Board approves county staff request to seek $212,000 supplemental for HS Connect modernization

Arapahoe County’s human‑services and technology directors briefed commissioners on a discovery phase and budget update for HS Connect, the county’s multi‑jurisdiction human‑services case‑management application, and the board approved pursuing a supplemental appropriation to close a $212,000 funding gap.

Phil Savino, director of technology, and Dan McAlkey, director of human services, told the board the county authorized a discovery stage that found the application and its GovPrime connector require a larger modernization to meet current cybersecurity, technology stack and accessibility requirements. The earlier budget for implementation and cybersecurity controls was approximately $700,000; final discovery and added GovPrime modernization raised the total estimated cost to roughly $912,000, creating a funding gap of about $212,000.

Savino described implementation work as a time‑and‑material engagement and said the vendor and county have added a county developer resource to hold costs down. He said the implementation estimate would yield a 35–45 week modernization timeline once the project begins. County staff recommended requesting a supplemental appropriation; finance staff proposed using HS Connect subscription revenue (approximately $800,000 annually) to repay or replenish the human‑services fund balance over time.

After questions about contingency, scope and procurement, commissioners signaled unanimous support by a board thumbs‑up to proceed with the supplemental request and with next steps for procurement and kickoff. County staff said they would begin the procurement and project kickoff planning and return with an EBC (budget) request to cover the supplemental funding.