Computer Expert System
Throughout the fiscal year, work continued on the Fair Housing Computer
Expert System funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD). Thomas A. Baria, Professor in the Industrial Engineering
Department, Iowa State University, is the computer consultant. He works
with an eightmember managment team representing the 15 agencies in
the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, who are
participants in the project.
The expert system will enable housing investigators, especially inexperienced
ones, to process cases more quickly, and to provided more consistent and
complete application of housing laws and regulations. The system will assist
in determining "probable cause"or"no probable cause"
in individual housing discrimination cases based on the facts entered in
the system. In December 1991 a hand-ons training session was held in Des
Moines for the project particiapnts. An extension of time to June 30, 1992,
was granted for fine tuning of the project.