Policy & Practice | August 2019

near term is to modernize and deploy additional applications. In 2019, the modernized application for the Child Welfare System will deploy an initial pilot and then roll out statewide in suc- cessive waves until the entire Child, Juvenile, and Adult Management System deploys by October 2019. In July 2019, the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange’s application will be migrated to MD THINK. In 2020, the Integrated Eligibility and Enrollment application will go live, followed by the Child Support System in 2021. By September 2021, all remaining health and human services applications will be deployed. By bringing Maryland’s health and human services closer to cus- tomers, MD THINK will improve the lives of approximately two million Marylanders. Early metrics have vali- dated the forecast benefits. However, these initial deployments are just the beginning for MD THINK. Stay tuned for more applications, more cost savings, and more service to customers.

application in September 2017. In December 2017, the base AWS platform went live. In March 2018, the first version of the Enterprise Content Management System was deployed. In August 2018, the first major applica- tion on the MD THINK platform was launched statewide supporting the Maryland Long-Term Care application. With the MD THINK’s AWS platform fully implemented, its strategy in the

the MD THINK platform: the Maryland Department of Human Services (Child Welfare, Child Support, Family Welfare services), the Department of Health, the Department of Juvenile Services, the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, and the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. MD THINK launched the cloud- services platform with the Maryland Office of Refugees and Asylees

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Decision Team, resulting in strong and cohesive collaboration. And there is an ongoing commitment to cel- ebrating wins along the way, including the recent launch of the Oklahoma Benefits portal as a single point of

support continues to pay significant dividends. It’s a decision that any state would be well-advised to make when undertaking a transformation of this scope and scale. From the beginning, an organizational change manage- ment consultancy has helped in assessing cultural needs, engaging the workforce, and continually commu- nicating updates on the project. They have driven a consistent drumbeat of team-building exercises for the

future for human services agencies. As progress continues to build—module by module—Oklahomans will benefit from better, more integrated support. The state will be positioned to drive down administrative and operational costs. And DHS will have access to unprecedented data-driven insights, positioning it to answer unprec- edented questions about how best to understand and meet the needs of indi- viduals and families.

access for staff and clients. Defining the Future

With this modular approach to a major transformation, the State of Oklahoma is defining a bold new

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