the Legislative Interim Finance Committee meets Sept. 12.
Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, said, "We have to respond to the need." The money for upgrading the two computers will come from reserve funds in the agency.
The endorsement by the committee means the department can swing into action within the next 15 days rather than waiting until the meeting next month of the Legislative Interim Finance Committee. Savage said these upgrades will be relatively simple.
In June, Jim Polito, chief of planning and programming for the information technology department, told the committee that the two computers would not need additional capacity until June of next year. Polito has since transferred to the state Attorney General's Office.
Savage said Polito's statement had "dim relationship to reality."
One reason for the crisis is the increased use by the state Welfare Division for its NOMADS system, programmed to collect child support payments and handle public assistance cases. Savage, who was deputy director of the department until Director Marlene Lockard resigned, called NOMADS "an 800-pound gorilla."
The welfare division has been on an accelerated schedule to put 210,000 cases on the system so Nevada will comply with federal law and not be fined again starting in October. This has led to the filling up of the computer faster than previously predicted.
Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, questioned whether the welfare division should continue "NOMADS" in view of its cost. Under questioning by O'Donnell, Brian Spencer, chief accountant for information technology, estimated the cost of the NOMADS for programmers and use of the computer at around $9 million a year.
"We're spending an inordinate amount of money on a system that will be obsolete in four to five years," O'Donnell said. He added it "costs more to keep the system running than writing checks every year." The state, he said should "consider pulling the plug" on NOMADS.
He said NOMADS was a "big part" of the reason that the system is near collapse. Eliminating NOMADS, he said could cure the major capacity problem with one of the computers. He suggested the governor appoint a task force to look at the possibility of scrapping NOMADS, which has been in the development stage for more than 10 years at a cost of more than $100 million.
The department's plan, which the governor agreed to, calls for expanding both computer systems.
Savage said the upgrading the smaller computer system would ease the problem for that unit, used by the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, the Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation and the state budget. The larger computer is used by NOMADS, Child and Family Services and the Taxation Department.
While the more than $2 million upgrading will take care the immediate problem, Savage is recommending a second step expansion of one of the computer. That issue will be examined by the Interim Finance Committee to determine if there is enough money to add the extra capacity.
Beers suggested the technology department also examine the possibility of taking the budget data off one system and transferring it to one used by the Legislature. That would result in additional capacity for one computer. But Savage said that would be costly and take four to seven months, which is not possible now because the state is preparing its biennial budget.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-gov/2000/aug/18/510653097.html
-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 20, 2000
Computer system glitches hold up child-welfare checks
By Jennifer Crowe
Reno Gazette-Journal
August 24th, 2000
Hundreds of child-support checks have been late this month because of
a new processing system the federal government now requires.
Rather than each county district attorney distributing checks, all
child-support checks due Nevadans now are deposited in Las Vegas.
Each night the information is downloaded into the problem-plagued
NOMADS welfare computer system in Carson City, which cuts and mails
the checks.
Welfare administrator Mike Wilden said since the state switched to
the new process Aug. 1, the system has failed at least three or four
days. That means instead of processing checks within 48 hours, as
federal law requires, it was taking closer to a week.
The division processes 57,000 checks each month, so problems on one
day can affect about 2,600 people.
Is the system perfect yet? No, but were working out the bugs,
Wilden said. We get complaints weekly about somebodys check being
late or the payment wasnt what it should be. We processed 57,439
child-support payments totaling $9 million in July. Divide that by 22
working days, and were putting out about 2,600 checks for $450,000
each day. Thats not a low-volume workload.
But those numbers are little comfort to the women and men waiting to
receive their child-support checks. Vicky Snyder, director of the
local chapter of the Association for Children for Enforcement of
Support, said her office has seen an increase in calls since the new
check-distribution system was added to NOMADS. The system is better
known by its acronym than its original moniker, Nevada Operations of
Multi-Automated Data Systems.
More custodial parents arent getting their checks on time and arent
sure where to turn to for help, she said.
ACES already had asked the federal government to investigate the
state welfare division for misusing federal tax-return money that is
supposed to go to child support. The group alleges the division is
using that money for operating expenses, a charge Wilden has denied.
The federal investigation is ongoing.
This is the system we have to work with, and the state has a
responsibility to make sure it is working, Snyder said of
NOMADS. Somebody has got to do something, because its unacceptable
the way its working now.
Some have questioned why the state has added yet another function to
NOMADS, the $125 million welfare computer system that has been
causing headaches since it first went on line 18 months ago. NOMADS
is supposed to track welfare eligibility, child-support collection
and enforcement all in one system linking the counties, the state and
federal government together.
Traditionally, each county had a different system of tracking child-
support payments, but the federal government required all states
switch to a single collection and enforcement system or face
penalties. Wilden said Nevada has paid $4 million in fees to the feds
for failure to get the system up and running this previous fall $1
million each quarter the state is late.
Wilden said rather than wait until all of the bugs in NOMADS are
worked out, officials decided to add child-support check processing
now. He said NOMADS should meet federal requirements by November,
meaning the state could see a refund of up to 80 percent of the $4
million in penalties.
People ask why add another system on top of it? Its because were
going to continue to pay penalties until we fix all of these
automation issues, Wilden said. Its easy to say we should delay
until everything else is fixed, but we cant continue to pay $1
million a quarter in penalties. Were working it all out at once
rather than piece by piece.
The problems with the new system often pop up when deposits in Las
Vegas are transferred to NOMADS. If the deposits and the checks dont
match, NOMADS sends out an alert. That requires collection and
accounting staff at both ends of the state to reconcile the days
accounts and find the mistake.
Sometimes that takes a few hours, sometimes it takes a few days,
Wilden said.
As part of welfare reform, Congress required states to consolidate
child-support check distribution into one central office. The idea
was to make it easier for employers who were withholding wages to
send checks to one office per state, rather than to individual
counties. Nevada contracts with the Clark County welfare office to
process the payments since its caseload already accounts for 70
percent of the states child-support payments.
But counties still are doing some of the processing work. The state
didnt notify employers of the new place to send checks until July
28, three days before the changeover. About 20 percent of the checks
still are being sent to the counties, which then have to forward them
to Las Vegas for processing, causing another delay.
Wilden said the letters were sent late in July so checks wouldnt
begin arriving in Las Vegas before the office was ready for them.
There have been some delays with the posting and distribution
because its done by NOMADS, which has its quirks, said Susan
Hallihan, chief deputy district attorney for Washoe Countys family
support division. Plus we still have people walking into the county
office with the check, which we then have to forward to Las Vegas.
Weve heard a lot of complaints mostly about the delay, which is
typical of any new system.
Wilden said the change has been easier in southern Nevada because the
new distribution office is nearby. To run the program at both ends of
the state costs about $1 million a year.
I know theres frustration among the staff in Washoe County, but I
think people will be happier once we get through this training
period, Wilden said.
Wilden is optimistic the new child-support check distribution system
will get money to families sooner, and he said the state has made
headway with NOMADS. The 57,000 checks distributed by NOMADS now is a
big improvement from the 22 checks for $4,288 the system issued its
first month of operation.
Its been a tough transition period, and I understand the
frustration of people who get their checks late or whose checks are
hung up, he said. I dont want to make excuses because I know we
have checks that are late, but we are dealing with a lot of volume.
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-- Doris (reaper1@mindspring.com), August 24, 2000.