States to increase human services spending

Spending on social services IT at the state level is expected to increase by more than $1 billion in 2008, according to a report conducted by the McLean, Va.-based market research firm Input Inc.

The report looks at 10 opportunities that represent $1.4 billion in spending by states in 2008.

The Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System leads the list of state spending. The Texas program represents $800 million of the total. Major social services integration projects like Tiers are expected to be common among the top contracts for the foreseeable future, the report states.

"The Texas Tiers project is essentially a re-compete coming out of the troubles that the state has experienced with previous vendors over the last few years," said Sherry Ashby, principal analyst for health care and social services at Input. "If a team of vendors can come in and get this project back on track, they will really make a name for themselves as other states look into overhauling their welfare systems."

The major programs examined in the report provide a variety of opportunities in terms of impact and contract value, ranging from major integration, case management, eligibility determination, and child support processing and disbursement projects.