Shortcuts to the project
The topic of “modernizing administration” in the context of “family and children” is being promoted by the Bremen authorities – Senator for Finance – in order to simplify and digitize administrative processes. Our goal in working with the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is to develop and implement a reference online service for the OZG service “Foster child placement and foster child allowance.” The relevant services for the OZG program include, for example, the suitability assessment for interested foster parents or the one-time payment when a foster child is taken in. We planned to design and develop the online service in three phases and roll it out to participating and reusing federal states.
Our project approach
Design phase
Our project manager, requirements manager, and software architects, as well as experts from an external partner company, recorded the requirements for the online service and prioritized them. In doing so, we took into account the specifications and milestones of the Online Access Act and the OZG Federal Program. The requirements also included user-friendliness and technical expertise, which were gathered from citizens and administrative staff.
Implementation phase
First, we aimed to launch a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e., to deliver results as quickly as possible and enable the application to be tested in live operation. We then implemented the Minimal Marketable Product (MMP) and finally the Full Service Product (FSP). The finished project is the result of our collaboration with four companies and a total of 30 team members. We provided the project management, Scrum Master, and development team for this.
Applications without visits to government offices
The timely handover has created the conditions for rollout in other federal states. We published the MVP of the online service in December 2022. This was followed by the FSP in September 2023. Since then, the service has been continuously developed. More parties involved in the process are constantly being connected and additional functions are being activated. Thanks to the digital service for foster care, application documents and supporting evidence will in future be exchanged with the authorities in a simplified and digital form by parents who wish to take in a foster child. With the help of the portal, visits to the authorities will now only be necessary in a few compelling cases.
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