Editor’s note: Following is one in an ongoing series of profiles of the largest California state government agencies.
The California Department of Human Resources has an operations budget of $67,700,000. Of this, $1,700,000 is allocated to IT services.
CalHR is responsible for issues related to employee salaries and benefits, job classifications, civil rights, training, exams, recruitment and retention.
In June of this year, CalHR finished with the final development phase of the Exam and Certification Online System (ECOS).
“Visionary Integrated Professionals augmented in-house development staff for the majority of the phases of ECOS,” says Chad Crowe, CIO for CalHR. “The system is a custom solution which provides human resources management functionality to departments, boards and commissions statewide. ECOS can be understood as the back end to the CalCareers system as it allows state HR staff to create and schedule examinations, create job postings, review applications submitted electronically, and much more.” The project began in 2011 and cost $10 million.
Currently in progress is the state’s website for job announcements and applications, CalCareers. CalHR completed the initial phases of a major redesign effort in the spring of 2017, working with Kiefer Consulting for the creation of the website’s new UX (user experience design). “The CalCareers site is undergoing a continual process of enhancements,” says Crowe. “In 2018, CalCareers will incorporate a wizard to walk applicants through each step of the hiring process.”
As the department in charge of reviewing job classifications for the state, Crowe says CalHR plans to submit an Information Technology classification package to the State Personnel Board for their December 2017 agenda. “This package proposes to consolidate 39 Information Technology civil service classifications down to nine,” he says.
The department’s cybersecurity plans have recently included revising and installing new security policies based on National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. Additionally, says Crowe, “we provide Cybersecurity and Privacy Awareness training on a regular basis to all our employees.”
CalHR Director Richard Gillihan
Contact info: 916-324-0455
1515 S Street, North Building, Suite 500
Sacramento CA 95811-7258
CalHR Chief of Information Technology Chad Crowe
(916) 322-5193
