Social services Uniform case management system in Bern's social welfare system is getting closer

The planned standardized case management system in Bern's social welfare system is getting closer. This was announced by the canton on Tuesday. For the city of Bern, this means that its own, expensive Citysoftnet system could soon be obsolete.

Citysoftnet was developed jointly by the cities of Berne, Zurich and Basel. The total costs were originally estimated at a good CHF 42 million. The aim was to develop software that would become the standard solution throughout Switzerland.

Citysoftnet has only arrived in everyday life in the city of Bern - and it has been struggling with massive problems since its introduction in June 2023. Several additional loans have been necessary.

It remains to be seen how long the system will remain in use. In 2020, the canton of Bern decided to set up its own standardized case management system for social services in the canton. The Grand Council approved a loan totaling CHF 52 million for this.

The pilot operation can now begin with ten social services, as announced by the cantonal health, social affairs and integration directorate. It has high hopes for the new case management system (NFFS).

The administrative work at the social services, the child and adult protection authorities (KESB) and the partners in the area of work integration is to be standardized. The aim is to increase transparency in the social services sector for the municipalities and the canton and to save on infrastructure costs.

Cooperation agreements have been signed with the ten social services that have signed up to take part in the pilot project. They are to gather experience in the migration of data and documents and test the implementation process. One day, 85 organizations will use the new system.

Changeover over the next few years

According to the canton, "an operational case management system for day-to-day work" should be available from 2025. Preparations for the migration and implementation projects are running in parallel. From 2026 to 2028, after completion of the pilot phase, the other users will be gradually migrated to the new system.

The decision in favor of the standardized case management system was made in 2020 by the Health, Social Affairs and Integration Directorate, the Directorate of Home Affairs and Justice, the Bernese Conference for Social Assistance, Child and Adult Protection (BKSE) and the Association of Bernese Municipalities.

City needed a successor solution

At the beginning of the year, Franziska Teuscher, the City of Bern's Director of Social Affairs, rejected accusations in parliament that the city had "tinkered" with its own system for far too long, even though it had been aware of the canton's plans.

Teuscher claimed that the city needed a successor solution for its previous system called KiSS. For this reason, a new case management system had been developed together with Basel and Zurich that would meet the needs of the cities. The municipal council remains convinced that the investment was worthwhile.

SDA