Main Menu
Main Menu

Northwoods and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: Child Welfare

Traverse® is helping Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) child welfare workers collect and access case information to make key decisions about child safety.

Summary

Since April 2018, Ohio child welfare workers have used Traverse, Northwoods’ document management, forms management, and mobility software, to work more efficiently from anywhere while maintaining a high level of service to families.

Child welfare workers use Traverse as part of Ohio’s centralized document management system for child care, child support, child welfare, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

In 2017, the State of Ohio’s Department of Administrative Services (Ohio DAS), on behalf of ODJFS and Ohio Department of Medicaid, engaged Northwoods to implement the Ohio Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS) solution across the entire state.

Traverse is one of the main tools that has allowed us to be more flexible. We can do our work from anywhere.“

– KARA DAVIS, Performance, Evaluation, and Innovation Senior Manager, Cuyahoga County Children & Family Services

Northwoods and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: Child Welfare

Traverse is helping ODJFS child welfare workers collect and access case information to make key decisions about child safety.

Read the Story

Challenges

Social workers in child welfare struggled to effectively manage case content while causing the least disruption to a child’s life, well-being, and self-worth.

They were challenged to collect investigation-driven interview documents and collateral evidence, and complete state, local, and provider forms in a timely, error-free manner.

Social workers had to analyze an overabundance of case information but lacked tools to uncover supports and critical information buried deep within a child’s case history.

The need for mobility to access case information securely, from anywhere, and regardless of connectivity has always been critical in child welfare but became that much more important when the pandemic hit.

It’s a time saver when workers are just trying to find a quick piece of information and they can use Traverse to filter by date or keyword rather than digging through a bunch of papers.”

– FORMER MIS MANAGER, Richland County Children Services

Solution

The project kicked off in April 2018 as part of the statewide project to bring on around 4,000 child welfare workers.

Traverse software features:

  • Collect documents and collateral evidence in the field in connected or disconnected states
  • Complete state, local, and provider forms, assessments, and activity logs regardless of location or connectivity
  • Easily retrieve information using filters and text search
  • Share case content across the agency, other counties, and the state
  • Access transcribed audio and video files
  • Discover critical, previously hidden case information
  • Create case timelines to support county-, state-, and court-related mandates
  • Collaborate with peers and contracted service providers
  • Get support from in-app help such as interactive walk-through videos or live chat, in addition to the EDMS Help Desk
Integrations

Traverse is integrated with Ohio’s Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and Hyland Software’s OnBase®.

Case and client demographic information is pulled from SACWIS to Traverse. The real-time sync gives workers immediate access to the information anywhere, anytime regardless of connectivity. Social workers can also fill out activity logs (also referred to as case narratives or notes) in Traverse, which are sent back to SACWIS as data fields. Thanks to the collaboration of the Ohio SACWIS team, the integration reduces duplicative work for social workers.

Documents are also pulled in from OnBase into Traverse. As part of the project, Northwoods worked with counties to migrate local document management systems content into Traverse, ensuring that Traverse could become a true central repository for case content.

Collect case content

Caseworkers use Traverse’s web-based application in the office to scan and upload documents and a companion mobile app to easily take photos and complete forms during home visits. Northwoods has designed over 2,000 state, local and provider forms for workers to complete. Demographic information is autofilled into electronic forms from the web-based and mobile applications and electronic signatures can be applied.

“Traverse is organized almost like a table of contents, and you can find what you’re looking for so much easier than digging through a bunch of paper copies,” said the former MIS Manager for Richland County Children Services.

Case discovery

All the data and content collected is automatically analyzed by Traverse using artificial intelligence to surface hidden information to help caseworkers make informed, confident decisions about safety. Since implementing the project, over 21.5 million content items have been added to Traverse. Content is easy to search and retrieve, and workers can quickly extract critical information. This includes not only text from documents, but also 157,680 hours (or 18 years) worth of audio and video files that are now full text searchable.

“Having access to information and spending more time with family really improves our decision-making around keeping kids safe,” said Kara Davis, Performance, Evaluation, and Innovation Senior Manager, Cuyahoga County Children & Family Services.

“One of the key things to making good decisions is having access to historical information. Nobody has time to go through a case file of the last five years to figure out what’s going on with this family when you have to respond to an emergency about child safety.”

I love seeing our staff beaming with excitement over the opportunities Traverse will afford them over time. They see how this will make their jobs so much easier and help them be more efficient.”

– JULIE GILBERT, Director, Butler County Children Services

Results

Ohio child welfare social workers use Traverse to work from anywhere, bringing it with them into the field or accessing it from home or any remote location, to effortlessly collect case content and create case documentation. They use Traverse to easily collaborate with their peers and contracted service providers.

Insight into case history

Caseworkers leverage Traverse to gain new insights into their cases and achieve a holistic view of each child’s past and present. Traverse automates agency business processes and positively impacts how child welfare caseworkers interact with children, youth, and families.

“Traverse is reading every single word on every single paper that’s ever been in that file and it’s giving you information about that family,” Kara said.

“The ability to retrieve documents with Traverse is very beneficial. However, the system does so much more – case content discovery of common family themes, events, and people mentions. These features allow a supervisor, management, or newly assigned worker to quickly gain snapshots of the family,” said the former MIS Manager for Richland County Children Services.

More efficiency

Because caseworkers and social workers can securely share documents across program areas, the solution improves efficiency and allows workers to provide holistic service to the client.

“We’re being more efficient and we’re not being redundant in the work that we do. Traverse is one of the main tools that has allowed us to be more flexible. We can do our work from anywhere,” Kara said.

All data and information are encrypted and securely stored to maintain security requirements.

Support and retain workers

In this time of unprecedented burnout and turnover, providing tools to workers is helping support current staff and attract the next generation of workers.

“I think that having the technology itself really speaks to the younger generation. We are attracting them and maintaining them because they have the tools they need in order to do the job they have to do,” Kara said.

We are relying on a lot of support from the product itself. We rely on Traverse, which has internal training videos and live chat help.”

– KARA DAVIS, Performance, Evaluation, and Innovation Senior Manager, Cuyahoga County Children & Family Services

Additional Resources

Video

How Does Traverse Support Child Welfare Case Management Systems?
eBook

Modernizing Human Services: Technology’s Integral Role in Addressing Key Issues
Video

Traverse® Overview: Document Management, Forms Management, and Mobility

Jackson County Overcoming Burnout and Turnover with Dedicated Caseworker Support

With Case Aide Services by Northwoods, Jackson County JFS is supporting workers, promoting psychological safety, reducing burnout, and ensuring employee retention.

Summary

Like most agencies, staff at Jackson County Job and Family Services (JFS) were struggling to keep up with the demands of child welfare work as cases increase in both complexity and number. This contributed to increasing levels of staff burnout and turnover.

The agency partnered with Northwoods to provide Case Aide Services to workers in their investigation, adoption, and ongoing units, as well as the Ohio START program. Case Aide Services are a type of managed services, where our trusted team takes on workers’ most time-consuming tasks so they can focus on families.

Key results include:
  • Promoting worker and supervisor well-being.
  • Reducing the need for overtime.
  • Minimizing turnover and improve retention.
  • Focusing on families without sacrificing administrative work.
  • Improving key performance metrics to earn incentive funding.
  • Improving caseworker performance with the right partner.

We have been fortunate enough to see staff stay and continue working. As a result, staff are becoming better trained, developing their critical thinking skills, and becoming the ideal caseworkers that we need to have out in the field working with families and children.”

– TAMMY OSBORNE-SMITH, Director, Jackson County Job and Family Services

Overcoming Burnout and Turnover with Dedicated Caseworker Supporton

Jackson County JFS is supporting workers, promoting psychological safety, reducing burnout, and ensuring employee retention.

Download PDF

Challenges

Like most agencies, staff at Jackson County JFS were struggling to keep up with the demands of child welfare work as cases increase in both complexity and number.

“We have seen huge turnover in child welfare for the last several years and it all goes back to that feeling that there is simply more to be done than what is possible,” said Loree Walker, protective services program administrator.

Challenging cases contributing to burnout.
Loree noted several factors that have increased the mental and emotional burden on workers, including more cases involving substance use disorder, more families needing mental and behavioral health services, and placement visits being further away and straining workers’ already limited time.

“The caseloads are heavier. Every CPS worker needs more hands, more eyes, more ears, more time to complete all the requirements of this job and to do it well—to make sure that safety and well-being of children is kept as the focus,” she said.

“There is more crisis to cope with,” Loree added. “There is a need to urgently and quickly respond to families’ needs, and all this leads to increased pressure, overwhelming stress, and burnout.”

Balancing people work and paperwork.
Another key factor contributing to burnout and turnover was staff needing more help with their day-to-day work. They struggled to find balance between spending time with families with administrative tasks like data entry, making requests for information, getting records from providers, and completing referral forms.

“When I would have my supervision with my supervisor and I would make a to-do list, the to-do list felt very overwhelming and long and it would be stressful,” said Haley Grimm, social service worker/intake investigator.

“It often comes down to paperwork versus people work,” Loree said. “We know that both are needed, and both are important, but a caseworker needs to be out with families—engaging them, ensuring safety of children, building on their strengths, checking on safety plans.”

Case Aide Services has definitely helped with my stress level and my well-being. I don’t have as many things that I have to do. It’s not as overwhelming.”

– HALEY GRIMM, Social Service Worker/Intake Investigator, Jackson County Job & Family Services

Solution

“Day-to-day paperwork is critical and it’s essential to child protection case work,” said Tammy Osborne-Smith, director. “But it’s important for caseworkers to develop their skills to be in there with a family to make sure that they are assessing risk and focusing on transformational services that are going to help provide that family with the resources they need to overcome their barriers.”

This is why Jackson County JFS partnered with Northwoods to provide Case Aide Services to workers in their investigation, adoption, and ongoing units, as well as the Ohio START program.

“Case Aide Services provide staff with the ability to reallocate their time and dedicate themselves to focusing on child safety and well-being,” Tammy said. “Staff are actually able to shift their focus, provide services and support, and share resources with families and children versus working hours on end on data entry and obtaining documentation.”

Case Aide Services are a type of managed services, where our trusted team with child welfare experience has become an extension of Jackson County JFS staff. The agency’s Case Aide team takes on workers’ most time-consuming tasks so they can focus on families.

Here’s how it works:
1. Submit a request: Caseworkers can call, text, or submit a ticket through a portal to request help.

2. Set a deadline: Our team prioritizes tasks based on when workers need them completed.

3. View progress: All activities and communication are tracked through a portal so both workers and agency leadership can see the status of requests.

4. View completed tasks: Workers get an email letting them know when each task is completed.

Workers not only benefit from knowing that tasks have been completed, but also have the capacity to take further action if the task indicates that it’s needed (for example, reading and digesting the information in a report that the Case Aide team collected).

Workers also benefit from using Traverse®, Northwoods’ document management software, to store and share case information with their Case Aide team and to integrate with Ohio’s Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).

“The Case Aides can help with the releases of information, the getting of records, the referral forms, and putting documentation and details into Traverse and SACWIS to make sure that I’m doing my job more successfully, I have the records for my investigation, and I have anything I need to help the family,” Haley said. “We can spend more time talking with families, being out and in the field, and going on home visits. We have more time to do that because we don’t have to spend as much time on the paperwork.”

Services

Core Case Aide Services include:

  • Records Request
  • Supervision Support
  • Referral Support
  • Court Support
  • Client Visit Support
  • Community Resource Request
  • Placement Packets
  • Case Research
  • Document Organization
  • Staff Transition Support

Loree says having a team dedicated to organizing and prioritizing these administrative tasks allows workers to focus on what their priorities are. “That is the work that they do in the homes with families. That’s where they need to be, and that’s when we start seeing better outcomes for families,” she said.
Kristina Carlisle, social services supervisor, shared examples of how three of the core services have benefited her team so far:

Records Requests
A Case Aide team member can call external providers (think hospitals, schools, or counseling centers) to request medical records, behavioral health records, or education records, such as attendance reports or individualized education plans.

“There have been more records come into this agency since the time we’ve had Case Aide Services than I would say probably in the last five years or so,” Kristina said. “It’s been a great asset to our caseworkers, and it’s been a great asset to all of the leadership within Child Protective Services because there’s just so much more information that we’re getting on our families and the process has been very easy.”

Supervision (Case Conference) Support
Someone from the Case Aide team participates in scheduled case review sessions with Kristina and her staff to help identify to-do items, create tickets, and complete the related tasks. Because the Case Aide is tracking the to-do list, Kristina can focus her attention on the worker’s questions and concerns about the case.

“Whenever we have a review of the case, the Case Aide will volunteer to take on some tasks that they are able to do as far as reviewing the case, putting together discovery for court purposes, or even asking questions and going over the case with the staff,” Kristina said. “If we’re discussing a case and I say that we need medical records, then it is done right then and there. This has been very helpful.”

Court Support
The Case Aide team can help staff prepare for court hearings, remind them of key dates and legal deadlines, and compile documentation and records for the agency’s legal team.

“I know the Case Aide has familiarized themselves with the case before, met with my staff members, asked them questions, and talked about court testimony with them,” Kristina said. “Our Case Aide has met with our attorney and knows what the expectations are when they go to court, and the attorney has provided questions that the Case Aide would then go over with the staff member just so they can prepare answers.”

Results

Loree says Case Aide Services give Jackson County JFS workers the support they need to be successful. “It’s really not a luxury. It’s more of a necessity now to have that additional support to do this work,” she said. “The peace of mind of knowing that they had help has just been such an added value. It’s irreplaceable.”

“One of the biggest things that we’ve been working on is climate and culture,” Tammy said. “Creating a psychologically safe environment, supporting staff, reducing burnout, and ensuring employee retention is always a high priority. And through Case Aide Services, we’ve been able to support staff in new ways.”

Promoting worker and supervisor well-being.
Workers feel safe and seen by having a trusted professional to talk to who knows their work, has navigated similar situations, and can help them manage their ever-growing to-do list. “Case Aid Services has definitely helped with my stress level and my well-being overall. I don’t have as many things that I have to do. It’s not as overwhelming,” Haley said.

She credits Northwoods Case Aide Specialist Molly, with whom Haley routinely works, for making her work more manageable. “Molly has been there at every case conference and been able to take half of my workload. She is able to help out with so many things that I used to do on my own. Molly has been there for me when I’ve been overwhelmed and stressed with work, calling her and asking for help, and she’s told me ways that she can help me in creative ways that I wouldn’t think of,” Haley said.

Kristina said being able to ask the Case Aide team to provide administrative support is equally impactful for supervisors who often need to fill in to help staff. “I have several people that I’m supervising and don’t always have the amount of individual time that I would like to have to spend with each individual staff member,” Kristina said. “If I have a worker that is stressed out or has a lot to do, I may ask the Case Aide to check in with them. If I have somebody that’s removed three children or has multiple court hearings in the week, I may say that it’d be really nice if you could see if there’s anything you can do to assist. The Case Aide provides support to the workers in that way, which as a result helps me not have so much on my plate.”

Reducing the need for overtime, helping minimize turnover and improve retention.
Tammy said that staff have been able to reduce the amount of overtime they’re working, a lot of which was previously dedicated to data entry or making repeat phone calls to service providers to complete referrals and obtain records and documentation.
“Any time you can reduce overtime leads to a reduction in staff burnout. And when you reduce staff burnout, that contributes to and supports staff retention,” she said. “We have been fortunate enough to see staff stay and continue working. As a result, staff are becoming better trained, developing their critical thinking skills, and becoming the ideal caseworkers that we need to have out in the field working with families and children.”

Focusing on families without sacrificing administrative work.
Workers can rely on the Case Aide team to consistently complete administrative tasks accurately and on time when they’re on the road or have more pressing priorities or emergencies. “The caseworkers have more time to engage families because they are not worried about the administrative tasks that they’re not getting done when they’re not at the agency,” Kristina said.
She said it’s especially helpful that Case Aide team members are available throughout the day to consistently communicate with providers to quickly collect records and complete referrals. “The Case Aides are able to make calls and follow up on that information when a lot of times those are things that get lost with caseworkers because they’re out visiting people, trying to determine appropriate services, and maintain the safety of children.”

Improving key performance metrics and earning incentive funding.
With additional support from Case Aides, workers are now able to document their home visits faster, which helped them improve two key performance metrics: home visits completed and assessments/investigations completed on time.

Jackson County JFS improved the average percent of Composite Visits Met from 48.3% in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2022 to 86% in FFY 2023—a 38% improvement. As a result, the agency earned a one-time most improved financial Best Practice Incentive Award from the Office of Families and Children to support a positive workplace culture and worker well-being.

“When it comes to retaining staff, the fact that we got this incentive gives everybody the sense that we can reach our goals. The agency is in a better place when we’re high performing. Everybody wants to work someplace where they can be successful and feel good about what they’re doing,” Kristy said.

Improving caseworker performance with the right partner.
Tammy said Northwoods has demonstrated a commitment to serving clients for years and this collaborative partnership has been no exception. “The team at Northwoods has listened to our challenges, they’ve continued to develop improvements focusing on supporting the caseworkers, and those caseworkers are the ones that are out providing those critical services to families and children. Their profound understanding of this important work has been crucial in changing and improving the caseworker performance through Case Aide Services,” she said.

“Northwoods was able to be intuitive and to really problem solve and develop solutions to meet our unique needs here,” Loree added. “It became very apparent that their success was driven by our success. They want to help our workers to feel better about the jobs they’re doing and support them in this important work.”

It’s been a great asset to our caseworkers, and it’s been a great asset to all of the leadership within Child Protective Services because there’s just so much more information that we’re getting on our families and the process has been very east.

– KRISTINA CARLISLE, Social Services Supervisor, Jackson County Job and Family Services

Summary

Like most agencies, staff at Jackson County Job and Family Services (JFS) were struggling to keep up with the demands of child welfare work as cases increase in both complexity and number. This contributed to increasing levels of staff burnout and turnover.

The agency partnered with Northwoods to provide Case Aide Services to workers in their investigation, adoption, and ongoing units, as well as the Ohio START program. Case Aide Services are a type of managed services, where our trusted team takes on workers’ most time-consuming tasks so they can focus on families.

Key results include:
  • Promoting worker and supervisor well-being.
  • Reducing the need for overtime.
  • Minimizing turnover and improve retention.
  • Focusing on families without sacrificing administrative work.
  • Improving key performance metrics to earn incentive funding.
  • Improving caseworker performance with the right partner.

We have been fortunate enough to see staff stay and continue working. As a result, staff are becoming better trained, developing their critical thinking skills, and becoming the ideal caseworkers that we need to have out in the field working with families and children.”

– TAMMY OSBORNE-SMITH, Director, Jackson County Job and Family Services

Overcoming Burnout and Turnover with Dedicated Caseworker Supporton

Jackson County JFS is supporting workers, promoting psychological safety, reducing burnout, and ensuring employee retention.

Download PDF

Challenges

Like most agencies, staff at Jackson County JFS were struggling to keep up with the demands of child welfare work as cases increase in both complexity and number.

“We have seen huge turnover in child welfare for the last several years and it all goes back to that feeling that there is simply more to be done than what is possible,” said Loree Walker, protective services program administrator.

Challenging cases contributing to burnout.
Loree noted several factors that have increased the mental and emotional burden on workers, including more cases involving substance use disorder, more families needing mental and behavioral health services, and placement visits being further away and straining workers’ already limited time.

“The caseloads are heavier. Every CPS worker needs more hands, more eyes, more ears, more time to complete all the requirements of this job and to do it well—to make sure that safety and well-being of children is kept as the focus,” she said.

“There is more crisis to cope with,” Loree added. “There is a need to urgently and quickly respond to families’ needs, and all this leads to increased pressure, overwhelming stress, and burnout.”

Balancing people work and paperwork.
Another key factor contributing to burnout and turnover was staff needing more help with their day-to-day work. They struggled to find balance between spending time with families with administrative tasks like data entry, making requests for information, getting records from providers, and completing referral forms.

“When I would have my supervision with my supervisor and I would make a to-do list, the to-do list felt very overwhelming and long and it would be stressful,” said Haley Grimm, social service worker/intake investigator.

“It often comes down to paperwork versus people work,” Loree said. “We know that both are needed, and both are important, but a caseworker needs to be out with families—engaging them, ensuring safety of children, building on their strengths, checking on safety plans.”

Case Aide Services has definitely helped with my stress level and my well-being. I don’t have as many things that I have to do. It’s not as overwhelming.”

– HALEY GRIMM, Social Service Worker/Intake Investigator, Jackson County Job & Family Services

Solution

“Day-to-day paperwork is critical and it’s essential to child protection case work,” said Tammy Osborne-Smith, director. “But it’s important for caseworkers to develop their skills to be in there with a family to make sure that they are assessing risk and focusing on transformational services that are going to help provide that family with the resources they need to overcome their barriers.”

This is why Jackson County JFS partnered with Northwoods to provide Case Aide Services to workers in their investigation, adoption, and ongoing units, as well as the Ohio START program.

“Case Aide Services provide staff with the ability to reallocate their time and dedicate themselves to focusing on child safety and well-being,” Tammy said. “Staff are actually able to shift their focus, provide services and support, and share resources with families and children versus working hours on end on data entry and obtaining documentation.”

Case Aide Services are a type of managed services, where our trusted team with child welfare experience has become an extension of Jackson County JFS staff. The agency’s Case Aide team takes on workers’ most time-consuming tasks so they can focus on families.

Here’s how it works:
1. Submit a request: Caseworkers can call, text, or submit a ticket through a portal to request help.

2. Set a deadline: Our team prioritizes tasks based on when workers need them completed.

3. View progress: All activities and communication are tracked through a portal so both workers and agency leadership can see the status of requests.

4. View completed tasks: Workers get an email letting them know when each task is completed.

Workers not only benefit from knowing that tasks have been completed, but also have the capacity to take further action if the task indicates that it’s needed (for example, reading and digesting the information in a report that the Case Aide team collected).

Workers also benefit from using Traverse®, Northwoods’ document management software, to store and share case information with their Case Aide team and to integrate with Ohio’s Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).

“The Case Aides can help with the releases of information, the getting of records, the referral forms, and putting documentation and details into Traverse and SACWIS to make sure that I’m doing my job more successfully, I have the records for my investigation, and I have anything I need to help the family,” Haley said. “We can spend more time talking with families, being out and in the field, and going on home visits. We have more time to do that because we don’t have to spend as much time on the paperwork.”

Services

Core Case Aide Services include:

  • Records Request
  • Supervision Support
  • Referral Support
  • Court Support
  • Client Visit Support
  • Community Resource Request
  • Placement Packets
  • Case Research
  • Document Organization
  • Staff Transition Support

Loree says having a team dedicated to organizing and prioritizing these administrative tasks allows workers to focus on what their priorities are. “That is the work that they do in the homes with families. That’s where they need to be, and that’s when we start seeing better outcomes for families,” she said.
Kristina Carlisle, social services supervisor, shared examples of how three of the core services have benefited her team so far:

Records Requests
A Case Aide team member can call external providers (think hospitals, schools, or counseling centers) to request medical records, behavioral health records, or education records, such as attendance reports or individualized education plans.

“There have been more records come into this agency since the time we’ve had Case Aide Services than I would say probably in the last five years or so,” Kristina said. “It’s been a great asset to our caseworkers, and it’s been a great asset to all of the leadership within Child Protective Services because there’s just so much more information that we’re getting on our families and the process has been very easy.”

Supervision (Case Conference) Support
Someone from the Case Aide team participates in scheduled case review sessions with Kristina and her staff to help identify to-do items, create tickets, and complete the related tasks. Because the Case Aide is tracking the to-do list, Kristina can focus her attention on the worker’s questions and concerns about the case.

“Whenever we have a review of the case, the Case Aide will volunteer to take on some tasks that they are able to do as far as reviewing the case, putting together discovery for court purposes, or even asking questions and going over the case with the staff,” Kristina said. “If we’re discussing a case and I say that we need medical records, then it is done right then and there. This has been very helpful.”

Court Support
The Case Aide team can help staff prepare for court hearings, remind them of key dates and legal deadlines, and compile documentation and records for the agency’s legal team.

“I know the Case Aide has familiarized themselves with the case before, met with my staff members, asked them questions, and talked about court testimony with them,” Kristina said. “Our Case Aide has met with our attorney and knows what the expectations are when they go to court, and the attorney has provided questions that the Case Aide would then go over with the staff member just so they can prepare answers.”

Results

Loree says Case Aide Services give Jackson County JFS workers the support they need to be successful. “It’s really not a luxury. It’s more of a necessity now to have that additional support to do this work,” she said. “The peace of mind of knowing that they had help has just been such an added value. It’s irreplaceable.”

“One of the biggest things that we’ve been working on is climate and culture,” Tammy said. “Creating a psychologically safe environment, supporting staff, reducing burnout, and ensuring employee retention is always a high priority. And through Case Aide Services, we’ve been able to support staff in new ways.”

Promoting worker and supervisor well-being.
Workers feel safe and seen by having a trusted professional to talk to who knows their work, has navigated similar situations, and can help them manage their ever-growing to-do list. “Case Aid Services has definitely helped with my stress level and my well-being overall. I don’t have as many things that I have to do. It’s not as overwhelming,” Haley said.

She credits Northwoods Case Aide Specialist Molly, with whom Haley routinely works, for making her work more manageable. “Molly has been there at every case conference and been able to take half of my workload. She is able to help out with so many things that I used to do on my own. Molly has been there for me when I’ve been overwhelmed and stressed with work, calling her and asking for help, and she’s told me ways that she can help me in creative ways that I wouldn’t think of,” Haley said.

Kristina said being able to ask the Case Aide team to provide administrative support is equally impactful for supervisors who often need to fill in to help staff. “I have several people that I’m supervising and don’t always have the amount of individual time that I would like to have to spend with each individual staff member,” Kristina said. “If I have a worker that is stressed out or has a lot to do, I may ask the Case Aide to check in with them. If I have somebody that’s removed three children or has multiple court hearings in the week, I may say that it’d be really nice if you could see if there’s anything you can do to assist. The Case Aide provides support to the workers in that way, which as a result helps me not have so much on my plate.”

Reducing the need for overtime, helping minimize turnover and improve retention.
Tammy said that staff have been able to reduce the amount of overtime they’re working, a lot of which was previously dedicated to data entry or making repeat phone calls to service providers to complete referrals and obtain records and documentation.
“Any time you can reduce overtime leads to a reduction in staff burnout. And when you reduce staff burnout, that contributes to and supports staff retention,” she said. “We have been fortunate enough to see staff stay and continue working. As a result, staff are becoming better trained, developing their critical thinking skills, and becoming the ideal caseworkers that we need to have out in the field working with families and children.”

Focusing on families without sacrificing administrative work.
Workers can rely on the Case Aide team to consistently complete administrative tasks accurately and on time when they’re on the road or have more pressing priorities or emergencies. “The caseworkers have more time to engage families because they are not worried about the administrative tasks that they’re not getting done when they’re not at the agency,” Kristina said.
She said it’s especially helpful that Case Aide team members are available throughout the day to consistently communicate with providers to quickly collect records and complete referrals. “The Case Aides are able to make calls and follow up on that information when a lot of times those are things that get lost with caseworkers because they’re out visiting people, trying to determine appropriate services, and maintain the safety of children.”

Improving key performance metrics and earning incentive funding.
With additional support from Case Aides, workers are now able to document their home visits faster, which helped them improve two key performance metrics: home visits completed and assessments/investigations completed on time.

Jackson County JFS improved the average percent of Composite Visits Met from 48.3% in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2022 to 86% in FFY 2023—a 38% improvement. As a result, the agency earned a one-time most improved financial Best Practice Incentive Award from the Office of Families and Children to support a positive workplace culture and worker well-being.

“When it comes to retaining staff, the fact that we got this incentive gives everybody the sense that we can reach our goals. The agency is in a better place when we’re high performing. Everybody wants to work someplace where they can be successful and feel good about what they’re doing,” Kristy said.

Improving caseworker performance with the right partner.
Tammy said Northwoods has demonstrated a commitment to serving clients for years and this collaborative partnership has been no exception. “The team at Northwoods has listened to our challenges, they’ve continued to develop improvements focusing on supporting the caseworkers, and those caseworkers are the ones that are out providing those critical services to families and children. Their profound understanding of this important work has been crucial in changing and improving the caseworker performance through Case Aide Services,” she said.

“Northwoods was able to be intuitive and to really problem solve and develop solutions to meet our unique needs here,” Loree added. “It became very apparent that their success was driven by our success. They want to help our workers to feel better about the jobs they’re doing and support them in this important work.”

It’s been a great asset to our caseworkers, and it’s been a great asset to all of the leadership within Child Protective Services because there’s just so much more information that we’re getting on our families and the process has been very east.

– KRISTINA CARLISLE, Social Services Supervisor, Jackson County Job and Family Services

Let’s Get Started

Talk to a Northwoods social services expert to explore how our solutions can modernize your human services agency.

Get In Touch
Scroll to Top