As the government scrambles to fix troubled software giving child welfare workers headaches the NDP says somebody has to answer for the boondoggle.
Children and Family Development critic Claire Trevena says the software failure is a case of gross mismanagement.
Trevena says it isn’t the first time either as the government had to also scrap the pricey BCeSIS education software recently.
“The government seems to be just acting unilaterally we had almost a 100 million for BCeSIS and that was..the plug was pulled on that..on this one by the end of the day it is going to we reckon more than 200 million dollars we are still trying to track just how much it is costing and it is a system that doesn’t work for what it is supposed to do.”
Trevena says the ndp are looking for accountability from the BC government
“Somebody has got a lot of things to answer for here.”
Trevena says the problem software will cost taxpayers over $ 200 million.
“In child welfare there are many things it could have been spent on you hear so many calls from people that they need the extra money whether it is youth with special needs whether it is mental health whether it is child protection they all need money the ministry has had no increase they also need a working computer system.”
Trevena says it isn’t just a computer problem it has a real world impact on troubled youth.
“I have talked to social workers who say because of not being able to access information kids have been put at risk.”
When asked if the government should just junk the software she said..
“There is nothing to go back to at the moment this is one of the problem the government has gone fast forward on this turned off the other system and turned this one on they have got to try and fix it while they are using it it is like trying to fix a car while it is going.”
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