6 Ohio JFS Agencies Implementing Mobile App to Improve Child Safety

DUBLIN, Ohio - June 30, 2015 - PRLog -- Six Ohio counties are using state Efficiency and Innovation Fund grants to equip social workers with new mobile technology so they can focus their time on child safety, rather than paperwork.

The Child Protective Services Funding Workgroup, created out of House Bill 483 of the 130th Ohio General Assembly, established the grants for child protective services agencies to target improvements in adoption, visitation, reoccurrence of maltreatment or re-entry into foster care.

Overall, an anticipated $6.8 million for 51 grants (http://humanservices.ohio.gov/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147635107) were awarded around the state, including the Department of Job and Family Services agencies or Children Services Boards in these six counties:

Auglaize
Defiance/Paulding
Gallia
Madison
Meigs
Morrow

In federal fiscal year 2013, Ohio did not meet the national standard of 90 percent for visitation of families receiving in-home services, according to the Children Protective Services Funding Workgroup Report to the Director of The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (http://humanservices.ohio.gov/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx...).

Social workers have stated that nearly 70 percent of their time is consumed by clerical tasks, which jeopardizes their ability to spend time with families during home visits.

Northwoods’ mobile document management solution, Compass® CoPilot, will help 51 child protective services social workers across the six counties access and update documentation using an iPad® app from the field, rather than using paper forms and documents.

The mobile app allows social workers to spend more time with families by reducing the time they spend manually completing required paperwork.

“Social workers want to take advantage of cutting-edge technology that helps automate routine work so they can focus on engaging families and protecting children. These grants are providing the flexibility counties need in order to provide an innovative and creative mobile tool that empowers frontline social workers to promote safety, which ultimately will lead to better outcomes for children,” said Rich Bowlen, director, protective services, Northwoods.

Northwoods partners with over 100 state and county human services agencies across the country.

iPad is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.

About Northwoods
Northwoods’ only focus is helping state and county human services agencies increase client service levels and productivity while cutting costs — allowing them to do more with less. Northwoods’ human services software solutions are designed around caseworkers and social workers, not simply data collection. Our Compass® products automate the flow of client and case information based on how caseworkers throughout the agency need to use it. Northwoods is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. For more information, visit teamnorthwoods.com (http://www.teamnorthwoods.com/).