Cole Sousa

credit: Half The Sky Official Website

"We're taking a fresh approach to modernizing that system and bringing innovations and efficiencies to our workforce when it comes to supporting citizens of Florida and providing services for child welfare."

So says Cole Sousa, Florida's chief information officer, of the state's 20-year-old child welfare system, per Government Technology.

The Miami Herald reports the Florida Department of Children and Families is working to update nearly every major system in the state, including its food assistance, Medicaid eligibility, and child welfare systems.

"We've got a tremendous amount of data, and we've also got analytics and reporting capabilities, but you need to have people who study these reports to make sense of them, and we feel like AI can help us in that space," Sousa says.

The Florida Department of Children and Families is also working to update its public assistance system, which provides food and cash assistance through the SNAP and TANF programs.

The state's largest benefits program is Medicaid eligibility, processing between 5.5 and 6 million applications every year. Read the Entire Article