Story Created:
Jul 10, 2008 at 3:37 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jul 10, 2008 at 3:37 PM EDT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The first batch of child support payments delayed by a state computer crash this week went out to custodial parents Thursday, and the rest should go out Friday, officials said.
Support payments totaling at least $5.5 million that the Department of Child Services received on Monday went out to about 37,000 recipients Thursday morning, and payments that came in since Monday were expected to be processed Thursday night and go out Friday, said Cynthia Longest, the agency's deputy director.
The agency averages about $3 million in child support payments each day, she said.
Computer databases for DCS and the Family and Social Services Administration became corrupted Monday night and crashed, delaying processing of child support payments and for FSSA programs including food stamps and the Healthy Indiana Plan health insurance coverage.
State workers revived the FSSA database Wednesday afternoon and the DCS database early Thursday, said Gerry Weaver, the state's chief information officer.
"All systems are go," Weaver said Thursday afternoon.
Longest said workers at the child services agency continued to field scores of telephone calls from anxious parents Thursday.
"We completely understand how important it is for people to get their child support," she said.
FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob said the database crash came at a bad time of the month for his agency. Interviews to recertify clients for food stamps, Medicaid and other programs occur more frequently at the beginnings and ends of months.
"It also wasn't helpful that it happened right after a long weekend. We've got some catching up to do," Roob said.
The officials said the computer systems appeared to operating normally Thursday.
"We have our fingers crossed," Roob said.
A system used to back up the state computers was blamed for the problem.
Weaver said the state uses a computer at Indiana University in Bloomington to back up the state government mainframe. The information exchange crashed Monday night, and when it came back up, it corrupted the two databases.
