Scope - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost

Program scope

The modernization effort at the heart of the CARES Program is a huge, multiyear undertaking that reflects the breadth and complexity of the AGO collections business. Consider the following:

The CARES Program Team has taken great care to define each stakeholder group, collections workflow and system requirement to ensure that the new program accounts for every facet. It is a far-reaching process that the team is committed to getting right.

Further details on the scope of the project:

SnapshotStakeholdersStructure

A look at FY2020 data (hover over each circle below to get more details) reinforces the magnitude of the AGO’s
collections process:

Stakeholders by the hundreds

The reach of the CARES Program is extensive. Among the many different groups with a stake in it are:

State client agencies, including the Ohio Department of Taxation, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and 38 other state entities; 37 state universities; and two university medical centers.
Other client agencies, including 323+ local governments.
External partners (third-party vendors and Special Counsel), which the Attorney General’s Office hires to collect debts.
AGO employees, notably the 133 members of the Collections Enforcement Section staff.
Indebted parties, including businesses and individuals.

Driving the CARES Program is the C&R Software-created software Debt Manager, a robust, industry-leading collections system that offers expansive functionality. Debt Manager will help streamline and enhance the daily work of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and its partners, providing customized access points, more efficient workflows and many other improvements.

Portals

Four unique portals will be built to help stakeholders access the system:

The details:

Certification: The process by which clients send debts to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) for collections
Forwarding: The process by which the AGO sends debts to third-party vendors and special counsel to get their legal support for collecting debts
Bankruptcy: The process by which bankruptcy cases affect collection of debts
Assignment: The process by which an AGO employee or third-party vendor is assigned a debt case
Collections: The process by which the debts are actually collected
Payment: The process by which debtors make agreements to pay in installments
Accounting: The process by which debt and collection transactions are recorded
Correspondence and closure: The process by which debts or settlements close accounts

Interfaces & repositories

Interfaces are where two systems meet — these are to CARES what Ohio’s borders are with our neighboring states. The stakes are high: CARES must seamlessly interlock with the systems of clients, collection partners and other key groups to fulfill its promise of workflow enhancements, system efficiencies and better results.

System repositories are, in essence, storage rooms. Given the vast workload that will pass through the CARES system, it is crucial to have sufficient repositories.

Debt manager will include these interfaces and repositories: external interfaces, letters/notices, LexisNexis, certifications, email/mail, Debt Manager collections data, Captiva/content manager, Phone System Dialer, SAGE Accounting, Key Bank and OAKS, Treasurer of State, reports and 1099 software.

Introducing CARES

The CARES priorities

The CARES scope

The CARES timeline

The CARES team

Program scope