B.C.’s problem-plagued computer system for protecting vulnerable children failed to make the cut for Premier Christy Clark’s Innovation and Excellence Awards.
The Public Service Agency confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the Integrated Case Management system’s controversial nomination was eliminated during the selection process.
“ICM’s nomination was adjudicated but will not be recognized with an award,” the statement said. “Every year there are far more nominations than can be recognized in the award process.”
The Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Children and Family Development nominated the ICM project despite its checkered history.
Auditor general Carol Bellringer reported Tuesday that the government only completed one-third of the system, yet announced in November that ICM was delivered “on track, on time and on budget.”
The project was supposed to replace 56 antiquated programs with a single system at a cost of $182 million. But child-protection workers complained from the outset that they were unable to quickly find critical information, and that the delays were putting children and families at risk.
In the end, officials were forced to scale back the project in order to fix the child-welfare issues. Of the 56 programs slated for upgrades, ICM only replaced 17, leaving dozens of creaky and expensive systems running in the background.
The ICM system also experienced a series of “slowdowns” last May that required a team of 30 technicians, working around the clock, to get things running again.
The ministries nominated the project team for tackling a difficult job in challenging circumstance and for officials’ responsiveness, communication and staff engagement.
“Implementing one of the first case-management systems across two ministries was no easy task,” the nomination said. “The implementation required innovative problem solving to deliver an unprecedented change program to 7,500 employees throughout the province.”
There were 143 nominations for approximately 20 premier’s awards at the regional and provincial levels this year.
