Audit Report on the Restructuring of Information Systems in the New York City Department of Probation

This audit determined whether the Department of Probation (Department) has met the overall goals described in its 2003 Information Technology Strategic Plan.

In 2002, the Department began an assessment of its information technology (IT) and operational needs and developed its 2003 IT Strategic Plan (2003 Plan) with the primary objectives of creating an operational database system to replace the Adult Restructuring Tracking System (ARTS), and a data warehouse system for reporting and information sharing. The ARTS replacement and new data warehouse system were named the Reusable Case Management System (RCMS) and the new RCMS Data Warehouse system for management reporting, data analyses, and data sharing with other agencies.

The Department’s overall goal was to enable the agency to deliver better public safety with fewer fiscal and human resources; eliminate redundant data spread throughout the agency; automate paper processes; and integrate the Department’s Administration, Adult Services, and Family Court Services for unified IT support. The primary business goals of the Department’s 2003 Plan were for the Department to be able to easily share information with other city, state, and federal agencies, and streamline work processes for efficiency improvement. These goals relied on the successful replacement of its existing case management system and creation of a data warehouse facility for management reporting, data analyses, and data sharing.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The Department has met the overall goals described in its 2003 Plan by having created an operational database system to replace ARTS and a data warehouse system for management reporting. RCMS is adequately serving the Department’s needs in terms of functionality and the standard reporting functions. The RCMS Data Warehouse functionality is also adequately serving the Department’s needs. However, the standard and ad hoc reporting features of the RCMS Data Warehouse require quality control analyses to identify and remedy reporting discrepancies.

Additionally, both RCMS and the Data Warehouse rely upon outside vendor support for maintenance and future upgrades or enhancements, subject to the availability of the vendor and annual funding to retain the vendor. The Department should establish in-house capabilities to maintain both systems due to the mission critical nature of the applications.

Audit Recommendations

To address these issues, we made two recommendations, that the Department should:

• Perform quality assurance testing on all Data Warehouse reports to be certain information being reported is consistently uniform and accurate throughout the entire range of RCMS Data Warehouse reports when the reports contain an identical data component being reported.

• Establish technical training programs for its staff to develop in-house capability for in-house RCMS maintenance and programming to protect its current investment in the system as well as to be able to upgrade or enhance RCMS when and if new business requirements arise.

Agency Response

Department officials agreed with our two recommendations in their response.