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DHS: proof‑of‑concept planned as CBMS reprocurement finds layered technical debt
Summary
Colorado Department of Human Services told the JTC that independent technical assessments show key CBMS modules are risky to hand over in their current state; DHS has engaged Code for America for a proof of concept to weigh remediation versus rebuilding and expects results in January to inform procurement and budgeting.
Nina Mack and Monisha Saldana of the Department of Human Services briefed the Joint Technology Committee on two linked modernization efforts: the Joint Agency Interoperability product (JAI) and the reprocurement and remediation options for CBMS.
Mack said the JAI's flagship Unified County System vendor selection is in contract finalization with Change Innovation Agency (doing business as Vimeo) and that DHS expects to begin county rollouts in 2026 and finish by 2028. The UCS is intended to give counties document and workflow tools that improve cross‑county case processing and workload tracking.
On CBMS, Mack and staff summarized independent technical assessments that flagged tightly coupled modules, inconsistent documentation, cluttered code and integration risks that make a vendor turnover or reprocurement risky today. "Key modules of our system are too risky to potentially turn over in their current state," an assessment concluded.
DHS said it has engaged Code for America to run a proof of concept through January to take a holistic look and to produce recommendations and cost estimates for options ranging from incremental remediation to substantial rearchitecting or rebuilding. The department said HR‑related federal policy changes (cited as HR1 in testimony) may affect prioritization and that a short‑term path to meet near‑term federal requirements will be coupled with a long‑term plan to reduce recurring technical debt.
The committee asked whether reprocurement would mean a new off‑the‑shelf purchase or an incumbent takeover; DHS clarified reprocurement generally means offering the existing system for bid and that the proof of concept will produce a recommended path.
DHS committed to provide written quarterly updates, technical assessments and a proof‑of‑concept outcome to the committee as the work progresses.
