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Unified System Project
Detailed Requirements
Executive Summary
This is the Executive Summary of the Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System Detailed Requirements
Document. This document details the require
of EEC and its partners in educating and caring for the Commonwealth’s children and families.
Unified System Project
Detailed Requirements Document
Executive Summary v3.0
Monday, August 24, 2009
Executive Summary of the Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System Detailed Requirements
the requirements for the development of a web-based computer system to support the work
artners in educating and caring for the Commonwealth’s children and families.
Unified System Project
, 2009
Executive Summary of the Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System Detailed Requirements
computer system to support the work
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The vision of the Unified System was born out of the same
imperatives as the founding of the Department of Early Education
and Care (EEC) – to create a single, unified, more efficient system of
early education and care. The Unified System will be a web-based
application used by EEC staff, early education and care programs,
EEC intermediaries, educators, families and the public, and other
State agencies. The system will support EEC’s four core business
components covering Child/Family Access and Assistance; Licensing,
Monitoring, and Support; Professional Development; and Purchase
of Services and will provide the following benefits to EEC, its
partners, and all 300,000 Commonwealth children in early education
and care settings:
� Enhance the Commonwealth’s ability to forecast, track, and support the early education and care of all
children and families, including determining longitudinal child outcomes
� Provide an improved process for all Commonwealth children and families to access and receive services
� Expand the tools available to support program quality and improve program interactions with EEC
� Introduce new web-based resources for the development of child care professionals
� Improve attendance, billing, payment, and compliance processes
� Collect, uniform, universal, and high quality data on all children from birth into elementary education that
can be shared with other Commonwealth educational partners
� Foster collaboration with agencies that provide services to Commonwealth children and families
� Support ongoing research, policy decision making, and budgetary planning
The idea for the Unified System originated in 2007 and in that year EEC received support and a commitment of
funding from the Commonwealth’s Information Technology Division. Since then EEC has worked to further refine
the vision and plan for the Unified System and to implement the infrastructure needed to support the Unified
System. EEC dedicated the spring of 2009 to detailing the requirements for the Unified System in an effort to
clarify expectations and help assure a successful vendor selection in the summer/fall of this year. This document is
the primary deliverable from that requirements planning effort.
This Executive Summary is organized into the following four sections:
� Document Purpose explains how the Detailed Requirements Document is planned to be used;
� Requirements Overview summarizes the functionality in each of the four Unified System business
components;
� Support of EEC’s Strategic Plan illustrates how the requirements for the Unified System support the
Department’s Strategic Direction and Plan; and
� Introduction to the Detailed Requirements Document walks through how requirements are organized in
the document and introduces the primary actors in the Unified System.
DOCUMENT PURPOSE
The Detailed Requirements Document specifies the business requirements for the implementation of the
Department of Early Education and Care’s Unified System. These detailed requirements are intended to serve as
clear, discrete statements of EEC’s expectations for the computer system to be developed. They define “what” the
envisioned system needs to be able to do. Later during the design and implementation of the Unified System, EEC,
with the help of end users, will define “how” the requirements will be implemented and “how” the system will
work. Together, these detailed requirements serve three primary purposes:
EEC’s Mission
The Massachusetts Department of Early
Education and Care (EEC) provides the
foundation that supports all children in
their development as lifelong learners
and contributing members of the
community, and supports families in
their essential work as parents and
caregivers.
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1. Vendor Selection: This document will serve as the primary appendix and definition of scope for a Request
for Quotes (RFQ) to select an implementation contractor to develop the EEC Unified System. Vendor
responses to this document will serve as a primary consideration for selecting the right vendor to develop
the Unified System.
2. Project Management: Once a vendor has been selected and EEC has entered into a contract with the
successful bidder, this document will serve as a checklist for the development of the new system. The
vendor will use this document to plan and track the implementation of Unified System functionality. EEC
will use this checklist to make sure the final system meets the needs of its stakeholders and the vendor
has met its contractual obligations.
3. Stakeholder Expectations: An equally important purpose for this document is to serve as documentation
for how the Unified System is envisioned to support the business processes of EEC and its partners. By
detailing what the system is envisioned to do, this document helps establish common expectations for
EEC, early education and care stakeholders, and the selected vendor.
This requirements document is not intended to be immutable. It is common for business processes to change over
time, and there will be new ideas about how business processes can be supported by technology. This document
serves as a common starting point for the development. Changes can be made to the requirements for the new
system. Those changes will be tracked and agreed upon in relation to this starting point.
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REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW
The business processes and requirements for the Unified System have been grouped into four primary business
components. The Child/Family Access and Assistance component includes functionality to intake, manage, and
support all Commonwealth children and families, including, but not limited to, those that are receiving subsidized
child care. This includes supporting the long term outcomes of all 300,000 children in early education and care
settings from birth into elementary education, as well as children in residential and placement settings. Licensing,
Monitoring, and Support describes functionality to intake, manage, and support all programs known to EEC
including those licensed by EEC and license exempt providers. This includes programs with contracts or grants for
early education and care and out-of-school time related services. Professional Development explains the
functionality to maintain a repository of early education and care educators, including their professional
certifications and information about professional development opportunities. Purchase of Services defines the
functionality to support a standardized contracting process for the various services purchased by EEC, including
contracts for provider slots, vouchers, and grants. The requirements also include one common system process
component which goes across and supports each of the four primary business components. Highlights of each of
these four highly interrelated business components and the Unified System actors are depicted below.
A summary of each of these four business components is provided on the following pages with a list of the
associated business processes. Details about the business processes, including the associated requirements, can
be found in the corresponding section of the detailed requirements document.
Child/Family Access and Assistance
� Improved eligibility, enrollment, and billing across all forms of subsidized care
� Better coordination betweenfamily needs and program
availability
� Enhanced ability to track outcomes for all children and families/caregivers
Licensing, Monitoring, and Support
� Single repository of all programs including licensed, exempt, and unlicensed programs
� Holistic views of activities across allinteractions with EEC
� New program web-based“self-help” tools
� Master registry of all early education and care educators
� Richer offering of onlineprofessional development,
orientation, and training opportunities
� Expanded EEC certification program
Professional Development
� Improved grants trackingand online information
� Enhanced oversight, review,and fiscal compliance
� Improved billing and payment processes
Purchase of Services
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CHILD/FAMILY ACCESS AND ASSISTANCE OVERVIEW
The first business component in the Unified System is the Child/Family
Access and Assistance component, which provides functionality to
support the universe of Commonwealth children and families including,
but not limited to, those receiving services funded by EEC. This includes
expanded functionality for managing family eligibility, child enrollment,
attendance, and program billing across all forms of EEC-funded
subsidized education and care. The Unified System will uniquely track
families and children across various forms of care, including referrals
from other agencies and family requests for income eligible child care.
The Unified System will also be able to track non-subsidized child care
enrollments and children’s involvement in other early education and
care settings, providing a holistic view of each child’s progress through
early education and care and beyond. The system will promote the
collection of the uniform, universal, and high quality information required to promote positive, long term
outcomes for and associated research pertaining to all 300,000 Commonwealth children in early education and
care settings. As a custodian of these family and child records, the Unified System will protect individual privacy
while promoting access to information needed for child enrollment, development, and safety.
As a key piece of the Unified System, the Child/Family Access and Assistance component shares program
information with the organizations managed within the Licensing, Monitoring, and Support business component
and leverages the contracts that result from activities in the Purchase of Services component. The Unified System
references the same program record across all four core business components, improving the quality of EEC’s
information and simplifying programs’ interactions with EEC.
For programs and organizations, the Child/Family Access and Assistance component will include expanded web-
based functionality, allowing programs to better control their information and facilitate the timely enrollment of
new children and improve the management of enrollments. Many functions currently done by paper will be
available online, simplifying daily activities, eliminating redundant data entry, and reducing the delays associated
with the current processes. Additionally, the Unified System plans to support standardized reporting and billing to
EEC, regardless of whether the financial assistance is the result of a voucher or subsidized care contract.
For families, the Child/Family Access and Assistance component will provide tools for anonymous web-based
eligibility screening to help families determine if they might quality for child care assistance. A key benefit of the
new functionality will be better management of the income eligible child care waiting list. The new system will
support improvements to the waiting list process to help assure that, when financial assistance is available,
families are ready to take advantage of those services. The Unified System will included improved functionality for
tracking family preferences and matching those preferences with availability based on service needs, hours of
operation, geographic location, and more. Additionally, enhanced financial tracking functions will allow EEC to
carefully control and forecast child care usage and costs as State and Federal funding increases or decreases.
The following diagram summarizes the key Child/Family Access and Assistance components to be included in the
Unified System.
Key Child/Family Access and Assistance Components
Intake and Referral
(Financial Assistance
Requests)
Child and Family
Outcomes
Billing and
Payment
Eligibility Reviews,
Investigations, and Legal
Actions
Waiting List
Management
Eligibility
Determination
Reporting and
Analysis
Terminations and
ReductionsAttendance
Universal
Child and Family
Reassessments
Enrollment
Business Processes
Apply for Financial Assistance
Refer for Subsidized Child Care
Manage Waiting List for Subsidized Child Care
Manage Program Availability Information
Enroll Child
Manage Attendance
Submit Payment Request
Manage Family Payment Information
Manage Enrollment Changes
Manage Financial Assistance Complaints/Reviews
Manage Child, Family, and Outcome Information
Administer Child/Family Access and Assistance
Analyze/Report on Child/Family Access/Assistance
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Business Processes
Apply for Licensure
Renew Licenses
Process Payments
Manage Visits and Meetings
Manage Programs
Manage Umbrella Organizations
Manage Background Record Checks (BRC)
Manage Program Staff
Manage Complaints/Incidents
Resolve Non-Compliances
Track Unlicensed Care
Manage Legal Actions
Administer Licensing, Monitoring, and Support
Analyze/Report on Licensing, Monitoring, and Support
LICENSING, MONITORING, AND SUPPORT OVERVIEW
The second business component in the Unified System is the
Licensing, Monitoring, and Support component, which includes
extensive functionality to support the management of all early
education and care programs known to EEC. The Unified System
will include a single repository of all programs, including those that
are and are not subject to EEC licensing regulations. This includes
programs that are currently licensed, including various child care
and residential and placement programs, as well as programs in the
process of obtaining an EEC license, public approval, or license
exemption. It also includes programs providing unlicensed care as
well as programs, such as public school programs, that are not
subject to EEC licensure.
The Licensing, Monitoring, and Support component also includes
comprehensive functionality to support the management of the
umbrella organizations that are associated with early education and
care programs in a variety of capacities. This includes corporate organizations (licensing umbrellas), family child
care systems, grant lead agencies, child care resource and referral agencies, and others.
As part of the Licensing, Monitoring, and Support component, users will be able to capture and view a wide variety
of information as part of each program’s comprehensive profile, including information about a program’s location,
service offerings, licenses, staff, and more. This component will be closely integrated with the other components
of the Unified System including Professional Development (for the management of program staff qualifications and
development), Child/Family Access and Assistance (for the management of children and families served by the
program), and Purchase of Services (for the management of program contracts, grant, and financial processes).
In addition to including a repository of known programs and organizations, the Licensing, Monitoring, and Support
component will include extensive functionality to support individual program’s day-to-day activities as well as
ongoing program development and quality. For example, this component will include functionality for authorized
programs and EEC users to jointly manage processes pertaining to license applications, renewals, exemptions, and
variances. It will also include comprehensive functionality to support the management of program visits and the
reporting and resolution of incidents. The Unified System will also help track program quality and areas of need to
support the development of a more qualified and diverse network of programs that supports the needs of, and
promotes positive outcomes for, children and families.
The following diagram summarizes the key Licensing, Monitoring, and Support components to be included in the
Unified System.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW
The third business component in the Unified System is the Professional
Development component, which will include extensive functionality to
support the ongoing growth and development of early education
professionals in Massachusetts.
The Professional Development component, which will be used primarily
by individual educators, as well as EEC staff, intermediaries, and partner
agencies, is closely integrated with the Licensing, Monitoring, and
Support component that includes related functionality for child care
programs to monitor, track, and support the ongoing professional
development of their employees.
The Professional Development component of the Unified System will
include the ability to capture and maintain an up-to-date master
Registry of all Commonwealth educators including those working in EEC
licensed programs and educators working in other settings such as
public school pre-Kindergarten, out of school time, and early
intervention programs. The Registry will also include information about
other individuals, such as recent college graduates, who are interested
in working in the early education and care field in Massachusetts.
In addition to including a repository of known educators, the Unified System will also provide a wide variety of
functionality to support the ongoing needs of those educators and to help build a more qualified and diverse
workforce that ultimately promotes child outcomes. Examples of enhanced functionality include an expansive
calendar of development opportunities, including training, orientation, and professional development offerings, as
well as functionality to post and find employment opportunities, scholarships, and career path information.
The following diagram summarizes the key Professional Development components to be included in the Unified
System.
Business Processes
Register Educator
Manage Educator Registry Profile
– Person Information
– Work Experience Information
– Skill and Competency Information
– Scholarships and Incentives
– Educational Background Information
– Ongoing Development
– EEC Professional Certification
– Other Education Credentials
– Other Resource Qualifications
Renew Educator Registration
Administer Educator Registry
Manage Employment Opportunities
Manage Scholarship Opportunities
Manage Development Opportunities
Administer Career Path Information
Manage Prof. Devel. Administrative Reviews
Administer Professional Development
Analyze/Report on Prof. Devel. Related
Information
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PURCHASE OF SERVICES OVERVIEW
The final business component in the Unified System is the Purchase of
Services component, which includes extensive functionality to support
the management of the numerous services that are paid for by the
Department of Early Education and Care. This includes early education
and care services that are funded via a grant, contract, or voucher based
process. It also includes programs, such as Early Childhood Special
Education grants, that are funded by another agency but managed by
EEC.
The Purchase of Services component includes comprehensive
functionality to support the purchase of services lifecycle from the initial
selection of vendors through ongoing contract creation, amendment,
and management processes. For vendors providing subsidized child care, the system will support a unified billing
and payment process regardless of whether the financial assistance is the result of a voucher or subsidized care
contract.
The Purchase of Services component will be closely integrated with the other components of the Unified System
including Licensing, Monitoring, and Support (for the management of vendor programs and organizations) and
Child/Family Access and Assistance (for the management of children and families served by the programs including
a universal attendance and billing process). Working with the Office of the Comptroller, the Unified System will
also facilitate the exchange of vendor, contract, and payment information with the Massachusetts Management
Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS). This inter-agency information exchange is intended to facilitate the
timely and accurate management and payment of EEC contracted vendors and to improve EEC’s real-time tracking
of appropriated funds.
For vendors, the Purchase of Services component will include expanded web-based functionality allowing vendors,
such as programs and intermediaries, to better control their information and facilitate the timely payment of bills
and resolution of issues. For example, vendors will be able to update contract information, submit grant budget
information, and request payment for different types of services online. Vendors will also be able to upload
documents, including fiscal corrective action plans, and respond to information requests from EEC.
For EEC, the Purchase of Services component will provide tools to help establish, manage, and monitor contracted
resources. The Unified System will include extensive functionality to help EEC manage and track the expenditure
of funds, including reviewing payment requests, monitoring contract utilization, forecasting usage and costs,
tracking fiscal risk, and monitoring fiscal compliance. This enhanced fiscal tracking will help ensure that the
available State and Federal funds are used to purchase quality services that are in accordance with EEC priorities
and maximize the benefits to the Commonwealth’s children and families.
The following diagram summarizes the key Purchase of Services components to be included in the Unified System.
Business Processes
Maintain Payment Accounts
Manage Requests for Response
Manage Vendors
Manage Contract Groups
Manage Contracts
Amend Contracts
Pay Vendors
Monitor Compliance and Assess Risk
Exchange Information with MMARS
Analyze/Report on Purchase of Services
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SUPPORT OF EEC’S STRATEGIC PLAN
The EEC Unified System Project is a cornerstone infrastructure project for the implementation of EEC’s Strategic
Plan and is a critical component of the Administration’s Readiness Project. The following pages contain each of
EEC’s Three Year Strategic Directions and include selected relevant indicators of success from the plan. For each
indicator, the vision and requirements for the Unified System are summarized, and the most relevant business
processes are identified for reference.
STRATEGIC DIRECTION: QUALITY
Create and implement a system to improve and support quality statewide.
Program Resources/Supports: Programs seeking to improve their quality have access to a range of resources and
supports.
From the moment a potential program is interested in licensure
throughout the lifetime of the program, each program will have access to
enhanced web-based tools, resources, and information to support the
improvement of program quality and the development of its staff.
The Unified System will provide one-stop shopping for programs
managing their daily activities and seeking to improve their service
offerings. Program managers will be able to track licensure activities,
active contracts, voucher usage, grant budgets, staff development, and
more from an integrated, intuitive user interface. Programs, EEC staff,
and intermediaries will be able to communicate and set reminders for
coordinated activities, like site visits, renewals, incident investigations,
and technical assistance meetings.
Programs with language or other accessibility needs will be able to
request support from EEC and receive online assistance from other
members of their umbrella organization or system.
See: Apply for Licensure
Manage Visits and Meetings
Manage Programs
Manage Program Staff
Manage Complaints/Incidents
Resolve Non-compliance
Quality and Outcome Data: Massachusetts has a system that collects, analyzes and disseminates program quality
and child outcome data to inform policy and program development and implementation.
By combining information that is currently tracked in ten different agency
systems, the Unified System will provide holistic views of uniquely-
identified programs, educators, families, and children. By linking Unified
System child records with Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education records, researchers and policymakers will be able to analyze
aggregate and longitudinal information to support program evaluation
and policy formulation based on actual child outcomes. As the full Quality
Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is implemented, additional
information about program quality will be added to the Unified System
and will support and inform these policy and program decisions.
See: Manage Programs
Analyze/Report on Licensing,
Monitoring, and Support
Manage Enrollment Changes
Manage Child, Family, and Outcome
Information
Analyze/Report on Child/Family
Access and Assistance
Consistent Licensing Regulations: Licensing regulations that reflect best practices have been promulgated,
translated, clearly communicated to the field, and enforced consistently throughout all regions.
The Unified System will implement both the existing and soon to be See: Apply for Licensure
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promulgated EEC regulations that together cover licensure, financial
assistance, and enforcement. The system will use business rules and
management reports to help assure consistency in implementation across
regions and programs. The business rules engine within the Unified
System is planned to be configurable and extendable to support future
changes in policy and practice as child, family, and program needs evolve.
Renew License
Manage Programs
Manage Complaints/Incidents
Resolve Non-compliance
Track Unlicensed Care
Manage Legal Actions
STRATEGIC DIRECTION: FAMILY SUPPORT, ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY
Increase and promote family support, access and affordability.
Family Services: Families are aware of the mixed early education and care system and have access to affordable,
high-quality early education and care services.
Families interested in early education and care services will be able to go
online and complete a simple, anonymous eligibility screening to
determine if they may be eligible for financial assistance or other child
care services. Likewise, families seeking other human services from the
Commonwealth’s Virtual Gateway will be able to self-screen for potential
child care financial eligibility while seeking eligibility for other potential
health and human services such as food stamps, the Women Infants and
Children (WIC) nutrition program, veteran’s services, and more.
Additionally, the Unified System will provide expanded web-based
searches for families seeking early education and care services. Families
will be able to view expanded information about the programs and
services in their area.
See: Apply for Financial Assistance
Manage Programs
Seamless System: Early education and care services are delivered through a seamless system that is responsive to
the needs of all families and provides supports and resources for transitioning children in and out of early
education and care programs and services.
For those receiving financial assistance, the Unified System will track
family preferences for programs, locations, and services to help match
family needs with program availability. As children and families move
between services and across programs, the Unified System will uniquely
track each individual to provide a comprehensive history of services and
to facilitate enrollment at the new location.
See: Manage Waiting List for Subsidized
Child Care
Manage Program Availability Info
Enroll Child
Manage Attendance
Manage Enrollment Changes
Manage Child, Family, and Outcome
Information
Interagency Services: Family services are integrated and delivered in a coordinated manner across state agencies.
In coordination with the Departments of Children and Families (DCF) and
Transitional Assistance (DTA), EEC will be able to receive electronic
referrals and authorizations to enroll children from families receiving
services from DCF or DTA. The Unified System will provide tools to match
the children and families with the most suitable programs and services
and will help manage the coordination of changes in status and
circumstances across the three departments.
See: Refer for Subsidized Child Care
Manage Enrollment Changes
Manage Child, Family, and Outcome
Information
Submit Payment Request
Pay Vendors
Exchange Information with MMARS
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Working with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
(ESE), child records will be assigned a unique student identifier (SASID).
When children age out of early education services, EEC will be able to
share information about family needs and services with ESE to assure a
smooth transition into Kindergarten and elementary education and
between public schools and out of school time care. For payments and
other financial transactions, the Unified System will electronically
exchange information with the Massachusetts Management Accounting
and Reporting System (MMARS).
STRATEGIC DIRECTION: WORKFORCE
Create a workforce system that maintains worker diversity and provides resources, supports, expectations, and core competencies
that lead to the outcomes we want for children.
Professional Registry: A Professional Development Registry and Workforce Management System are in place to
observe and measure the efficacy of the workforce and measure the impact of the workforce system on child
outcomes.
A significant new component of the Unified System is the introduction of
an online Educator Registry. The registry will be a central clearinghouse of
information related to the Commonwealth’s early education and care
workforce. To support the adoption of the Registry and its value to
individual educators, the Registry will be integrated with other elements
of the Unified System, including employment and development
opportunities and EEC professional certifications. Programs will have
views of key Registry information for their staff and will be able to track
and support the professional development of their employees.
See: Register Educator
Manage Educator Registry Profile
Renew Educator Registration
Report on Professional Development
Related Information
Manage Program Staff
Professional Development Resources: The early education workforce has access to affordable education and
professional development resources that support core competencies.
The vision for the Unified System includes significantly expanded web-
based tools for current and potential early education and care
professionals. Educators will be able to go online from their Registry
profile or generally from the EEC web site to search and view employment
opportunities that meet their professional needs and interests. Programs
will be able to post new opportunities to seek qualified, skilled, early
education and care educators. Additionally, educators will be able to view
and apply for scholarships to support continuing and higher education
related to child services and development. The system will also provide
robust access to a clearinghouse of development opportunities, including
trainings and continuing education.
To support the evolution of the workforce and the changing landscape
and needs of Commonwealth families, the Unified System will include
tools to report and identify potential deficiencies and needs for
professional development opportunities.
See: Manage Educator Registry Profile
Manage Employment Opportunities
Manage Scholarship Opportunities
Manage Development Opportunities
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Career Lattice: The early education and care workforce has a well-defined career lattice that adequately and fairly
compensates educators as professionals.
The Unified System will support the introduction of the evolving early
education and care career paths and lattices. Educators will be able to
track their individual professional development, skills, and competencies
against one or more career paths appropriate for their background and
employment. Additionally, educators will be able to view development
opportunities appropriate to their professional level and will be able to
obtain information for trainings and other opportunities to progress along
their career path.
See: Manage Educator Registry Profile
Administer Career Path Information
STRATEGIC DIRECTION: COMMUNICATIONS
Create and implement an external and internal communications strategy that advocates for and conveys the value of early education and care
to all stakeholders and the general public.
Access to Information: All stakeholders in the field and consumers are aware of EEC initiatives, policies and
procedures and have access to information to facilitate advocacy.
A key principle of the Unified System is to facilitate and improve the
communications between and amongst EEC, early education and care
programs, educators, EEC intermediaries, other state agencies, families,
and the public. New tools are included in the Unified System to direct
messages and notifications to the appropriate individuals within each
organization and to support the publishing of information about EEC
initiatives and policies to those it most affects.
Integrated throughout all aspects of the Unified System are configurable
business rules based on EEC policies, procedures, and regulations. Where
appropriate, the system will be implemented to enforce policy standards
and provide guidance to the field and consumers on the nature of the
underlying policies and regulations.
See: Various; notifications, reminders, and
business rules included throughout
each business process
External Stakeholder Information Needs: EEC is fully aware of and responds to the type, style and nature of the
information needed by external stakeholders and consumers.
The Unified System includes multiple avenues to access and analyze
information. EEC staff, external stakeholders, and key consumers will be
able to run standard and online interactive reports to find key information
about programs, services, financial assistance, and other data.
The Unified System will also support the ability to generate ad-hoc reports
or queries. Users will be able to dynamically build ad-hoc queries using
predefined sets of criteria. Additionally, data from the Unified System will
be available in a comprehensive early education and care data warehouse
for analysis, information requests, and reporting. The system will also
allow authorized users to download some approved Unified System data
for further analysis or integration with other systems.
See: Analyze/Report on Child/Family
Access and Assistance
Analyze/Report on Licensing,
Monitoring, and Support
Analyze/Report on Professional
Development Related Information
Analyze/Report on Purchase of
Services
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STRATEGIC DIRECTION: INFRASTRUCTURE
Build the internal infrastructure to support achieving the vision.
Unified System: With user input and involvement, EEC has transformed the existing technology infrastructure into
a state-of-the-art, unified and comprehensive system.
The Unified System is envisioned as the key technology support for the
implementation of EEC’s strategic plan and vision. The Unified System will
have four primary business components –Child/Family Access and
Assistance, Licensing, Monitoring, and Support, Professional
Development, and Purchase of Services (see “Requirements Overview” of
this Executive Summary for more details on each of these components).
In addition to functions already described supporting the other elements
of the EEC strategic framework, the Unified System will unify and
significantly enhance EEC’s financial custodianship of over $500 million of
financial assistance and other supports. Managers will be able to view
real-time account balances within the Unified System and have more tools
for making sure funds are being spent to maximize the benefit for
Commonwealth families and children. The Unified System is also planned
to be flexible, to accommodate changes in funding, policy, and business
practice in the future.
See: Manage Contracts
Amend Contracts
Pay Vendors
Monitor Compliance and Assess Risk
Analyze/Report on Purchase of
Services
Comprehensive Information on Educators and Programs: All EEC staff, community partners and families have
comprehensive information about educators and early education and care programs.
Central benefits of the Unified System will be the expansion of
collaboration across agency units and the improved sharing of information
across business functions. Unified views of program information will
include licensure information, educator information, contract information,
voucher usage, grant awards, and other information. Unified System
announcements and communications will help keep EEC staff,
intermediaries, and stakeholders informed of new initiatives and
activities. System tools will allow users to quickly identify and get in touch
with business owners from other regions, units, and organizations.
See: Manage Programs
Manage Program Staff
Analyze/Report on Licensing,
Monitoring, and Support
Analyze/Report on Professional
Development Related Information
Analyze/Report on Child/Family
Access and Assistance
Analyze/Report on Purchase of
Services Related Information
Active Relationship with Other State Agencies: EEC has developed active relationships with other state agencies,
community partners, public schools and other stakeholder organizations to meet its mission.
The vast majority of Unified System users will be staff and stakeholders
from the thousands of early education and care organizations throughout
the Commonwealth. In addition to directly using the system, the Unified
System will support the electronic exchange of financial information with
MMARS, background record information with DCF and Criminal History
Systems Board, referral and enrollment information with DCF and DTA,
child SASID assignment with ESE, scholarship information with DHE, and
electronic payments with Office of the Comptroller. Going forward, the
planned architecture of the Unified System will enable EEC to include
additional exchanges in support of other EEC and Commonwealth
initiatives.
See: Exchange Information with MMARS
Refer for Subsidized Child Care
Manage Background Record Checks
Manage Development Opportunities
Unified System Project Detailed Requirements Document v3.0
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INTRODUCTION TO THE DETAILED REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT
While the Detailed Requirements Document is long, it is designed to be readable and understandable in discrete
pieces. The approximately 1,750 detailed requirements are grouped into 208 use cases, which are grouped into 67
business processes within the four major business and one common system components. Programs interested in
how child enrollment changes will be managed under the new system need only read the “Manage Enrollment
Changes” business process in the Child/Family Access and Assistance section to understand how that process is
planned to work. Below is an example of how the various business requirements are organized by business
process and use case.
A business process is a major
line of business. In this
example, the business process
is “Manage Enrollment
Changes.”
Within each business process
is a series of use cases. A use
case describes a discrete set of
activities that is performed by
users or the system to achieve
a business goal. There are six
use cases within the “Manage
Enrollment Changes” business
process.
Similarly, within each use case
are the specific detailed
requirements that the Unified
System will be built to
support. For instance, the third requirement for the “Reassess Eligibility for Income Eligible Child Care” use case
stipulates that the system must be able to generate notifications to families about upcoming income eligible
reassessments.
Each requirement has a unique requirement number, a requirement title, and a narrative description. The
requirement number has four components that together explain where the requirement is located within the
document. The first part of the requirement number indicates the business component (here “CFA” indicates
“Child/Family Access and Assistance”). The second part indicates the number of the business process, and the
third part indicates the sequential number of the use case within that business process. The final component is a
sequential number for the requirements in that use case.
So, the example above is the third requirement in the first use case (UC01 “Reassess Eligibility for Income Eligible
Child Care”) within the ninth business process (BP09 “Manage Enrollment Changes”) in the Child/Family Access
and Assistance (“CFA”) business component.
Business Component
(LMS, CFA, PRF, or POS)
Business Process
(BP##)
Use Case
(UC##)
Requirement No.
(##)
Unified System Project Detailed Requirements Document v3.0
E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y P a g e | 1 4
For each use case and business process, the primary groups of users, or “actors,” are identified. This document
identifies six groups of actors – educators, programs, families and the public, intermediaries, EEC staff, and other
agencies. Most users will access the Unified System through a secure, customized user portal. Users who serve
multiple roles will be able to access all the functions relevant to their various positions. For instance, a user may
work for a licensed child care facility that has a contract for subsidized child care services. That individual will likely
also be in the Educator Registry and may have an EEC issued professional certification. In this case, this user would
be able to access functions related to program licensure (e.g., complete a request for license renewal), record child
attendance, and update their educator profile all in one place.
The diagram below depicts the six primary Unified System actors with their general definitions. When the Unified
System is developed and implemented, it is expected that there will be many more classifications of users. For
instance, the program actor when implemented may include a child care enrollment and attendance data entry
role, a licensee BRC reviewer role, a site administrator role, an umbrella or system administrator role, and many
others.
At the end of the requirements document is a “Requirements Index.” The Requirements Index lists all business
processes, use cases, and requirements titles for the Unified System. Readers may find that section useful for
orientation to the document, to obtain a summary of each requirement in the document, and to identify sections
of the document for review and comment.