Yesterday morning I was enjoying a cup of coffee and reading the paper when I stumbled across an article that was both frightening and eye-opening. The article discussed different situations caseworkers in Michigan were facing when confronted by their angry clients. Caseworkers reported that clients were making violent threats, by-passing security guards and showing up at their desks unannounced/uninvited, and in one event a piece of concrete was hurled through the window of a welfare agency. Remember, these are caseworkers…the people that are trying to help the very people acting out in frustration.

If the events these caseworkers are facing on a regular basis weren’t enough to make me shake my head in disbelief, the proposed solution definitely did. According to the paper, seven caseworkers went to the state Capitol to ask for help – better security, more staff, and help with the problem computer system. One of the ‘helpful’ lawmakers suggested they consider carrying handguns. Yes, you just read that right…I had to re-read the paragraph twice to comprehend this recommendation. Handguns? What is this…the Wild West? Caseworkers provide help; they do not enforce law or act as body guards! Needless to say, this suggestion did not sit well with the caseworkers. I’m sure there were better suggestions offered up from lawmakers, but the newspaper did not mention them.

Read the rest of this entry »

How many of us are up to date on the Health Care Reform Bill, or can talk with confidence about the newest developments in the war in Iraq? Probably most of us. Both of these topics have full-time news coverage and representatives speaking out to make the ideas and beliefs of these subjects known. Unfortunately, there is a very important group who is going unheard. A group that is unable to help themselves or speak out for themselves. This group is the children who are being shuffled through Child Protective Service Agencies. The agencies that are supposed to protect these children have been making mistakes, placing children back into dangerous situations, forgetting children because of lack of continuity in case processes, and some needed cries for help have just been going unanswered. The problem isn’t the caseworkers; the problem is the unattainable workload. Finally, the caseworkers have had enough and caseworkers are making their situation known; giving a voice to the children who have been wronged by the mismanaged system and informing the public on problems that have, until now, been kept quiet.

Read the rest of this entry »

At a recent neighborhood get together, I was asked the typical question, “What do you do for a living?” For once, I paused before spitting out my typical “I’m in software” answer. I did not respond with a summary of the tasks I perform, but instead with the impact that work has. I responded, with total conviction, “I ensure people get fed and have beds to sleep in.” Instead of glazed over indifference, I got an engaged reply, “tell me more”. So, I did.
There is a county government agency in the East providing aid to families. They have an ongoing caseload of over 48,000 cases, which must be maintained and reviewed multiple times per year. In addition, the agency receives new applications for assistance daily. Needy individuals and families desperately need prompt service delivery. But they can’t get what the need. Committed Social Service workers desperately want to deliver service. But they can’t do what they want. They have a complex problem

Read the rest of this entry »

Today, this story was in the Washington Post. My gut tells me this is not an isolated case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/19/AR2009021902964.html?hpid=sec-metro

It tells the story of how the Montgomery County Health and Human Services (HHS) office could not account for grant money and did not verify invoices and payment.
You would think with today’s advances in systems, missing money in public institutions should be very difficult. Or, perhaps those systems have not maintained the pace of change.

The stress and search for cash has hit every organization and individual in this economy. When you apply that type of pressure, surely cracks will develop. The Madoff and Stanford Financial scandals are perfect examples. Now, we have billions flowing from the government for enhancing programs just like this. The need for strong audit and controls are critical.

I have a simple hope. As the stimulus money flows, we need to invest in appropriate tracking and management to go with it. Prodagio has been working with some of the largest and best run counties in the nation on social services management and systems. Luckily, they are ahead of the game as they have already made the investments to secure the integrity of their programs. They have invested in improved social service systems to reduce administration cost, but also to minimize fraud, maintain separation of duties and provide better audit trails. The result is more money going to those who need it.

Reminders and Obligations are task items that are frequently used in both Prodagio Contracts and Prodagio Case Management. Even though both Reminders and Obligations send emails and both can be viewed as items in the My Tasks View, Reminders and Obligations each serve a different functional purpose.

A Reminder is an informal notice that requires no contractual or legal action, where an Obligation on the other hand is a notice that does require some kind of contractual or legal action.

The following list compares the functional similarities and differences between Reminders and Obligations.

Reminders
• Include Automated Reminders (set up by a BA).
• Priority can not be set.
• Due Date is not required.
• Can not be part of a series.
• Notification date specifies when an email notification will be sent.
• Can be set to recur weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
• Predefined action can be selected from a drop-down selection list.
• Special instructions can be added.
• Comments can be added only when closing a reminder.
• Esignature is not required to close.
• Status categories include Scheduled, Open, and Completed.
• E-mail sent to each recipient or group with action named in the subject line.
• Can be added to Outlook Calendar.
• Instructions, Comments, and Task and Dashboard link included in e-mail.

Obligations
• Include both Financial and Non-Financial Obligations.
• Priority of high is automatically set.
• Due Date is required.
• Can be part of a series.
• Notification date specifies when an email notification will be sent.
• Can be set to recur weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
• Predefined action not available.
• Special instructions can be added.
• Comments can be added when creating a new obligation.
• Esignature is required to close.
• Status categories include Scheduled, Open, Completed, and Deleted.
• E-mail sent to each recipient or group.
• Can be added to Outlook Calendar.
• Instructions, Comments, and Task and Dashboard link included in e-mail.

It was a rare treat to see Endeavour fly over the office on its way back from California. In this case, some bad weather in Florida provided this rare glimpse of the Shuttle enjoying first-class service atop a 747.