Child Welfare Agency Steps Up Service Through Automation with Compuware

Protecting children and preserving families is at the heart of what Montgomery County Children Services (MCCS) does day in and day out. With roughly 3,700 new cases reported each year, its staff of 176 caseworkers needed a more efficient way to document and track case information.

Information is key to the agency's 24-hour operations. "Every child we are involved with has the potential to have an emergency situation, so at any particular moment we need to be able to put our fingers on as much information as possible about the family," explains Mary Ann Drewry, director of Quality-Centered Services for MCCS. That requires tracking a lot of information—demographics of the child and the child's family, medical records, and legal processes. Until this point, MCCS used a system supplied by the state that lacked the flexibility to adapt to the agency's procedures. For example, many of the forms MCCS used didn't exist on the older system. MCCS caseworkers were left to record and distribute the details of each case by hand, which meant they spent more time at the office filling out paperwork rather than in the community working one on one with families. "We had no flexibility, and we needed a system that we could enter more information into and get more information out of," says Drewry.

The question became how to build a more flexible system with limited in-house resources. Daron Raynor, manager of Information Technology Services at MCCS, began a search for an IT partner. He spoke with other county child welfare agencies in Ohio and discovered many were building their own systems. "All of them pretty much had used Compuware and spoke very highly of the company. It was an easy decision," says Raynor. "Compuware had the resources and the know-how to get a product developed."

A Process Streamlined Saves Time

The Compuware team worked closely with MCCS to understand their required processes. Compuware completed an entire workflow analysis, and then translated the processes into a usability interface model in order to mold the application to match the agency's specific processes. MCCS decided to take a two-phase approach. In the initial phase, Compuware created the Family and Child Tracking System (FACTS), a two-tier distributed application built with a Delphi front-end and Oracle database. FACTS expanded the old system module to allow MCCS to input more information without losing the ability to transport information from state-run databases. Immediately after its launch, the Compuware team transformed the Delphi front-end of FACTS to create WebFACTS, a web-accessible application using Microsoft .NET technology. Today, more than 90 percent of MCCS staff employees, ranging from the executive director to caseworkers to clerical staff, have access to the new web-based case management system—and the results are outstanding.

In the past, a caseworker would hand-write the details of a reported incident on a multiple-page form, copy the form and distribute the copies to an assigned social worker for follow-up and to the front-desk receptionist to enter into a DOS-based system. "Now it's being done all in one step," explains Drewry. "While on the phone with callers, caseworkers can put information into the system right at their desks, and then everybody has access to it. That speeds up our response in a crisis situation." With its own case management system up and running, MCCS also no longer needs to wait the standard six to eight months for reports generated by the state to gauge the well being of the children under its protection. "Now we can pull it up whenever we need to," says Drewry. "We can always have our finger on the quality and performance of our system, as well as the individual safety and permanency of the children."

Coming up with the solution, however, was not without its challenges. Unlike the old system, the new application had to draw in many additional processes that were highly detailed, time-consuming—and changing. For example, new federal and state legislation went into effect that changed the information that state agencies were required to collect. The change in information altered the scope of the project midway through development.

"Compuware was very flexible," says Drewry. "They started with nothing and had to build a system from the ground up. As our technology needs changed, Compuware brought in the technical knowledge and expertise to adapt with us. I can't say enough about the whole process. It was truly a team effort. We developed a positive relationship and trust, so we were able to confront issues together."

A Look to the Future

Today, MCCS is testing WebFACTS over the Internet to allow caseworkers remote access to case information, and so far, so good. Raynor reports caseworkers are accessing the application via the Internet, giving greater efficiency to the agency. MCCS' strides in automation have caused other agencies in Ohio to take notice. The Hamilton County agency already has taken a couple of modules from the FACTS application, and in Butler County, the agency is looking at using WebFACTS.

MCCS attributes its progress to having the right team in place. "Our main goal was to make sure we could keep close tabs on information regarding children. Compuware helped us track that," says Drewry.

"We rolled out FACTS in February 2002 and WebFACTS at the end of October 2002, and now a year later, we've got staff on site who are more efficient," she says. "No child welfare agency in Ohio has ever done this. We are the first to web-enable our system." Raynor also credits the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services for its support and flexibility. "They were involved in our test transmission to the state database," he says. "We couldn't have gotten this done without them either."

Choosing an IT partner, however, required a prudent decision. "We are a tax-supported organization. The public pays for our operation through their tax dollars," Drewry says. "We looked at our options to make sure we were getting the best product for our staff, and for the taxpayers who expect us to do the best job possible for abused and neglected children and their families. We made a good investment of taxpayers' money when we chose Compuware Corporation."