NASCIO The Virginia Corrections Information System (VirginiaCORIS) NASCIO Staff Contact: Eric Sweden, MSIH MBA Program Director, Enterprise Architecture & Governance NASCIO NASCIO represents state chief information officers and information technology executives and managers from state governments across the United States. For more information visit www.nascio.org. 201 East Main Street, Suite 1405 Lexington, KY 40507 Phone: (859) 514-9153 Fax: (859) 514-9166 NASCIO@AMRms.com www.nascio.org Copyright 2012 NASCIO All rights reserved Project Initiation and completion date The project was initiative in November of 2004. The first module went live in March of 2006 and since then the Virginia Department of Corrections has added 14 major modules to the application with the most recent module integrating the Department of Correctional Education application into VirginiaCORIS in May, 2012. Additional modules are continually being added, so there really is no completion date. Organization and primary point of contact Virginia Department of Corrections The Commonwealth of Virginia Rick Davis Chief Information Officer Virginia Department of Corrections 6900 Atmore Drive Richmond, Virginia 23225 804-674-3461, ext. 1788 Rick.davis@vadoc.virginia.gov Business problem Description Corrections management requires significant interaction with multiple entities responsible for various aspects of the offender lifecycle, including law enforcement, courts, facility, and probation and parole. Communication often is required between local, state and federal law enforcement concerning offender data. Facilities require significant resource management of variables including classification, housing assignments, term of inhabitance and medical care; even details such as educational program and reentry plans require timely and accurate information. Gang activity, deliberate misinformation from offenders and return to community dictate further need for effective understanding of offender population through data management. 1
In the past, two major divisions often handled the same offenders but operated different systems. Paper files in multiple locations without the same data could not be viewed by all users. Data was manually entered multiple times; accuracy was questionable. Data sharing was minimal or non existent; offender contacts were isolated and could take months to reach other important public safety touch points. Two mainframes, over 20 individual systems and numerous databases were antiquated, in danger of collapse and required daily downtime to maintain. Vendors no longer supported the technology and a graying workforce signaled loss of maintenance capability. Contract labor became a scarce and expensive requirement. The technology was deemed unsupportable and unusable. The financial burden of maintaining legacy systems was estimated at $2.5M per year, without factoring in down time, system crashes and general unsuitability for meeting growing business needs. Staff could not work remotely, at home or in the field, though many positions involved offender contact at remote locations. Paper was swallowing the agency. Managers had to utilize different systems to mine information and data accuracy always was in question. Policies were inconsistently applied. Security and privacy were difficult to enforce in the paper-based environment. Reporting to entities including other agencies, the legislature and the federal government was inefficient and sometimes impossible. Business solution description A business-based IT solution providing a new layer to connect and reference data was deemed vital. VirginiaCORIS consists of a secure Web interface for input and data view, plus a data mart, the Multi Dimensional Decision Support System (MODSS). VirginiaCORIS now unites offender management for more than 13,000 current users including prison institutions, probation and parole officers and the Virginia Parole Board, to manage a population of more than 100,000 at 110 locations. VirginiaCORIS now communicates with and also is used by the Virginia State Police (VSP), the Fusion Center (VFC), local law enforcement, the Attorney General s office and local jails. Virginia is able to now work closely and easily with the F.B.I. on its developing national database and the exchange of data through N-Dex. Connecting with N-Dex essentially makes the Commonwealth s data available nationally to other state and local public safety authorities. Multiple user groups access and update data on a single system, VirginiaCORIS, from any location, 24x7, via secure SSL VPN Web access to track offenders and log information, including a complete real-time log of all contacts with corrections and law enforcement systems. A database management system has been designed for the collection and organization of multiple data variables. Access to the data is via a web-based front end. VirginiaCORIS is an n-tiered architecture with redundant application servers and mirrored databases housed in a tier 3 data center. 2 Implementation of VirginiaCORIS has resulted in a streamlined, interoperable, accessible, anytime method for multiple entities to manage data generated by offender management and companion public safety concerns. Virginia- CORIS vastly improves public safety capability for the agency, all business Benefit to government
partners (including localities and the federal government), and ultimately, citizens. Elimination of legacy systems and mainframe applications provides financial efficiencies and enhances capability to obtain skilled systems support based on a modern technological architecture. The data mart provides enhanced analysis capability, consistent data across the enterprise, faster and deeper reporting and a cost-effective method to better manage a vast information system. VirginiaCORIS is critical to provide interoperability, better access and more reliable information to support the department s mission. Ongoing costs for the As-Is are approximately $2.5M each year (and as estimated, do NOT increase over the next 10 years). At a project cost of $17M and annual support cost of $400,000, the ROI over a 20-year span is a positive 13.5%. Redeployment of staff is assumed; application management is in-house. VirginiaCORIS is predicted to last twenty to thirty years, making the continued ROI increasingly important and positive in future years. The Virginia Fusion Center (VFC) is the central point in Virginia for collection, analysis and timely dissemination of all-crimes information and intelligence and is managed by VSP. A comment from a VSP user at the VFC aptly summarizes benefits: Intelligence analysts now obtain a thorough view of offender histories, current status, risk profile and sentencing/release information, which is directly impactful. The success of integrated efforts across criminal justice agencies to grapple with multi-level, wide scope criminal issues depends on willing interconnection of information sharing applications like CORIS. VirginiaCORIS is an outstanding platform to view and use Department of Corrections (DOC) information crucial to the analytical mission performed by the VFC. Its continued development as a one stop shop is eagerly anticipated and applauded. Benefits to customers Public safety is significantly enhanced through efficient data sharing between previously siloed law enforcement entities at local, state and federal level. Crime occurs 24x7, but prior to VirginiaCORIS, access to offender information was available to users such as the Virginia State Police for only a 12 hour period each day. Law enforcement personnel now have up-to-date information about individuals including parole/probation status which assists in field management of potential offenders. The courts, the state Attorney General and enforcement (VSP) share and add to information generated by Corrections to support investigations and strengthen public safety initiatives. Any user with offender contact can log notes to alert other users of current offender information. 3
An alert feature immediately highlights critical information for all users including threats of violence, sex offense, gang activity and special needs. Arrest notifications are interfaced daily into CORIS providing Probation officers with immediate alerts. The fugitive unit is alerted when offenders abscond from community supervision; officers have immediate access to an offender s complete file. Cross-jurisdiction enforcement is enhanced and citizens are better protected through informed law enforcement. Remote access is enabled from anywhere in the world. The system is fully redundant, with 99.7% availability. Offender data is visible as a comprehensive picture 24x7x365. VirginiaCORIS is utilized by a number of local law enforcement agencies with demand increasing weekly for access. External documents are improved. Arrest warrants now contain demographic snap shots, including photo if available, to assist law enforcement with offender identification. If offenders are returned to prison for violations, activity is visible to the institution for placement and program/treatment planning. Offender files now exist in a secure environment; offender data is now accessible throughout the justice process; it is entered once and populated to multiple forms. The database supports many types of queries. Administrative burden has been significantly reduced. Scanned documents and many paper documents are incorporated. Offender classifications, transfers and released offender management are simplified. File material previously was copied and faxed or mailed. Now, electronic notices allow instant case movement on acceptance from sending to receiving district. Best practices employed (e.g., governance, relationship management, communication and marketing, etc.). That is, what business practices contributed to the success of this project, helped maintain commitment, funding and adoption. Management commitment critical Phased implementation/addition of functionality Strong business intelligence and business analytics / evidence based practice built into the data mart and data warehouse for critical and timely offender management reporting Designed to enable ad hoc queries of data to accommodate changing business needs 4 Governance: Formal project manager with subject matter expertise; internal oversight committee; functional oversight by business users (including some out of state members); executive team oversight of critical components; Developed capability to provision business analytics; enables self service by approved personnel
prioritization and staging of projects Strong project team consisting of SME s from business and operating units enthusiastic about implementing a comprehensive offender management system Comprehensive communication planning and training enhanced change management efforts Decision/administrative rights created locally and customized/updated as needed Code management for unique identifiers; emphasis on single record; this project became a much-needed catalyst for common definitions Creates data discipline on all levels to provide confidence in data quality Capability to upload information and sharing across boundaries real time Enables mobile workforce Flexible SOA allows future add ons as needs develop i.e. health records, biometrics Describe why and how this collaborative effort is transferrable to other jurisdictions. The patterns presented in this scenario are representative of every other state. The solution can certainly be copied and reused. Many government organizations share dependency upon archaic technology such as COBOL; many also share interaction with both local and federal entities and require interoperability and data sharing. Though the business outcome may differ, the business problem is widely shared. The solution requires gathering of business owners to launch a project based on business need. Justice utilizes a similar workflow across every state; offenders must be tracked from arrest through release, and often beyond through probation and parole. Virginia purchased a base program and then modified it to fit state specific statutes. Other states will need to carry out a similar activity relevant to their relevant statutes. This project was a catalyst to standardize offender data definitions. Every other initiative will also need to achieve a common taxonomy and vocabulary. Through business process re-engineering, planners closely examined existing processes and engaged in future forecasting to enable adaptability in the information system. Any solution must include the capability for change competency. Information sharing and Public Safety commitment to implementing a new system was key to success. The organizations that use the system had to be committed to the vision of VirginiaCORIS. This was achieved through a great deal of outreach and dialogue. 5