Committee advances $40 million appropriation to modernize SSIS, sends bill to Ways and Means

The Children and Families Committee on Monday approved an amended $40 million appropriation for modernization of the Social Services Information System and referred House File 1169 to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Vice Chair Representative Nelson moved the bill and the A1 amendment, describing the measure as the next phase of an SSIS update. “About half of that, or there's also a federal match of roughly about half of that, so, to update this system,” Nelson said while moving the A1 amendment before the committee.

The committee adopted an oral amendment from Representative Nelson removing an explicit availability date that had appeared in the amendment; staff said the change makes the money a one‑time appropriation without an expiration clause. After the oral amendment was adopted, the committee approved the A1 amendment as amended and re‑referred the bill to Ways and Means by voice vote.

Why it matters: SSIS is the case‑management platform used in child and family services across the state. Committee members said the update is intended to reduce staff burden, improve data accuracy and help counties and state administrators meet federal reporting requirements.

Department timeline and process: Cynthia Schipolski, the Department of Human Services’ comprehensive child information system supervisor, told the committee the department has issued a formal request for offers and plans a “comprehensive assessment” to define platform needs and an implementation timeline. “We're looking for that to start within the next couple of weeks and we anticipate that that will take about six months for it to be completed,” Schipolski said. She added the department intends to use a third‑party vendor secured through the formal procurement to conduct the assessment and stakeholder engagement.

Sarah Florman, identified as legislative director for the Child Safety and Permanency Administration at DCYF, told the committee that once the appropriation is made it will be deposited into the agency’s systems fund and remain available for the modernization work as needed. “Part of our request [was] to remove the date because it creates confusion and it implies that that money might disappear when in fact, because it's already in our fund, it won't,” Florman said.

Several committee members asked about staging the work and possible phasing of expenditures. Agency staff and members discussed a modular implementation approach to limit disruption to caseworkers and allow priority features to be delivered first. Officials said the department will coordinate with Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) during implementation.

Action taken: The committee adopted the A1 amendment as amended and re‑referred House File 1169, as amended, to the Committee on Ways and Means. Votes on the amendments and the re‑referral were taken by voice; no roll‑call vote was recorded in the transcript.

What’s next: With the change removing the availability date, the appropriation will remain in the department’s systems fund and the department plans to complete a six‑month assessment before prioritizing modernization work and moving forward with implementation.