We talk to a lot of people in social services every day. We learn so much about how each of them define success at their agencies. Because of the intuitive configuration and personalization tools built into FAMCare - FAMCare works very well for agencies regardless of their specialization and the different populations they may serve (children, adults, disabled, courts, detention, residential, etc.,).
“I love that there is so much a non-programmer can do in the system. This makes it very cost effective and gives us more control over the final product. I am recommending FAMCare to everyone who asks me about social service/mental health database systems!”
- Louise Angermann, MPA | Outcomes and Evaluations Manager, Lilliput Children's Services
However, success criteria for each population is always different and specific.
Some of the questions we often ask are "Is it easy for you to determine quickly how a client is doing in your program?" and "Is the review process lengthy or cumbersome?" and/or "Does it require you to pull out a large file and review pages of paperwork?"
For may agencies - it isn't always that easy to know the status of a client. Things like - how they're doing, whether they are up to date with the program or delinquent, and whether the program is actually working for them - is not easily ascertained without a careful and sometimes time-consuming review of the client's file and paperwork.
Are They on The Right Path? Enter PATHWAYS....
What is Pathways? Before I explain what Pathways is - I'd like to describe a scenario for you that may seem familiar. A new client is enrolled at your agency. The enrollment process requires Sally from intake to gather a series of documents and general paperwork from the client in order to satisfy the criteria for the agency. Some of the paperwork is on hand during the interview - some will need to be submitted at a later date. There are a few releases and authorizations that need to be signed, as well. Then the client is assigned to a caseworker who then opens the file, completes a case review, documents a complete case note and creates an initial service or TX plan. Once all of this is done, in some instances a supervisor then requests the file and goes through the checklist and paperwork to ensure the file is properly documented.
In a paper world... for an agency that is paper-based... this process can be somewhat cumbersome to complete - and more importantly, harder to track. I say "harder" because this process is certainly more difficult than if the agency had a technology tool or software solution that could figure it out for them, automatically.
So - what is Pathways? Simply put - Pathways is a module in FAMCare that allows you to create a "PATH" of success for each of your programs or services. If you can imagine that each client enrolled at your agency is on a specific "Path"... then Pathways is your event and activity tracking and alerting tool that tracks those Paths automatically for you.
Pathways cuts tracking and processing time dramatically by 50% OR MORE, but more importantly - gives the supervisor and caseworker a SERIOUSLY powerful way of seeing IN AN INSTANT where the client is in the process. Questions like: Did we collect the required documentation? Where is it? When will we have it? Do we have the appropriate sign offs? Has the case review occurred? Has the TX plan been created?
All of this is done through a graphical interface that alerts your team of what has been completed, what is coming due and what is delinquent. This provides a higher-level of accountability for each staff person involved in the process. From your intake person to your caseworker, to the supervisor... AT ANY TIME - each person knows where the client is in the program.
What Else Can Pathways Do?
Starting a new program? Need a new data capture form created to record information about your program? With Pathways instant-form creator, it's easy for non-I.T. staff to create a new form very quickly. Anyone with a very basic understanding of Excel can use our form template to lay out their new data form and with two clicks - generate their new "electronic" form within FAMCare - in seconds - ready to capture the data required for your new program.
If you would like more information about Pathways - you can request a demo or attend an upcoming webinar. Stay tuned / and SUBSCRIBE to our blog (top right column above) to be notified of the upcoming webinar.
