Automated Welfare Systems

The states have developed a number of computer systems, many of them quite costly, to help run their welfare programs. Federal assistance to these projects has totaled more than $8.6 billion so far, and the government may end up paying the lion's share of $10.7 million in additional automated system costs projected through the end of the decade. Without effective federal oversight and monitoring of state development efforts, the government has few guarantees that its investment will yield systems that achieve their expected benefits and provide effective service to welfare clients.

GAO found that: (1) 52 of 54 U.S. states and territories operate multiple automated systems to provide welfare program support, although some states plan to combine their systems into a single, integrated Family Assistance Management Information System; (2) federal agencies provided over $6.8 billion between fiscal years 1984 and 1992 to support states' planning, design, development, installation, and operation of automated welfare systems; (3) states will require more federal assistance for larger, more sophisticated systems needed to handle rising welfare program caseloads and increased program complexity; (4) federal costs to support the development and operation of state welfare systems could increase, since all states plan to upgrade, replace, or develop at least one automated system; (5) national health care and welfare reform could contribute to increasing automated system costs; (6) estimated development and operating costs for states' automated systems could total $10.7 billion between 1993 and 1999; and (7) there is no legislatively mandated ceiling to limit federal assistance for states' development and operation of automated welfare systems.