Mission, Vision, and History

Walter R. McDonald & Associates was founded to provide management consulting, research and evaluation, and information technology services in the health and human services field.

The first major project for Walter R. McDonald & Associates (now WRMA) was creating a national child welfare and juvenile justice prototype system. Child Welfare League of America, Inc. (CWLA) convened a national planning committee that included WRMA to complete a study of the current state-of-the-art child welfare and juvenile justice operating systems. Following the study, the committee assessed the practicality and feasibility of creating a requirement-based national model. WRMA’s prototype was selected to become the Child and Youth Centered Information System (CYCIS).

WRMA performed the design, development, and implementation of CYCIS under contract to CYSTEMS, a private, nonprofit corporation established by the CWLA, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the American Public Welfare Association. The system serves as both a child abuse and neglect registry and a complete child case tracking and management information system.

WRMA and its partners continually modify and enhance CYCIS to take advantage of programmatic and technical advances in automated case management and client/server computing. To date, CYCIS has been fully implemented in the states of Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Delaware; Erie County, Pennsylvania; Marion County, Indiana; and in a half dozen private, nonprofit agencies. In addition, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, and Utah have participated in specific phases of the CYCIS development, and a number of these states have implemented various CYCIS components or functions.

WRMA continued building strong relationships in the health and human services sector, winning highly impactful system contracts. One of those is the National Child Abuse and Neglect Database System (NCANDS), a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF).

NCANDS is widely accepted as the primary source of child protective services statistics about child maltreatment in the United States. Data submitted by the states to NCANDS are used to measure the various performance and accountability objectives of ACYF, and the data are a critical resource for the federal government, child welfare agencies, researchers, media personnel, and the public. Data are reported to Congress annually in a 270-page technical report.

State participation in NCANDS is voluntary. Thus, an essential component of NCANDS is a collaborative working partnership between the federal government and 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. WRMA serves as the liaison to each state/territory, fostering the relationship through rich technical assistance and facilitation of communication between ACYF and the state/territory.

For more than 30 years, WRMA has earned sequential contracts with ACYF to design, implement, and maintain this national system and provide technical assistance to states/territories for compliance with federal reporting requirements.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) selected WRMA and Mid-America Consulting Group to conduct the planning, design, development, and implementation of a national prototype Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).

The overall goal of this project was the development of a national-model child welfare information system that would incorporate state-of-the-art technology and methodology, be capable of meeting all relevant federal reporting requirements, and assist direct service providers in the provision of timely and effective child welfare services. Also crucial was the ability of the new system to provide for interfaces with other existing systems, such as Title IV-A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), Title IV-D (child support enforcement), and Title XIX (Medicaid).

Key to this project’s success was WRMA’s extensive technical assistance effort, focused on aiding states in understanding the issues involved in child welfare information system design, development, and implementation.

The Office of Community Service (OCS) selects WRMA to develop a data collection system and prepare reports for the Social Service Block Grant (SSBG) program. WRMA has maintained and improved this system over the course of its 20-year partnership with OCS.

WRMA was awarded a Contractor of the Year Award by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) for its National Child Abuse and Neglect Database System (NCANDS) project, which is a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACF, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF).

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) contracted with the WRMA team to provide technical assistance to its grantees to aid in the submission and validation of their required reporting data. Since then, HRSA HAB and WRMA have partnered on sequential contracts, at first providing technical assistance for three aggregate-level reports, then assisting HRSA HAB with transferring to client-level data reports, and presently providing technical assistance to grantees for nine data reports — two of which contain client-level data.

WRMA was awarded a Contractor of the Year Award by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) for its Child Care Improper Payments Initiative, which is a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACF, Office of Child Care (OCC). This initiative was the predecessor to the National Center on Subsidy Innovation and Accountability (NCSIA), a project OCC chose WRMA to lead.

The Office of Child Care (OCC) selected WRMA to launch the National Center on Subsidy Innovation and Accountability, its new national center designed to provide resources and technical assistance to states, territories, and tribes on their effective use of federal child care subsidy funds. OCC has contracted sequentially with WRMA on this project since its first award.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) chose WRMA to conduct the planning, design, development, and implementation of the first comprehensive national reporting system for adult protective services (APS) programs. The goal was to provide consistent, accurate national data on the abuse and/or exploitation of older adults and adults with disabilities, based on what is reported to APS agencies.

The result was the National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS), which collects quantitative and qualitative data on APS in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and territories. Although still a relatively new system, NAMRS continually proves to be a source of information that can directly inform prevention and intervention practices at all levels of the adult maltreatment field. In the future, it will provide a better understanding of the characteristics of those experiencing and perpetrating abuse. It may also identify existing gaps in response and prevention measures.

TriMetrix, Inc., a woman-owned small business founded in 2014, became the parent company for Walter R. McDonald & Associates dba WRMA, Inc., along with Longboat HR Services, LLC (founded in 2009).

The Office of Child Care (OCC) selected WRMA as a trusted partner to design, pilot, and implement a comprehensive monitoring process, including a custom web-based monitoring and reporting database, to determine and document states/territories compliance with Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) requirements.

Established in 2018, WRMA’s Learning and Resource Center (LRC) is a center of excellence housing a team of adult learning experts, graphic and instructional designers, and 508 compliance specialists with the expertise, skills, and creative know-how to help clients effectively train or support their audiences. This team works directly with WRMA’s subject matter experts to transform their knowledge into refined print and digital content and innovative learning solutions.

Providing this in-house team to our subject matter experts and clients also means faster and more efficient communication to get professional quality products created on schedule. The LRC guides content from concept to publication—checking off design, effective delivery models, copy editing and quality assurance, and 508 compliance along the way. We also offer virtual meeting planning and can support your online event across various industry leading platforms.

The LRC supports all client and internal WRMA projects, and we have quickly expanded with the ability to provide our services to external clients. Our permanent, centralized team of experts means that we are always ready to meet your organization’s needs. Outsourcing your task, no matter how big or small, to the LRC is a cost-effective alternative to recruiting or hiring for a temporary project.

In 2020, WRMA celebrated 40 years of support dedicated to health and human service agencies. Reaching this milestone was made possible by staffing some of the best and brightest minds in the industry — specifically within the public sector. Our company’s history and success has also been made possible by partnerships with many local, state, and federal agencies and other clients. Through these continued collaborations, WRMA contributes to a variety of positive outcomes in the health and human service field.

WRMA, Inc., empowers our clients with innovative solutions to create better futures for vulnerable populations. We are a certified small business that strengthens client programs by offering them data management, information technology, and management consulting expertise. Together, we improve the integrity and effectiveness of programs for at-risk and under-served populations. Our team of world-class researchers is committed to quality, evidence-based services, and deliverables that ensure the success of each client engagement.