The Oregon Department of Human Services accidentally sent out more than $500,000 in electronic payments and checks from the agency's child welfare program last week due to a computer glitch.
DHS Communications Director Gene Evans said Monday that the the glitch during an update to the OR-Kids program.
The department released the following statement on Monday:
"Oregon Department of Human Services determined the cause of a computer error was the deployment of new computer code in the OR-Kids system. The OR-Kids system processes payments to service providers in Oregon's child welfare system. Earlier media reports have erroneously stated the cause was a change in Windows operating systems.
"The change in code caused $500,000 in payments to be generated and delivered to various providers. DHS technical crews identified the problem and began working on a fix immediately. On Saturday, September 12, 2015 the fix was deployed and the bad data was removed.
"Letters were sent to those who received the erroneous payments. All money is accounted for, and DHS is working to ensure the OR-Kids system reflects the correct financial status. OR-Kids providers have been pro-active and cooperative.
"A more rigorous monitoring process is in now in place for all future OR-Kids deployments."
The payments were sent out to 73 department "vendors" or care providers such as foster parents. Some checks were for thousands of dollars, such as $5,000 and $14,000.
gfriedman2@statesmanjournal.com, (503) 399-6653 or on Twitter @gordonrfriedman
