The FAMCare Blog

Adults 65 and older account for 16% of the US population but 80% of COVID-19 deaths. Even as most states begin to gradually reopen society to restart a stalled economy, the message to the elderly is “NOT YOU”. You best - “STAY HOME” – “ISOLATE” - “QUARANTINE” while the rest of society risks illness trying to get on with life.

Social workers who work with the elderly are concerned. They say that during times of crisis, mental health cannot be overlooked. Loneliness and social isolation for older adults have a deep, emotional impact, sometimes leading to social disorders such as depression and anxiety. Social isolation has also been linked to increases in emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and nursing home placements.

Unsung Heroes
“Latino and African-American residents of the United States have been three times as likely to become infected as their white neighbors, according to new CDC data, which provides detailed characteristics of 640,000 infections detected in nearly 1,000 U.S. counties,” the Times reports. “And Black and Latino people have been nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as white people.”

Social workers tell us that primary care providers are inundated with patients seeking help with psychic symptoms that require the attention of a psychiatric specialist. Family physicians and emergency room doctors often do not feel qualified to deal with this new mental health crisis and need the help of social workers to execute a referral process while helping patients feel more comfortable going to a new and unfamiliar physician.

With more and more of our workforce operating form their 'home' bases, at times it can be difficult to manage your teams workload.  With this in mind we have created a second short video, highlighting the powerful dashboard tool in FAMCare.  We want to help you to oversee and manage your team whether your working at the office or remotely from home. 

One of FAMCare's major advantages is our configurable billing module and tools.  We want to help our clients take the 'complicated' out of billing.  We understand that accurate billing and cost tracking is critical to the running of your agency.  Different clients have different needs.   Fee for Service, Census, Foster Care, mixed funding sources, grants, Medicaid 837/835, and other electronic submission or cost tracking services are all possible. FAMCare’s Cost Tracking & Billing Module can be configured to automate many functions so billing is faster, more accurate and consistent.

Caseworkers who serve the homeless population have been working overtime during the covid pandemic.

HOMELESSNESS UPDATE: Time, July 22, 2020, Belinda Luscombe

Homelessness has recently been getting worse, with a 3% increase in the number of homeless people just in the past year. But, says Nan Roman, head of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “there’s never been anything like this.” One Columbia University analysis of unemployment figures suggested that by the end of 2020, homelessness would increase by 40%. In July, about 44.5 million Americans told the Household Pulse Survey takers at the Census Bureau that they either hadn’t made last month’s mortgage or rent payment on time or doubted they could make the next one. Unless Congress acts, the moratorium on evicting people from most federally subsidized housing will run out at the end of July. “Starting on July 25, 2020, landlords must give 30-day notice before pursuing eviction for nonpayment between March 27, 2020, and July 24, 2020,” says a HUD official. The Aspen Institute estimates that by October, 1 in 5 American renters could face eviction.

Present Appearances

With the onset of the corona virus pandemic and the issuance of “stay at home” orders closing schools and businesses in many local communities, child abuse reports have plummeted across the country. The agencies, which provide support for families and children as abuse cases move through the justice system, reported serving 40,000 fewer children nationwide between January and June of this year than the same period last year, from 192,367 children in 2019 down to 152,016 this year, a 21% drop, according to the National Children’s Alliance, an accrediting body for a network of 900 children’s advocacy centers. Reports of abuse have declined dramatically, they say, not because it isn’t happening, but because with everyone “sheltering in place”, teachers, doctors and others have fewer ways of catching it.

We never partner with a client and go into an implementation expecting it to fail. However, why is it that if you look across the software industry there are implementations that do indeed fail?  It’s a reality.

But here’s a little secret. Actually, it’s a big one. In most cases – the biggest reasons why implementations fail has nothing to do with the software itself… but something else. In fact – there are several reasons why an implementation can fail and we’re here to show you an easy path to success if you avoid the following pitfalls.

“An 18-year-old sleeps in a doorway of a public building with nothing but a tattered blanket to shield him from the cold wind. He took little more than the clothes on his back when his foster parents demanded that he leave home. He hasn’t been in touch with his biological parents in years. None of his friends’ parents will allow him to spend a night on their sofa. And he’s unfamiliar with the nearest homeless shelter.” (Social Work Today, Vol. 19, P.24, Nadine Hasenecz, MSW, LSW)

Great responsibility yields great reward.  This is especially true of SARCOA (Southern Alabama Regional Council on Aging), the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) serving senior citizens of Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, and Houston counties of southeast Alabama.  By continuously seeking ways to better serve the rapidly growing senior population through planning, coordinating, and developing community levels of service, SARCOA is able to make a huge difference as one of 13 AAA’s in Alabama, and one of more than 650 AAA’s in the nation


"Our experiences working with the Global Vision Technologies family have been very positive.”


In addition to assisting the senior population as an Area Agency on Aging, SARCOA is also an Aging and Disabilities Resource Center (ADRC). Launched in 2003 and designed to be a “one-stop-shop” for individuals of any age seeking long-term support services, the ADRC works to streamline access to assistance services, programs, and information for older adults and all persons with disabilities, family caregivers, veterans, and long-term support service providers. The overall goal of the ADRC program is to empower individuals to effectively navigate their health and other long-term support options.

To accomplish these goals, SARCOA chose FAMCare as their platform, data warehouse, and primary tool for our Medicaid Waiver programs; as well as their system of record in support of activities related to Case Management and Care Coordination activities. After researching various SaaS platforms available to social services agencies, they believed FAMCare was the most cost effective, expandable, most agile solution to our needs.

             

“While cost is not always the primary driver, SARCOA is extremely focused on value. Other SaaS solutions came at a much higher cost; and while some offered what they describe as “off the shelf” functionality, we feel our experiences working with the Global Vision Technologies family have been very positive,” stated Joe Strickland, Director of Home and Community Services.