Keeping track of your tech - how does a Connecticut state agency lose track of more than 100 laptops and tablets in a relatively short period of time?
It apparently has been a challenge for the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), which recently reported a significant loss.
This was revealed by the DCF in a monthly loss report, filed by state auditors. The DCF estimated the value of the lost laptops and tablets at $90,000.
It appeared to be connected to poor inventory tracking.
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A DCF spokesman said this was discovered during an annual inventory, noting it “has 7,359 inventoried assets across the agency. The results of the annual inventory concluded that less than 1%, or roughly 120 assets, were not accounted for after a four-month period to locate them.”
The DCF said “significant employee turnover in 2022 - combined with personnel shortages and other factors - resulted in a small amount of equipment not being recovered when staff left the agency.”
The spokesman said keeping up with inventory has been difficult for several reasons, including ”staffing pressures coupled with a manual and error prone tracking process."
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The DCF also pointed out pre-pandemic, it had approximately 300 laptop and tablets and now that number is over 2,400.
As for what to do to prevent this from happening in the future?
The DCF said several of its divisions will focus on better tracking, “…limiting who has access to inventory and reiterating that no devices can change hands without the appropriate tracking paperwork being completed and distributed to the appropriate staff.”
The DCF commissioner also warned the agency will take action in any suspected instances of intentional misuse of state equipment or repeated loss of state property. The search for these missing items remains ongoing.
