From Pilot to Proof: Building the Data Backbone for Delaware’s Employment Readiness Program.

About the Client

DSS, within Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services, administers the state’s major public assistance programs. Through its participation in the FNS employment-readiness study, DSS took on a role well beyond routine benefits administration — recruiting current assistance recipients, coordinating a network of public and private workforce partners, and building the operational and technical infrastructure needed to run and report on an entirely new employment program.

Industry Context

The kind of full-lifecycle SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) data collection and reporting WONDER was purpose-built to deliver has since become a binding federal requirement nationwide. USDA’s final rule on SNAP E&T Program Monitoring, Oversight and Reporting Measures, effective January 2025 and mandatory for all states by October 2025, now requires state agencies to report standardized outcome measures for E&T components, including the number and percentage of participants who obtain unsubsidized employment or a recognized credential after receiving services. These are closely mirrored by the recruitment-through-employment-or-dropout-through-follow-up metrics DSS built WONDER to track nearly a decade earlier. The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s expanded SNAP work requirements have further increased states’ E&T data and reporting burden. Delaware’s WONDER infrastructure anticipated, years in advance, the kind of standardized, full-lifecycle case management and outcomes reporting capability now mandated across the country. (The underlying technology platform Iknow built it on — Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and the .NET 4.6 Framework — reflects the state’s IT standards at the time and has since been succeeded industry-wide by modern, cloud-native platforms, a natural evolution common to any decade-old government system.)

Current Situation

DSS needed a technical solution capable of collecting data efficiently from internal staff, other state agencies, and private-sector partners; cleansing, validating, and combining that data; storing it securely; and using it to drive both day-to-day operational decisions and periodic reporting to FNS. The solution had to satisfy HIPAA security requirements for personally identifiable information, operate as a web-based system due to restrictions on third-party access to the state’s computing environment, and somehow retrieve usable data from Delaware’s notoriously antiquated legacy applications.

• A complex, multi-stage data lifecycle. WONDER needed accurate metrics spanning recruitment, enrollment and involvement, employment or dropout, and post-program follow-up.
• Multiple, disparate data sources. Data had to be collected from internal DSS staff, other State of Delaware agencies, and private service partners, each operating with different systems and access levels.
• Strict HIPAA security requirements. The system had to protect personally identifiable participant information to HIPAA standards.
• Restricted computing environment access. State rules on third-party access to Delaware’s computing environment made a web-based architecture a requirement, not a preference.
• Difficult legacy data retrieval. Delaware’s antiquated applications and design standards made retrieving usable state data exceptionally challenging.

• Design and develop the technical infrastructure needed to support the WONDER Program end to end.
• Streamline data collection from internal DSS staff, other state agencies, and external service partners.
• Manage business process workflows across the participant lifecycle.
• Simplify the creation of periodic reports to FNS.
• Meet HIPAA security requirements and comply with the State of Delaware’s mandated IT infrastructure framework.

How Iknow Structured the Work

Iknow began with structured requirements gathering across every WONDER stakeholder group, then designed and built a custom application within the state’s own mandated technology framework — ensuring the solution would be both fit for purpose and fully compliant with Delaware’s IT standards from day one.

Key Activities & Decisions

• Requirements Gathering. Iknow conducted a series of meetings with the WONDER program manager, other DSS staff, staff from external services partners, and the State of Delaware’s IT staff, producing a detailed requirements specification document that the program manager formally approved.
• Solution Design. Based on those requirements, Iknow concluded that a custom software solution was necessary and designed it using the state’s mandated infrastructure framework for external, Internet-facing applications: Microsoft SQL Server for the database and the Microsoft .NET platform for the application itself.
• Application Build. Iknow built a web-based user interface used by both WONDER program staff (over DSS’s intranet) and external partners (over the Internet), authenticated through the state’s single sign-on system, alongside a dedicated Report Server for internal reporting and a daily data import process for participants recruited through the state’s traditional unemployment program.
• Role-Based Data Governance. Iknow incorporated end-user roles, organizational hierarchy, and DSS-versus-partner-entity distinctions directly into the system to control how participant information was displayed, satisfying HIPAA requirements by design rather than as an afterthought.
• Development, Testing & Enhancement. Iknow wrote the custom application code, led user acceptance testing, and delivered subsequent enhancements identified during testing that were not part of the original requirements specification.
• Documentation & Training. Iknow prepared the system’s technical documentation, created training materials, and conducted training sessions for WONDER staff and partners during rollout.

Stakeholders & Collaboration

Iknow worked closely with the WONDER program manager, DSS staff, external public and private service partners, and the State of Delaware’s IT staff throughout design, development, and rollout, ultimately delivering a system used daily by both DSS personnel and outside partner organizations.

Technical Architecture

• A three-tier .NET architecture separating the data access layer, business logic layer, and web layer, with each layer hosted on its own physically and virtually separated Windows server.
• Each server running IIS 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 with the .NET 4.6 Framework, with the application written in C# per DSS’s technology framework requirements.
• A core database built on Microsoft SQL Server 2008, using SQL Server Integration Services to import external data and SQL Server Agent to run scheduled database tasks.
• Printable reports implemented through Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, hosted on a separate SQL Server 2008 instance.
• Role-based security covering roles such as Case Manager, Supervisor, Job Placement Specialist, External Partner, and Administrator, with user credentials maintained in Microsoft Active Directory and issued through DSS’s proprietary IAS 2.0 single sign-on solution.

Satisfying HIPAA Security and Third-Party Access Restrictions Together

The system needed both strong HIPAA-grade data protection and a web-based architecture accessible to external partners, without violating the state’s restrictions on third-party access to its computing environment. Iknow addressed this by building role-based access control tied directly to end-user role, organizational hierarchy, and DSS-versus-partner status, combined with a web-based architecture authenticated through the state’s own single sign-on system rather than a locally installed or externally hosted alternative.

Making Antiquated Legacy Data Usable

Delaware’s aging applications and inconsistent data standards made it exceptionally difficult to retrieve reliable state data. Iknow addressed this by building dedicated data import capability — including a daily import process for participants recruited through the state’s traditional unemployment program — alongside validation and cleansing steps that made legacy data usable within WONDER’s central database.

Unifying Data From Genuinely Disparate Sources

Combining data from internal DSS staff, other state agencies, and private-sector partners into one accurate, reportable dataset risked fragmentation. Iknow addressed this with a centralized SQL Server-based architecture, a dedicated Report Server, and SQL Server Reporting Services-based periodic reporting, giving WONDER a single, consistent source of truth for both day-to-day operational decisions and formal FNS submissions.

Operational Outcomes

• Successfully launched the WONDER solution in March 2017 to WONDER Program staff and external partners.
• Enabled timely, error-free data input and allowed DSS and its partners to perform their work tasks efficiently.
• Delivered accurate data analysis and reporting for both WONDER Program management and FNS.

Strategic and Organizational Outcomes

DSS’s Executive Director specifically credited the new system with a significant reduction in manual processing and a marked improvement in reporting accuracy — outcomes that mattered not only for WONDER’s own operations but for DSS’s ability to meet its federal reporting obligations to FNS reliably and on schedule.

Timeline to Impact

Iknow completed requirements gathering, custom development, user acceptance testing, documentation, and training within the seven-month engagement, with the system live in production for both internal DSS staff and external partners by the project’s conclusion.

Core Skills

• Custom Software Development
• Systems Integration
• Data Management & Reporting
• Government IT & HIPAA Compliance

Methods & Frameworks

• Requirements specification and multi-stakeholder elicitation
• Three-tier custom application architecture
• Role-based access control design
• User acceptance testing and iterative enhancement

Technologies & Tools

• Microsoft SQL Server (database engine, Integration Services, SQL Server Agent, Reporting Services)
• .NET Framework and C#, IIS on Windows Server
• Microsoft Active Directory and DSS’s proprietary IAS 2.0 single sign-on solution