A $300 million computer system is expected to improve a whole department but it wasn't easily the case for the Social Security Administration. The disability claims sector is still not as efficient despite the high expense of upgrading the hardware.
The plan to update the computer system started was born six years ago but it was only this year that it has finally come into fruition. It still is in its testing phase after years of being mismanaged and delayed. The department was too overwhelmed with the disability claims and they needed help.
The project is still not fully operational so delays are still inevitable. The claims processing are expected to be faster with the new system but unfortunately, functionality was limited.
Because of the schedule delays and a number of concerns by stakeholders, leaders of the agency thought of restarting the program. To start from scratch, the agency asked the help of a management firm.
McKinsey and Co. consulting firm was tapped by the Social Security leaders to work on the program and help determine the agency's mistakes in the past. With the investigation, the firm found out no one was in charge of the project. Simply put, no one was tasked to be responsible to manage and complete the project.
The management firm then gave recommendations to the Social Security agency. Someone was finally appointed to lead the project. Carolyn Colvin, Acting Social Security Commissioner, appointed Assistant Deputy Commissioner Terrie Gruber to be the project leader this time.
While this is a good reset for the program, questions about why Colvin overlooked this one arise. The House Oversight Committee is now requesting all documents and reports about the project to be reviewed.
The computer project is dubbed as the Disability Case Processing System aka DCPS. One of its objectives is to replace 54 computer systems used to process disability claims all over the United States. Something went wrong somewhere and the new system could not process a single claim. Tracking processes and disability claims are unsuccessful as of April 2014.
"The DCPS project is adrift, the scope of the project is ambiguous, the project has been poorly executed, and the project's development lacks leadership," three lawmakers told Colvin in a letter.
