Information Builders Case Studies State of Oklahoma Addresses Federal Reporting Requirements With New Child Welfare Reporting System

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	State of Oklahoma Addresses Federal Reporting Requirements With New Child Welfare Reporting System Information Builders

State of Oklahoma Addresses Federal Reporting Requirements With New Child Welfare Reporting System

Information Builders

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Functions	Human Resources
Use Cases	Predictive Quality Analytics Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services Data Science Services
Challenge	The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) was faced with the challenge of sorting, summarizing, and presenting information about thousands of children to help caseworkers provide better family services. They also needed to enable agency directors to meet federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) mandates. The data needed to be dynamic, allowing caseworkers to view it in different ways and filter and sort it as they choose. Prior to the mid-1990s, the system used by Child Welfare staff was written in COBOL and the data was stored in a mainframe IMS database. This system provided only skeletal information indicating whether cases were opened or closed and a few sketchy notes, but nothing that allowed them to track cases or provide case-management services like they can do now. If they wanted to sort or filter the data in a different way, they had to ask a programmer to manually produce a special report. Read More
About Customer	The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) is a state agency that provides social services to the residents of Oklahoma. They are responsible for protecting the health and safety of children and adults, helping people secure the basic necessities of life, and promoting the independence and productivity of people with disabilities. The department is also tasked with meeting federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) mandates. To keep track of thousands of cases and thoroughly address these federal reporting requirements, OKDHS uses Information Builders’ WebFOCUS software. The software is used by more than 2,000 KIDS users, from directors and supervisors to contractors, caseworkers, and administrative support staff. Read More
Solution	In 2003, OKDHS decided to enhance their reporting capabilities to deliver more timely and dynamic reports. They chose to use Information Builders’ WebFOCUS software due to their familiarity with FOCUS and its efficient, server-based architecture. They moved the KIDS database and legacy reports to a virtual Linux machine running on an IBM z90 mainframe, then used WebFOCUS to run the existing reports on the new platform. Information Builders’ Consulting was hired to develop the initial Outcome Measures Reports to provide caseworkers with accurate information about children within the system while also supplying compliance information for federally mandated regulations. They began with three key reports: Time to Reunification Exit, Time to Adoption Exit, and Children Not Reentering Out-of-Home Care. To simplify access to all this information, OKDHS decided to use the WebFOCUS business intelligence dashboard. The dashboard gives users a central location to find and run the reports, allows them to review multiple reports at a single glance, and enables the real-time deployment of new reports. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Functions

Human Resources

Use Cases

Predictive Quality Analytics

Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Data Science Services

Challenge

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) was faced with the challenge of sorting, summarizing, and presenting information about thousands of children to help caseworkers provide better family services. They also needed to enable agency directors to meet federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) mandates. The data needed to be dynamic, allowing caseworkers to view it in different ways and filter and sort it as they choose. Prior to the mid-1990s, the system used by Child Welfare staff was written in COBOL and the data was stored in a mainframe IMS database. This system provided only skeletal information indicating whether cases were opened or closed and a few sketchy notes, but nothing that allowed them to track cases or provide case-management services like they can do now. If they wanted to sort or filter the data in a different way, they had to ask a programmer to manually produce a special report.

About Customer

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) is a state agency that provides social services to the residents of Oklahoma. They are responsible for protecting the health and safety of children and adults, helping people secure the basic necessities of life, and promoting the independence and productivity of people with disabilities. The department is also tasked with meeting federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) mandates. To keep track of thousands of cases and thoroughly address these federal reporting requirements, OKDHS uses Information Builders’ WebFOCUS software. The software is used by more than 2,000 KIDS users, from directors and supervisors to contractors, caseworkers, and administrative support staff.

Solution

In 2003, OKDHS decided to enhance their reporting capabilities to deliver more timely and dynamic reports. They chose to use Information Builders’ WebFOCUS software due to their familiarity with FOCUS and its efficient, server-based architecture. They moved the KIDS database and legacy reports to a virtual Linux machine running on an IBM z90 mainframe, then used WebFOCUS to run the existing reports on the new platform. Information Builders’ Consulting was hired to develop the initial Outcome Measures Reports to provide caseworkers with accurate information about children within the system while also supplying compliance information for federally mandated regulations. They began with three key reports: Time to Reunification Exit, Time to Adoption Exit, and Children Not Reentering Out-of-Home Care. To simplify access to all this information, OKDHS decided to use the WebFOCUS business intelligence dashboard. The dashboard gives users a central location to find and run the reports, allows them to review multiple reports at a single glance, and enables the real-time deployment of new reports.

Impact #1	WebFOCUS reports reveal a wealth of information for tracking children, from initial investigations by caseworkers through foster care, adoption, subsidy, and post-adoptive subsidy services.
Impact #2	The reports help case workers maintain a running history on each child, including information on compliance issues, contacts, court reports, and treatment plans.
Impact #3	The WebFOCUS application is intuitive and easy to use, allowing users to access the Web site, pick a report, and save the results to Excel.

Impact #1

WebFOCUS reports reveal a wealth of information for tracking children, from initial investigations by caseworkers through foster care, adoption, subsidy, and post-adoptive subsidy services.

Impact #2

The reports help case workers maintain a running history on each child, including information on compliance issues, contacts, court reports, and treatment plans.

Impact #3

The WebFOCUS application is intuitive and easy to use, allowing users to access the Web site, pick a report, and save the results to Excel.

Benefit #1	More than 2,000 KIDS users are now able to access and use the system.
Benefit #2	The system is updated weekly, and some reports are updated daily.

Benefit #1

More than 2,000 KIDS users are now able to access and use the system.

Benefit #2

The system is updated weekly, and some reports are updated daily.

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Overview

State of Oklahoma Addresses Federal Reporting Requirements With New Child Welfare Reporting System

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit