Friday, May 07, 1999
County to fix, scrap computer
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hamilton County is about to spend more than $216,000 on a computer program it plans to scrap in February, according to the state auditor's office.
The money will be used to protect a program that runs the county's child-support operations from the Y2K bug.
But Hamilton County will be switching all of its cases to a new, statewide program Feb. 12. That means the present computer system, and the money spent on it, will be gone.
Auditor of State Jim Petro suggested that the Ohio Department of Human Services (ODHS) work with Hamilton County to move forward the conversion date to the new system — called Support Enforcement Tracking System (SETS) — so money is not wasted.
Mark Birnbrich, SETS project director for the ODHS, questioned how Mr. Petro calculated the cost to upgrade Hamilton County's program.
And Mr. Birnbrich said he doesn't want the county to switch to SETS prematurely if clients here won't receive the same level of service they now get.
“Nobody knows what the real cost is at this point,” Mr. Birnbrich said. “What if it turns out to be much less expensive? I don't want to waste $216,000, but there is a cost-benefit analysis that needs to be done.
“Until we know for certain what that is, it doesn't make sense to move Hamilton County forward.”
Hamilton County officials seem fairly certain of the cost. And, they say, the amount of work that needs to be done before switching to SETS will make it nearly impossible to accomplish that before February.
“There are different areas of the (SETS) program that are not functional right now,” said Karen Kruger, Hamilton County's SETS coordinator. “I don't think it's possible (to convert more quickly).
Administrator David Krings said the county's hands are tied.
“There really are no options,” Mr. Krings said. “Either we go totally with the state program (by Dec. 31) or we adjust the one we have here.”
About 80,000 Hamilton County residents rely on monthly child support payments, to the tune of about $129 million annually.
Wimps need not apply to be mayor
Riverfront park design: fountains, festivals, fun
Tristate tourism outlook thrilling
N.Ky. poised to become a leading tourist draw
Son guilty of taking missing man's checks
Air-quality rating to rise
Justin's biological parents file appeal
Swan finds way home from Indiana
Arts campus faces review
Boone Co. OKs Genesis museum
Children's agency faces cuts
County to fix, scrap computer
House decides how to spend $40B
State might own casinos
GET TO IT
Bishop challenges many Christian tenets
Writer has plan for raising nice boys
Attic fan blamed for house fire
Bill gives teens boost in summer job hunt
Burch residents dislike traffic plan
Clinton late in filling IRS board
Father killed, 3 children hurt in Butler Co. crash
Firing range for police moves ahead
Furnish attorney calls murder case unprovable
Judge insists on standards
Mason-Deerfield land fight resumes
Middletown auctions surplus and seized
Middletown sees crime decline
Police dog helps with drug collars
Restorations show rural life
Riverboat dock joins Newport's long list of 'what's new'
Sharonville levy request up in air
TRISTATE DIGEST
