Trust governments to do things the wrong way. Realistically IT systems could query other departments databases via a unique identifier like birth certificate number or passport number for basic relevant stats of the person. Then a department can retrieve a summary of active 'records', last case date and last interaction dates and last case closed that are appropriate for the department requesting them and the person filing the information can then choose to copy in another department if it is deemed necessary. The department receiving the information can theoretically act on it a lot quicker (Child Protection Services sees that a physical assault happened yesterday so the case officer might need to liaise with the cops to investigate before meeting the client or submit an immediate court order for the removal of the children).
So CPS will need to see active arrests/incidents and last arrested date from the cops, tax returns from the tax office, government payments and any other government support. But the cops on the other hand just need to see outstanding warrants, active probation records and child protection data depending on the issue (i.e. you don't really need to see CPS data for a parking ticket but physical assault ...). The tax office will just need to know of the person is receiving government support and any court ordered payments (i.e. CPS, paying off fines, etc).
If the cops are charging someone with drink driving and query related departments it would then see that child protection services have no active cases against the person but the last case closed was two weeks ago (no details) so the cops can then choose to forward on the report to CPS. When it gets to CPS the last case was about leaving a child unattended and there was a baby sitter looking after the kids then CPS can give the person a quick call and make sure nothing is going on. But if a pattern emerges that the cops are filing reports on the person regarding drunk driving, domestic disturbance, kids unattended in a short period then the CPS could decide to reactive the old case (or create a new one) and sort it out.
If the tax office is processing a persons tax return and notices that they are actively receiving government benefits but have filed that they have earned $100,000 then they can forward on the tax return information to the other agency. Or better yet the tax office is submitting the tax return and notice that the person is has an active child payment order then submit a copy of the tax return to the CPS so they can review/file it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
