CalWorks Information Network (CalWIN), which processes a daily average of 13 million transactions for California's welfare assistance programs, will get the extra capacity it needs for future services and better cost controls under a new three-year, $123 million technology services extension.
The agreement with HP Enterprise Services is for applications development, network and server management services for CalWIN, an automated health and welfare eligibility determination system, which is run by the state's Welfare Client Data Systems (WCDS) Consortium.
"This extension continues (the CalWIN/HP partnership) in one of the most challenging times our counties have faced in delivering the services many Californians count on," said Joe Valentine, executive director for Contra Costa County and chair of the WCDS Consortium.
CalWIN, the largest network of its kind in the country, services more than 850 sites across 18 counties, and delivers benefits to over 2.6 million families. HP has provided services for the public assistance programs for 25 years.
The WCDS Consortium is looking to significantly modernize the way CalWIN operates while holding down costs and improving productivity as the number of cases each health and welfare worker handles rises. To do so, it wants to use Web-based technology to improve the self-service features of the nework.
The agreement will provide for the flexibility in CalWIN's capacity that will be needed to handle that increased workload, according to the consortium.
