Office Of Children's Services

Questions & Comments


FAQ: ORCA Pilot Project

Q: Why was Fairbanks selected as the pilot test site?

A: Fairbanks was selected as the pilot test site using a matrix that weighed a number of factors. Only regional office sites were considered. The most important factors were:

  • The size of the Fairbanks office
  • The diversity of functions which provide the necessary complement of staff to participate in the pilot test while still allowing sufficient staff to cover daily work activities.
  • The Fairbanks staff expressed interest in being selected as the pilot site, and developed a plan demonstrating how they would continue to cover daily workloads while a portion of the staff is involved in the pilot test effort.
  • Everyone knew that Fairbanks staff would be great hosts for all of the pilot support staff!

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Q: Will any of the work I do in ORCA during the Pilot Test be saved and available to me when ORCA goes “live” in July?

A: Yes and No. There are some documents that you should print and place in your hard copy files, including your Activity Notes (formerly known as ROC’s) and court documents. This information will not remain in the ORCA system after the Pilot stage. A plan will be developed to assure that all pertinent case and provider information is captured in existing systems during the pilot test phase, so that that information will be transferred to the ORCA database in the final conversion.

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Q: Will ORCA eliminate the need for my job? What will happen to me?

A: There are no plans to layoff any employees as a result of ORCA implementation. However, some job duties may change. Currently, management is exploring ways to use workers whose job assignments become automated by ORCA. For example, one of the OCS goals in our Program Improvement Plan is to increase opportunities for supervised visitation and contact with parents. Staff shortages have limited our progress in this area. Some employees may be reassigned to increase our ability to provide supervised visitation and contact with parents.

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Q: How will the conversion work?

A: Information from our old databases [i.e. PROBER, Form 1 Blue (F1B) and AKSAS (provider payment)] will be used in ORCA. Programmers are exploring which data elements can be transferred through an automatic conversion process. There will be some information that cannot be directly transferred to the new system. An interim database called the Manual Data Entry (MDE) Database will receive the data automatically converted from the old databases. This data will be manually verified and augmented before it is loaded into ORCA.

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Q: Will I need to enter everything into the computer?

A: Yes. One convenience that will be lost with ORCA is the ability to place handwritten case notes (reports of contact) into the hard file. The up side of this is that all ORCA case notes will be legible!

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Q: How will the paperwork flow change with ORCA?

A: Once data regarding a client is entered into the ORCA system it will be available to fill the forms we commonly use such as case plans and court documents. Many requests such as RFFS and work approvals will be handled on line and recorded in the database record, and will no longer require forms. Whenever a template is generated in ORCA, there is no need to print out a copy for the hard file: a non-modifiable instance of it is saved and associated with the specific part of the case or provider record from which it was launched. Printing additional copies for other OCS workers is not necessary: any ORCA user can access the data you input into ORCA. Forms used for distributing data to those outside our agency are still needed and can be generated by ORCA.

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Q: Will ORCA remind me when I have work due?

A: Yes, ORCA generates reminders called "ticklers" that tell you when a task is coming due. Each type of tickler is created by a specific action in ORCA and deleted by another different specific action. Each type of tickler also has it's own time frames depending on how long it takes to accomplish the task. For example, a court report coming due displays 15 days before the report is due to the court.

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Q: Can I work on more than one case at a time?

A: Yes, You can open various pages of different cases as well as different pages of the same case.

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Q: Will I be able to write letters and do other word processing that is not directly related to a client?

A: Yes. Workers will still have access to the same applications, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. that are currently available on their computers.

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Q: How will work be approved?

A: When work completed by a worker requires approval, they will be able to send it to their supervisor electronically through ORCA. The supervisor's desktop will have a section for approvals where they can view and approve the work. Once approved, a message will be sent to the worker saying the work has been approved. Workers and supervisors will be able to view the status of approvals and determine if the work has been completed and where in the approval process the work is.

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Q: How will discovery occur?

A: Although there is still a need to copy any hard file records, eventually almost all the case file will be electronic. ORCA accommodates electronic discovery by creating a merged Word document consisting of all templates created on the case and a document containing all your case notes. These documents can be searched using Word's find and replace feature in order to redact a file.

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Q: Will there be direct access to other databases such as Vital Statistics, APSIN, and EIS?

A: Yes and No. ORCA has the capability to interface with other systems. Access to these databases, such as APSIN and EIS will be determined by the ORCA user's security profile. On the other hand, access to other database systems is prevented due to other agencies’ polices regarding confidentiality.

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Questions from the August 23, 2001 meeting of the Business Process Review (BPR) site coordinators:

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How long will it take to build ORCA?

Speculating on a delivery date at this point in time is risky at best. However, the current target is for a 24-month development cycle once the contractor is on board. If this first phase of requirements process comes in on schedule and we hit all our target dates, an RFP would be on the street by the end of the current fiscal year.

What does SACWIS stand for?

Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System.

SACWIS is the acronym coined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to describe child welfare information systems that it participates in funding. When a state decides to build a SACWIS system, it receives enhanced funding, however it must meet certain requirements as a condition of accepting the funding. ORCA has received funding at the enhanced rate and therefore must be a SACWIS compliant system.

Are we starting the whole design process over? Where does the work done for the first ORCA fit in?

The materials from the first ORCA project will be examined and used where appropriate. However, since there has been some significant changes in the organization since the last design of ORCA, we anticipate that there will be many areas of the process that will have changed.

Our office isn't on the list of offices for the BPR, why is that?

Not all OCS offices are part of the Business Process Review. Primarily due to resources, the decision was made to select a relatively broad sample of OCS offices to define the division's business processes. The choice was: How much resources do we devote to documenting a business process that we have every intention of overhauling? The ORCA team will involve the offices outside of the Business Process Review project by having them review and provide input to the final business process model.

Can we get a copy and review the materials that will be used during the BPR interview process?

Yes. Interview Guides are being developed by MTG and will be provided to site leaders for comment prior to finalization. Initial drafts of the Interview Guides are scheduled for delivery the week of the August 27. A test run of the Interview Guide will be done in Juneau at the SERO office and the Juneau field office the week of September 4. The following week will be used to refine and finalize the interview process.

How does DJJ fit into the process? Particularly in regard to cases/clients that we co-manage? How does PROBER fit into the current plans for DJJ/OCS?

DJJ plans to have their new information system, JOMIS, in place by the end of this calendar year. When JOMIS goes on-line, PROBER will no longer be the case management system for DJJ. DJJ employees will not update clients in PROBER. For a period of time, DJJ employees will use JOMIS but will have access to PROBER. OCS staff will continue to use PROBER, but will need access to JOMIS. DJJ development staff have been working with OCS data processing staff to coordinate this effort. With the advent of JOMIS, the case information management systems for the two divisions will be separated, and workers will have to use two information sources to gather information on common clients.

Will DJJ continue to use the Provider Payments system when JOMIS is deployed?

Yes.

What about other groups outside of OCS?

SACWIS compliant systems, which ORCA will be, require some interfaces be present in the system (Public Assistance, Child Support Enforcement & Medicaid a some) There are also some stakeholder groups such as, the Court System, Public Safety and Service Providers that are part of the OCS business process. The process for including these stakeholders has not been defined at this point.

Does the BPR include the budgeting functions of OCS?

From a strict budgeting perspective, no. However the Business Process Review will identify the information managers need to allocate resources across the division. The information system must provide managers data which support the resource management and allocation process.

Can we reschedule the Fairbanks office visit?

After concurrence with the coordinators for Bethel and St. Mary's, the week 1 schedule, which was planned for Barrow/Fairbanks, was traded with the week 2 schedule, Bethel/Saint Mary's.

What about the conflict between the October Management Team Meeting and the Business Process Reviews in Anchorage and Palmer the week of October 8?

This is a valid concern. The ORCA team will make a special effort to get input from Anchorage and SCRO office managers despite the scheduled Management Team Meeting activities. If that proves an impractical approach, follow-up meetings will be scheduled with the Anchorage and SCRO office managers. That would probably occur Friday of that week or early the following week

Where do the Training Academy's activities fit into the BPR process?

A visit to the Training Academy is not planned by the BPR team at this point in time. However, members of the Academy will sit in on the Anchorage group sessions of the Business Process Review to provide their perspective to the business process.

In reviewing the list of Subject Matter Experts, I see program areas that are omitted, does that mean they are out of scope of the Business Process Review?

No. The Subject Matter Expert list currently in circulation is a draft. Please provide any comments on the list to the ORCA team.

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