unified system project

Unified System Project

Detailed Requirements

Executive Summary

This is the Executive Summary of the Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System Detailed Requirements

Document. This document details the require

of EEC and its partners in educating and caring for the Commonwealth’s children and families.


Detailed Requirements Document

Executive Summary v3.0

Monday, August 24, 2009

Executive Summary of the Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System Detailed Requirements

the requirements for the development of a web-based computer system to support the work

artners in educating and caring for the Commonwealth’s children and families.


, 2009

Executive Summary of the Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System Detailed Requirements

computer system to support the work

Unified System Project Detailed Requirements Document v3.0

E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y P a g e | 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The vision of the Unified System was born out of the same

imperatives as the founding of the Department of Early Education

and Care (EEC) – to create a single, unified, more efficient system of

early education and care. The Unified System will be a web-based

application used by EEC staff, early education and care programs,

EEC intermediaries, educators, families and the public, and other

State agencies. The system will support EEC’s four core business

components covering Child/Family Access and Assistance; Licensing,

Monitoring, and Support; Professional Development; and Purchase

of Services and will provide the following benefits to EEC, its

partners, and all 300,000 Commonwealth children in early education

and care settings:

� Enhance the Commonwealth’s ability to forecast, track, and support the early education and care of all

children and families, including determining longitudinal child outcomes

� Provide an improved process for all Commonwealth children and families to access and receive services

� Expand the tools available to support program quality and improve program interactions with EEC

� Introduce new web-based resources for the development of child care professionals

� Improve attendance, billing, payment, and compliance processes

� Collect, uniform, universal, and high quality data on all children from birth into elementary education that

can be shared with other Commonwealth educational partners

� Foster collaboration with agencies that provide services to Commonwealth children and families

� Support ongoing research, policy decision making, and budgetary planning

The idea for the Unified System originated in 2007 and in that year EEC received support and a commitment of

funding from the Commonwealth’s Information Technology Division. Since then EEC has worked to further refine

the vision and plan for the Unified System and to implement the infrastructure needed to support the Unified

System. EEC dedicated the spring of 2009 to detailing the requirements for the Unified System in an effort to

clarify expectations and help assure a successful vendor selection in the summer/fall of this year. This document is

the primary deliverable from that requirements planning effort.

This Executive Summary is organized into the following four sections:

� Document Purpose explains how the Detailed Requirements Document is planned to be used;

� Requirements Overview summarizes the functionality in each of the four Unified System business

components;

� Support of EEC’s Strategic Plan illustrates how the requirements for the Unified System support the

Department’s Strategic Direction and Plan; and

� Introduction to the Detailed Requirements Document walks through how requirements are organized in

the document and introduces the primary actors in the Unified System.

DOCUMENT PURPOSE

The Detailed Requirements Document specifies the business requirements for the implementation of the

Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System. These detailed requirements are intended to serve as

clear, discrete statements of EEC’s expectations for the computer system to be developed. They define “what” the

envisioned system needs to be able to do. Later during the design and implementation of the Unified System, EEC,

with the help of end users, will define “how” the requirements will be implemented and “how” the system will

work. Together, these detailed requirements serve three primary purposes:

EEC’s Mission

The Massachusetts Department of Early

Education and Care (EEC) provides the

foundation that supports all children in

their development as lifelong learners

and contributing members of the

community, and supports families in

their essential work as parents and

caregivers.



1. Vendor Selection: This document will serve as the primary appendix and definition of scope for a Request

for Quotes (RFQ) to select an implementation contractor to develop the EEC Unified System. Vendor

responses to this document will serve as a primary consideration for selecting the right vendor to develop

the Unified System.

2. Project Management: Once a vendor has been selected and EEC has entered into a contract with the

successful bidder, this document will serve as a checklist for the development of the new system. The

vendor will use this document to plan and track the implementation of Unified System functionality. EEC

will use this checklist to make sure the final system meets the needs of its stakeholders and the vendor

has met its contractual obligations.

3. Stakeholder Expectations: An equally important purpose for this document is to serve as documentation

for how the Unified System is envisioned to support the business processes of EEC and its partners. By

detailing what the system is envisioned to do, this document helps establish common expectations for

EEC, early education and care stakeholders, and the selected vendor.

This requirements document is not intended to be immutable. It is common for business processes to change over

time, and there will be new ideas about how business processes can be supported by technology. This document

serves as a common starting point for the development. Changes can be made to the requirements for the new

system. Those changes will be tracked and agreed upon in relation to this starting point.



REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW

The business processes and requirements for the Unified System have been grouped into four primary business

components. The Child/Family Access and Assistance component includes functionality to intake, manage, and

support all Commonwealth children and families, including, but not limited to, those that are receiving subsidized

child care. This includes supporting the long term outcomes of all 300,000 children in early education and care

settings from birth into elementary education, as well as children in residential and placement settings. Licensing,

Monitoring, and Support describes functionality to intake, manage, and support all programs known to EEC

including those licensed by EEC and license exempt providers. This includes programs with contracts or grants for

early education and care and out-of-school time related services. Professional Development explains the

functionality to maintain a repository of early education and care educators, including their professional

certifications and information about professional development opportunities. Purchase of Services defines the

functionality to support a standardized contracting process for the various services purchased by EEC, including

contracts for provider slots, vouchers, and grants. The requirements also include one common system process

component which goes across and supports each of the four primary business components. Highlights of each of

these four highly interrelated business components and the Unified System actors are depicted below.

A summary of each of these four business components is provided on the following pages with a list of the

associated business processes. Details about the business processes, including the associated requirements, can

be found in the corresponding section of the detailed requirements document.

Child/Family Access and Assistance

� Improved eligibility, enrollment, and billing across all forms of subsidized care

� Better coordination betweenfamily needs and program

availability

� Enhanced ability to track outcomes for all children and families/caregivers

Licensing, Monitoring, and Support

� Single repository of all programs including licensed, exempt, and unlicensed programs

� Holistic views of activities across allinteractions with EEC

� New program web-based“self-help” tools

� Master registry of all early education and care educators

� Richer offering of onlineprofessional development,

orientation, and training opportunities

� Expanded EEC certification program

Professional Development

� Improved grants trackingand online information

� Enhanced oversight, review,and fiscal compliance

� Improved billing and payment processes

Purchase of Services



CHILD/FAMILY ACCESS AND ASSISTANCE OVERVIEW

The first business component in the Unified System is the Child/Family

Access and Assistance component, which provides functionality to

support the universe of Commonwealth children and families including,

but not limited to, those receiving services funded by EEC. This includes

expanded functionality for managing family eligibility, child enrollment,

attendance, and program billing across all forms of EEC-funded

subsidized education and care. The Unified System will uniquely track

families and children across various forms of care, including referrals

from other agencies and family requests for income eligible child care.

The Unified System will also be able to track non-subsidized child care

enrollments and children’s involvement in other early education and

care settings, providing a holistic view of each child’s progress through

early education and care and beyond. The system will promote the

collection of the uniform, universal, and high quality information required to promote positive, long term

outcomes for and associated research pertaining to all 300,000 Commonwealth children in early education and

care settings. As a custodian of these family and child records, the Unified System will protect individual privacy

while promoting access to information needed for child enrollment, development, and safety.

As a key piece of the Unified System, the Child/Family Access and Assistance component shares program

information with the organizations managed within the Licensing, Monitoring, and Support business component

and leverages the contracts that result from activities in the Purchase of Services component. The Unified System

references the same program record across all four core business components, improving the quality of EEC’s

information and simplifying programs’ interactions with EEC.

For programs and organizations, the Child/Family Access and Assistance component will include expanded web-

based functionality, allowing programs to better control their information and facilitate the timely enrollment of

new children and improve the management of enrollments. Many functions currently done by paper will be

available online, simplifying daily activities, eliminating redundant data entry, and reducing the delays associated

with the current processes. Additionally, the Unified System plans to support standardized reporting and billing to

EEC, regardless of whether the financial assistance is the result of a voucher or subsidized care contract.

For families, the Child/Family Access and Assistance component will provide tools for anonymous web-based

eligibility screening to help families determine if they might quality for child care assistance. A key benefit of the

new functionality will be better management of the income eligible child care waiting list. The new system will

support improvements to the waiting list process to help assure that, when financial assistance is available,

families are ready to take advantage of those services. The Unified System will included improved functionality for

tracking family preferences and matching those preferences with availability based on service needs, hours of

operation, geographic location, and more. Additionally, enhanced financial tracking functions will allow EEC to

carefully control and forecast child care usage and costs as State and Federal funding increases or decreases.

The following diagram summarizes the key Child/Family Access and Assistance components to be included in the

Unified System.

Key Child/Family Access and Assistance Components

Intake and Referral

(Financial Assistance

Requests)

Child and Family

Outcomes

Billing and

Payment

Eligibility Reviews,

Investigations, and Legal

Actions

Waiting List

Management

Eligibility

Determination

Reporting and

Analysis

Terminations and

ReductionsAttendance

Universal

Child and Family

Reassessments

Enrollment

Business Processes

Apply for Financial Assistance

Refer for Subsidized Child Care

Manage Waiting List for Subsidized Child Care

Manage Program Availability Information

Enroll Child

Manage Attendance

Submit Payment Request

Manage Family Payment Information

Manage Enrollment Changes

Manage Financial Assistance Complaints/Reviews

Manage Child, Family, and Outcome Information

Administer Child/Family Access and Assistance

Analyze/Report on Child/Family Access/Assistance



Business Processes

Apply for Licensure

Renew Licenses

Process Payments

Manage Visits and Meetings

Manage Programs

Manage Umbrella Organizations

Manage Background Record Checks (BRC)

Manage Program Staff

Manage Complaints/Incidents

Resolve Non-Compliances

Track Unlicensed Care

Manage Legal Actions

Administer Licensing, Monitoring, and Support

Analyze/Report on Licensing, Monitoring, and Support

LICENSING, MONITORING, AND SUPPORT OVERVIEW

The second business component in the Unified System is the

Licensing, Monitoring, and Support component, which includes

extensive functionality to support the management of all early

education and care programs known to EEC. The Unified System

will include a single repository of all programs, including those that

are and are not subject to EEC licensing regulations. This includes

programs that are currently licensed, including various child care

and residential and placement programs, as well as programs in the

process of obtaining an EEC license, public approval, or license

exemption. It also includes programs providing unlicensed care as

well as programs, such as public school programs, that are not

subject to EEC licensure.

The Licensing, Monitoring, and Support component also includes

comprehensive functionality to support the management of the

umbrella organizations that are associated with early education and

care programs in a variety of capacities. This includes corporate organizations (licensing umbrellas), family child

care systems, grant lead agencies, child care resource and referral agencies, and others.

As part of the Licensing, Monitoring, and Support component, users will be able to capture and view a wide variety

of information as part of each program’s comprehensive profile, including information about a program’s location,

service offerings, licenses, staff, and more. This component will be closely integrated with the other components

of the Unified System including Professional Development (for the management of program staff qualifications and

development), Child/Family Access and Assistance (for the management of children and families served by the

program), and Purchase of Services (for the management of program contracts, grant, and financial processes).

In addition to including a repository of known programs and organizations, the Licensing, Monitoring, and Support

component will include extensive functionality to support individual program’s day-to-day activities as well as

ongoing program development and quality. For example, this component will include functionality for authorized

programs and EEC users to jointly manage processes pertaining to license applications, renewals, exemptions, and

variances. It will also include comprehensive functionality to support the management of program visits and the

reporting and resolution of incidents. The Unified System will also help track program quality and areas of need to

support the development of a more qualified and diverse network of programs that supports the needs of, and

promotes positive outcomes for, children and families.

The following diagram summarizes the key Licensing, Monitoring, and Support components to be included in the

Unified System.



PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW

The third business component in the Unified System is the Professional

Development component, which will include extensive functionality to

support the ongoing growth and development of early education

professionals in Massachusetts.

The Professional Development component, which will be used primarily

by individual educators, as well as EEC staff, intermediaries, and partner

agencies, is closely integrated with the Licensing, Monitoring, and

Support component that includes related functionality for child care

programs to monitor, track, and support the ongoing professional

development of their employees.

The Professional Development component of the Unified System will

include the ability to capture and maintain an up-to-date master

Registry of all Commonwealth educators including those working in EEC

licensed programs and educators working in other settings such as

public school pre-Kindergarten, out of school time, and early

intervention programs. The Registry will also include information about

other individuals, such as recent college graduates, who are interested

in working in the early education and care field in Massachusetts.

In addition to including a repository of known educators, the Unified System will also provide a wide variety of

functionality to support the ongoing needs of those educators and to help build a more qualified and diverse

workforce that ultimately promotes child outcomes. Examples of enhanced functionality include an expansive

calendar of development opportunities, including training, orientation, and professional development offerings, as

well as functionality to post and find employment opportunities, scholarships, and career path information.

The following diagram summarizes the key Professional Development components to be included in the Unified

System.

Business Processes

Register Educator

Manage Educator Registry Profile

– Person Information

– Work Experience Information

– Skill and Competency Information

– Scholarships and Incentives

– Educational Background Information

– Ongoing Development

– EEC Professional Certification

– Other Education Credentials

– Other Resource Qualifications

Renew Educator Registration

Administer Educator Registry

Manage Employment Opportunities

Manage Scholarship Opportunities

Manage Development Opportunities

Administer Career Path Information

Manage Prof. Devel. Administrative Reviews

Administer Professional Development

Analyze/Report on Prof. Devel. Related

Information



PURCHASE OF SERVICES OVERVIEW

The final business component in the Unified System is the Purchase of

Services component, which includes extensive functionality to support

the management of the numerous services that are paid for by the

Department of Early Education and Care. This includes early education

and care services that are funded via a grant, contract, or voucher based

process. It also includes programs, such as Early Childhood Special

Education grants, that are funded by another agency but managed by

EEC.

The Purchase of Services component includes comprehensive

functionality to support the purchase of services lifecycle from the initial

selection of vendors through ongoing contract creation, amendment,

and management processes. For vendors providing subsidized child care, the system will support a unified billing

and payment process regardless of whether the financial assistance is the result of a voucher or subsidized care

contract.

The Purchase of Services component will be closely integrated with the other components of the Unified System

including Licensing, Monitoring, and Support (for the management of vendor programs and organizations) and

Child/Family Access and Assistance (for the management of children and families served by the programs including

a universal attendance and billing process). Working with the Office of the Comptroller, the Unified System will

also facilitate the exchange of vendor, contract, and payment information with the Massachusetts Management

Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS). This inter-agency information exchange is intended to facilitate the

timely and accurate management and payment of EEC contracted vendors and to improve EEC’s real-time tracking

of appropriated funds.

For vendors, the Purchase of Services component will include expanded web-based functionality allowing vendors,

such as programs and intermediaries, to better control their information and facilitate the timely payment of bills

and resolution of issues. For example, vendors will be able to update contract information, submit grant budget

information, and request payment for different types of services online. Vendors will also be able to upload

documents, including fiscal corrective action plans, and respond to information requests from EEC.

For EEC, the Purchase of Services component will provide tools to help establish, manage, and monitor contracted

resources. The Unified System will include extensive functionality to help EEC manage and track the expenditure

of funds, including reviewing payment requests, monitoring contract utilization, forecasting usage and costs,

tracking fiscal risk, and monitoring fiscal compliance. This enhanced fiscal tracking will help ensure that the

available State and Federal funds are used to purchase quality services that are in accordance with EEC priorities

and maximize the benefits to the Commonwealth’s children and families.

The following diagram summarizes the key Purchase of Services components to be included in the Unified System.

Business Processes

Maintain Payment Accounts

Manage Requests for Response

Manage Vendors

Manage Contract Groups

Manage Contracts

Amend Contracts

Pay Vendors

Monitor Compliance and Assess Risk

Exchange Information with MMARS

Analyze/Report on Purchase of Services



SUPPORT OF EEC’S STRATEGIC PLAN

The EEC Unified System Project is a cornerstone infrastructure project for the implementation of EEC’s Strategic

Plan and is a critical component of the Administration’s Readiness Project. The following pages contain each of

EEC’s Three Year Strategic Directions and include selected relevant indicators of success from the plan. For each

indicator, the vision and requirements for the Unified System are summarized, and the most relevant business

processes are identified for reference.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION: QUALITY

Create and implement a system to improve and support quality statewide.

Program Resources/Supports: Programs seeking to improve their quality have access to a range of resources and

supports.

From the moment a potential program is interested in licensure

throughout the lifetime of the program, each program will have access to

enhanced web-based tools, resources, and information to support the

improvement of program quality and the development of its staff.

The Unified System will provide one-stop shopping for programs

managing their daily activities and seeking to improve their service

offerings. Program managers will be able to track licensure activities,

active contracts, voucher usage, grant budgets, staff development, and

more from an integrated, intuitive user interface. Programs, EEC staff,

and intermediaries will be able to communicate and set reminders for

coordinated activities, like site visits, renewals, incident investigations,

and technical assistance meetings.

Programs with language or other accessibility needs will be able to

request support from EEC and receive online assistance from other

members of their umbrella organization or system.

See: Apply for Licensure

Manage Visits and Meetings

Manage Programs



Resolve Non-compliance

Quality and Outcome Data: Massachusetts has a system that collects, analyzes and disseminates program quality

and child outcome data to inform policy and program development and implementation.

By combining information that is currently tracked in ten different agency

systems, the Unified System will provide holistic views of uniquely-

identified programs, educators, families, and children. By linking Unified

System child records with Department of Elementary and Secondary

Education records, researchers and policymakers will be able to analyze

aggregate and longitudinal information to support program evaluation

and policy formulation based on actual child outcomes. As the full Quality

Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is implemented, additional

information about program quality will be added to the Unified System

and will support and inform these policy and program decisions.

See: Manage Programs

Analyze/Report on Licensing,

Monitoring, and Support


Manage Child, Family, and Outcome

Information

Analyze/Report on Child/Family

Access and Assistance

Consistent Licensing Regulations: Licensing regulations that reflect best practices have been promulgated,

translated, clearly communicated to the field, and enforced consistently throughout all regions.

The Unified System will implement both the existing and soon to be See: Apply for Licensure



promulgated EEC regulations that together cover licensure, financial

assistance, and enforcement. The system will use business rules and

management reports to help assure consistency in implementation across

regions and programs. The business rules engine within the Unified

System is planned to be configurable and extendable to support future

changes in policy and practice as child, family, and program needs evolve.

Renew License

Manage Programs


Resolve Non-compliance

Track Unlicensed Care

Manage Legal Actions

STRATEGIC DIRECTION: FAMILY SUPPORT, ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY

Increase and promote family support, access and affordability.

Family Services: Families are aware of the mixed early education and care system and have access to affordable,

high-quality early education and care services.

Families interested in early education and care services will be able to go

online and complete a simple, anonymous eligibility screening to

determine if they may be eligible for financial assistance or other child

care services. Likewise, families seeking other human services from the

Commonwealth’s Virtual Gateway will be able to self-screen for potential

child care financial eligibility while seeking eligibility for other potential

health and human services such as food stamps, the Women Infants and

Children (WIC) nutrition program, veteran’s services, and more.

Additionally, the Unified System will provide expanded web-based

searches for families seeking early education and care services. Families

will be able to view expanded information about the programs and

services in their area.

See: Apply for Financial Assistance

Manage Programs

Seamless System: Early education and care services are delivered through a seamless system that is responsive to

the needs of all families and provides supports and resources for transitioning children in and out of early

education and care programs and services.

For those receiving financial assistance, the Unified System will track

family preferences for programs, locations, and services to help match

family needs with program availability. As children and families move

between services and across programs, the Unified System will uniquely

track each individual to provide a comprehensive history of services and

to facilitate enrollment at the new location.

See: Manage Waiting List for Subsidized

Child Care

Manage Program Availability Info

Enroll Child

Manage Attendance



Information

Interagency Services: Family services are integrated and delivered in a coordinated manner across state agencies.

In coordination with the Departments of Children and Families (DCF) and

Transitional Assistance (DTA), EEC will be able to receive electronic

referrals and authorizations to enroll children from families receiving

services from DCF or DTA. The Unified System will provide tools to match

the children and families with the most suitable programs and services

and will help manage the coordination of changes in status and

circumstances across the three departments.

See: Refer for Subsidized Child Care



Information

Submit Payment Request

Pay Vendors

Exchange Information with MMARS


E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y P a g e | 1 0

Working with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

(ESE), child records will be assigned a unique student identifier (SASID).

When children age out of early education services, EEC will be able to

share information about family needs and services with ESE to assure a

smooth transition into Kindergarten and elementary education and

between public schools and out of school time care. For payments and

other financial transactions, the Unified System will electronically

exchange information with the Massachusetts Management Accounting

and Reporting System (MMARS).

STRATEGIC DIRECTION: WORKFORCE

Create a workforce system that maintains worker diversity and provides resources, supports, expectations, and core competencies

that lead to the outcomes we want for children.

Professional Registry: A Professional Development Registry and Workforce Management System are in place to

observe and measure the efficacy of the workforce and measure the impact of the workforce system on child

outcomes.

A significant new component of the Unified System is the introduction of

an online Educator Registry. The registry will be a central clearinghouse of

information related to the Commonwealth’s early education and care

workforce. To support the adoption of the Registry and its value to

individual educators, the Registry will be integrated with other elements

of the Unified System, including employment and development

opportunities and EEC professional certifications. Programs will have

views of key Registry information for their staff and will be able to track

and support the professional development of their employees.

See: Register Educator

Manage Educator Registry Profile

Renew Educator Registration

Report on Professional Development

Related Information


Professional Development Resources: The early education workforce has access to affordable education and

professional development resources that support core competencies.

The vision for the Unified System includes significantly expanded web-

based tools for current and potential early education and care

professionals. Educators will be able to go online from their Registry

profile or generally from the EEC web site to search and view employment

opportunities that meet their professional needs and interests. Programs

will be able to post new opportunities to seek qualified, skilled, early

education and care educators. Additionally, educators will be able to view

and apply for scholarships to support continuing and higher education

related to child services and development. The system will also provide

robust access to a clearinghouse of development opportunities, including

trainings and continuing education.

To support the evolution of the workforce and the changing landscape

and needs of Commonwealth families, the Unified System will include

tools to report and identify potential deficiencies and needs for

professional development opportunities.

See: Manage Educator Registry Profile

Manage Employment Opportunities

Manage Scholarship Opportunities




Career Lattice: The early education and care workforce has a well-defined career lattice that adequately and fairly

compensates educators as professionals.

The Unified System will support the introduction of the evolving early

education and care career paths and lattices. Educators will be able to

track their individual professional development, skills, and competencies

against one or more career paths appropriate for their background and

employment. Additionally, educators will be able to view development

opportunities appropriate to their professional level and will be able to

obtain information for trainings and other opportunities to progress along

their career path.

See: Manage Educator Registry Profile

Administer Career Path Information

STRATEGIC DIRECTION: COMMUNICATIONS

Create and implement an external and internal communications strategy that advocates for and conveys the value of early education and care

to all stakeholders and the general public.

Access to Information: All stakeholders in the field and consumers are aware of EEC initiatives, policies and

procedures and have access to information to facilitate advocacy.

A key principle of the Unified System is to facilitate and improve the

communications between and amongst EEC, early education and care

programs, educators, EEC intermediaries, other state agencies, families,

and the public. New tools are included in the Unified System to direct

messages and notifications to the appropriate individuals within each

organization and to support the publishing of information about EEC

initiatives and policies to those it most affects.

Integrated throughout all aspects of the Unified System are configurable

business rules based on EEC policies, procedures, and regulations. Where

appropriate, the system will be implemented to enforce policy standards

and provide guidance to the field and consumers on the nature of the

underlying policies and regulations.

See: Various; notifications, reminders, and

business rules included throughout

each business process

External Stakeholder Information Needs: EEC is fully aware of and responds to the type, style and nature of the

information needed by external stakeholders and consumers.

The Unified System includes multiple avenues to access and analyze

information. EEC staff, external stakeholders, and key consumers will be

able to run standard and online interactive reports to find key information

about programs, services, financial assistance, and other data.

The Unified System will also support the ability to generate ad-hoc reports

or queries. Users will be able to dynamically build ad-hoc queries using

predefined sets of criteria. Additionally, data from the Unified System will

be available in a comprehensive early education and care data warehouse

for analysis, information requests, and reporting. The system will also

allow authorized users to download some approved Unified System data

for further analysis or integration with other systems.

See: Analyze/Report on Child/Family




Analyze/Report on Professional

Development Related Information

Analyze/Report on Purchase of

Services



STRATEGIC DIRECTION: INFRASTRUCTURE

Build the internal infrastructure to support achieving the vision.

Unified System: With user input and involvement, EEC has transformed the existing technology infrastructure into

a state-of-the-art, unified and comprehensive system.

The Unified System is envisioned as the key technology support for the

implementation of EEC’s strategic plan and vision. The Unified System will

have four primary business components –Child/Family Access and

Assistance, Licensing, Monitoring, and Support, Professional

Development, and Purchase of Services (see “Requirements Overview” of

this Executive Summary for more details on each of these components).

In addition to functions already described supporting the other elements

of the EEC strategic framework, the Unified System will unify and

significantly enhance EEC’s financial custodianship of over $500 million of

financial assistance and other supports. Managers will be able to view

real-time account balances within the Unified System and have more tools

for making sure funds are being spent to maximize the benefit for

Commonwealth families and children. The Unified System is also planned

to be flexible, to accommodate changes in funding, policy, and business

practice in the future.

See: Manage Contracts

Amend Contracts

Pay Vendors

Monitor Compliance and Assess Risk


Services

Comprehensive Information on Educators and Programs: All EEC staff, community partners and families have

comprehensive information about educators and early education and care programs.

Central benefits of the Unified System will be the expansion of

collaboration across agency units and the improved sharing of information

across business functions. Unified views of program information will

include licensure information, educator information, contract information,

voucher usage, grant awards, and other information. Unified System

announcements and communications will help keep EEC staff,

intermediaries, and stakeholders informed of new initiatives and

activities. System tools will allow users to quickly identify and get in touch

with business owners from other regions, units, and organizations.

See: Manage Programs




Analyze/Report on Professional

Development Related Information

Analyze/Report on Child/Family



Services Related Information

Active Relationship with Other State Agencies: EEC has developed active relationships with other state agencies,

community partners, public schools and other stakeholder organizations to meet its mission.

The vast majority of Unified System users will be staff and stakeholders

from the thousands of early education and care organizations throughout

the Commonwealth. In addition to directly using the system, the Unified

System will support the electronic exchange of financial information with

MMARS, background record information with DCF and Criminal History

Systems Board, referral and enrollment information with DCF and DTA,

child SASID assignment with ESE, scholarship information with DHE, and

electronic payments with Office of the Comptroller. Going forward, the

planned architecture of the Unified System will enable EEC to include

additional exchanges in support of other EEC and Commonwealth

initiatives.

See: Exchange Information with MMARS

Refer for Subsidized Child Care

Manage Background Record Checks




INTRODUCTION TO THE DETAILED REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT

While the Detailed Requirements Document is long, it is designed to be readable and understandable in discrete

pieces. The approximately 1,750 detailed requirements are grouped into 208 use cases, which are grouped into 67

business processes within the four major business and one common system components. Programs interested in

how child enrollment changes will be managed under the new system need only read the “Manage Enrollment

Changes” business process in the Child/Family Access and Assistance section to understand how that process is

planned to work. Below is an example of how the various business requirements are organized by business

process and use case.

A business process is a major

line of business. In this

example, the business process

is “Manage Enrollment

Changes.”

Within each business process

is a series of use cases. A use

case describes a discrete set of

activities that is performed by

users or the system to achieve

a business goal. There are six

use cases within the “Manage

Enrollment Changes” business

process.

Similarly, within each use case

are the specific detailed

requirements that the Unified

System will be built to

support. For instance, the third requirement for the “Reassess Eligibility for Income Eligible Child Care” use case

stipulates that the system must be able to generate notifications to families about upcoming income eligible

reassessments.

Each requirement has a unique requirement number, a requirement title, and a narrative description. The

requirement number has four components that together explain where the requirement is located within the

document. The first part of the requirement number indicates the business component (here “CFA” indicates

“Child/Family Access and Assistance”). The second part indicates the number of the business process, and the

third part indicates the sequential number of the use case within that business process. The final component is a

sequential number for the requirements in that use case.

So, the example above is the third requirement in the first use case (UC01 “Reassess Eligibility for Income Eligible

Child Care”) within the ninth business process (BP09 “Manage Enrollment Changes”) in the Child/Family Access

and Assistance (“CFA”) business component.

Business Component

(LMS, CFA, PRF, or POS)

Business Process

(BP##)

Use Case

(UC##)

Requirement No.

(##)



For each use case and business process, the primary groups of users, or “actors,” are identified. This document

identifies six groups of actors – educators, programs, families and the public, intermediaries, EEC staff, and other

agencies. Most users will access the Unified System through a secure, customized user portal. Users who serve

multiple roles will be able to access all the functions relevant to their various positions. For instance, a user may

work for a licensed child care facility that has a contract for subsidized child care services. That individual will likely

also be in the Educator Registry and may have an EEC issued professional certification. In this case, this user would

be able to access functions related to program licensure (e.g., complete a request for license renewal), record child

attendance, and update their educator profile all in one place.

The diagram below depicts the six primary Unified System actors with their general definitions. When the Unified

System is developed and implemented, it is expected that there will be many more classifications of users. For

instance, the program actor when implemented may include a child care enrollment and attendance data entry

role, a licensee BRC reviewer role, a site administrator role, an umbrella or system administrator role, and many

others.

At the end of the requirements document is a “Requirements Index.” The Requirements Index lists all business

processes, use cases, and requirements titles for the Unified System. Readers may find that section useful for

orientation to the document, to obtain a summary of each requirement in the document, and to identify sections

of the document for review and comment.

unified system project

Documents