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Carver County Cuts Paperwork Processes from Months to Minutes with Northwoods Software

One secure application for managing forms and paperwork is helping workers across multiple programs at Carver County Health & Human Services (HHS) save time and focus on serving the community.

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Summary

Carver County HHS’ workers were getting bogged down by manual, disjointed paperwork processes. It could take weeks or months to get certain documents and forms finalized, such as releases of information or MnCHOICES assessments and support plans, which could interrupt services for residents.

Since partnering with Northwoods to implement our client portal, Traverse® Connect, in addition to our web-based document management software, Traverse®, workers in the Child & Family and Home & Community-Based Care units have been able to streamline collaboration processes and decrease paperwork turnaround times, which improves continuity of care. Key benefits and results:

  • More focus on families
  • Less stress on workers
  • One secure and simple application
  • Consistent and up-to-date state and local forms
  • Easy-to-learn software from a reliable partner
When the family’s process goes faster, our process goes faster, and the provider’s process goes faster, then it doesn’t hold up services. They can move on to the next task that they need to, so we’re not slowing anybody down.”

– MICHELLE THACKERY, Case Aide, Carver County Health & Human Services

Carver County Cuts Paperwork Processes from Months to Minutes with Northwoods Software

One secure application for managing forms and paperwork is helping workers across multiple programs save time and focus on serving the community.

 

Read the Story

Challenges

Carver County HHS’ workers in the Child & Family and Home & Community-Based Care (HCBC) units were getting bogged down by manual, disjointed processes for completing paperwork. It could take weeks or months to get required documentation and signed forms back when hard copies and mail were involved, which could cause delays or interrupt services for residents.

Time-consuming processes

“I would type up all the paperwork, save it to my computer, print it out, and mail it to my families. Sometimes we would get things back a few weeks later and most often maybe a month or two later. Occasionally paperwork could get misplaced, and we would have to send it again. If something wasn’t filled out correctly or needed some additional information, we’d have to remail it out,” said Michelle Thackrey, Case Aide.

Even sending things electronically required multiple steps and programs, which made the process lengthier and more confusing. “They usually ended up having to print stuff off themselves on their end, sign it physically and then scan it back to us, which really kind of negates the whole idea of digital signatures,” said Melissa Mak, MnCHOICES Assessor.

Shifting to hybrid work

Existing processes simply didn’t hold up when workers couldn’t see customers in person during Minnesota’s COVID-19 peacetime emergency and now that they work in a hybrid model.

Even workers who do see families in person now are still adjusting to this new way of working. For example, Ashley Stender, Family Finding Social Worker, said that it can be time-consuming having to drive to the office to get everything together before going out to see a family if she didn’t have the necessary paperwork on her or at home.

Impact on families

“If we didn’t have that paperwork or if there were mailing delays, then their services were also delayed, which then in the home is causing behaviors and disruptions and sometimes hospitalizations. It was a nightmare,” said Rachel Rosckes, Social Work Case Manager in HCBC.

“The relative and the children are delayed in getting put into our system, which means that then they can be delayed in getting their payments and getting set up on medical assistance or other needed things like that,” Ashley said.

Keeping information secure

Disjointed processes often created security concerns, especially when sharing information with other counties or outside providers.

“If I tried to send five documents from my Outlook email to an outside agency, our automatic policy at the county was that it would get encrypted because it had certain information in it. That’s when the outside provider then would have a lot of issues with trying to open those attachments, never receiving them, or having problems in general just accessing those documents,” Melissa said.

Meeting mandates

Home and Community-Based Care Manager Brian Esch said mandates for required signatures and sharing documentation would often cause headaches for HCBC staff because there was so much paper involved in the process and it was hard to keep up with changes.

Child & Family Manager Shelly (Michelle) Selinger added that her child welfare staff felt the same burden of continual demands from legislators and the state.

Traverse Connect allows us to stay all in the same application. If you can stay in the same application and be the most efficient, that’s always going to be a win-win.”

– SHELLY SELINGER, Child & Family Manager, Carver County Health & Human Services

Solution

Carver County HHS simply needed a program that was designed to work how and where they do. “Time is always a social worker’s biggest hurdle. Anything that we could do to save time, it’s going to benefit us and we’re going to be more efficient,” Shelly said.

The agency has already implemented Traverse, our cloud-based document management, forms management, mobility, and case discovery software, to access and manage electronic case files and information that are available to everyone, regardless of location. Now, Traverse Connect helps workers engage and collaborate with clients and providers more efficiently and from anywhere too.

Traverse Connect is a secure portal built for clients, providers, and anyone outside of the agency that has a stake in the case. It simplifies collaboration, significantly reduces the time it takes to exchange information, and removes barriers and inefficiencies so that workers in both Child & Family and HCBC can focus on planning and providing the right care for the people they serve.

“Traverse Connect could be used in all sorts of different areas within our department, with pretty much any form that needs to be filled out or with a signature,” Ashley said.

Workers use Traverse Connect to share specific documents with stakeholders outside the agency and request signatures on forms. Clients, providers, or other external collaborators then use any device, wherever they are, to create a secure account to access the portal. They can view shared documents, sign forms, and upload case documentation to be automatically added to the electronic case file in Traverse once verified by a worker.

Here are some ways workers have used Traverse Connect to streamline their processes so far:

Collect missing signatures

Foster Care Licenser Angie Lunow was able to quickly collect a missing signature on a home safety checklist. “Rather than having to drive right back out to her home and have her sign on the iPad that we completed this, I was able to send her the document, and then she was able to sign it and send it right back,” Angie said. “It’s just so much more convenient. It gives me a chance to increase my customer service to everybody by being more efficient.”

Complete forms

Within five minutes, Ashley got two forms completed by a relative she needed to place kids. Previously it would have taken an hour at minimum, but most likely days if the relative wasn’t immediately available or lived outside the state. She was then able to route the completed forms to the financial department and another department within the agency that needed them right away, all within the same platform of Traverse.

Complete annual documentation

Rachel uses Traverse Connect to send required documents and forms to families to sign, and then collects the finalized versions back—all through the portal. “What used to take me two weeks with mailing information to a family took me 30 minutes from start to finish,” Rachel said. Since the final forms are automatically added to the client’s case file, it saves even more time and stress. “It’s super easy. Once they do fill it out and send it back, you don’t even have to worry about e-filing it, because it’s already done for you. You just click finish,” she added.

Collect releases of information

Tracy Omlie, Case Aide, was able to step in to help the Intake unit get a needed release of information for a personal care assistant (PCA) provider. She contacted the family and had a signed release returned in minutes. “The PCA provider needed a plan from us and the only way to do that was to get a signed release. If we didn’t have Traverse Connect, we would have been waiting who knows how long to get that release to the provider and to get the plan to them. So that was extremely helpful to able to get that back within minutes,” she said.

Prepare for audits

Melissa says getting signatures and being able to automatically add completed forms from customers to their case files will help with audits by the state. “They’re going to look for a signature on the one form that we’re supposed to get signatures on,” she said. “If it’s a client that’s open to using Traverse Connect, I’ll e-mail them to set up their account and I share the forms. Later the same day after sharing it with them, I have the signature back.”

It’s a smoother process for everyone. It goes to the parent, it comes back to us, and then we can finish it off with the provider. Instead of waiting two months, it takes two days.”

– TRACY OMLIE, Case Aide, Carver County Health & Human Services

Results

Shelly says the combination of Traverse and Traverse Connect allows Carver County HHS to achieve their goal of working in a hybrid method that supports both workers and county residents alike. “Traverse Connect allows us to stay all in the same application. If you can stay in the same application and be the most efficient, that’s always going to be a win-win,” she said.

Workers in both Child & Family and HCBC say Traverse Connect allows them to be more efficient. “It’s a smoother process for everyone. It goes to the parent, it comes back to us, and then we can finish it off with the provider, so instead of waiting two months, it takes two days,” Tracy said.

More focus on families

Perhaps most important is that paperwork no longer stands in the way of workers’ ability to get residents the services and resources they need. “When the family’s process goes faster, our process goes faster, and the provider’s process goes faster, then it doesn’t hold up services. They can move on to the next task that they need to, so we’re not slowing anybody down,” Michelle said.

This allows workers to prioritize customers’ well-being, even while keeping up with mandated requirements. “It’s not even a paperwork thing, it’s providing care to our clients,” Rachel said. “We need the paperwork, the releases of information to talk to other agencies and providers, so it helps with continuity of care too, not just remaining in DHS compliance.”

Ashley added that Traverse Connect is especially helpful during high-stress situations where families don’t want to deal with paperwork on top of everything else. “All of the forms that I would give a relative were in one spot and they didn’t have to search through stuff for it,” she said. “It saves time, and then I’m able to put that time into more conversation with the family. It’s also helpful for the family to have everything in that one spot that they can go to reference or go back to fill it out after I leave.”

Lastly, Tracy says that because workers no longer have to bug families to get their paperwork done, parents have more time to focus on what’s really important—their kids and their family.

Less stress on workers

“It’s a lot less tracking, a lot less worrying what I need to follow up on or what I need to take care of, yet it’s very simplistic,” Rachel said. “It takes worries away that you didn’t realize you were worrying about.”

Tracy no longer worries that her customers’ services may lapse because their paperwork is delayed. “My stress level about having a late service agreement is gone. I don’t have to worry about that anymore because we get the paperwork back,” she said.

Shelly also noted how the technology helps workers feel like they’re never alone. “In child welfare, one of the biggest burdens we have is when workers have the responsibility of an entire family’s or child’s safety on their own shoulders,” she said. “Being able to share that responsibility across the department to support our workers is really important.”

One secure and simple application

Workers’ increased focus on clients and the community and decreased stress levels are both a direct result of streamlined, secure paperwork processes that are all handled within Traverse and Traverse Connect. “All parts of the process can be completed in Traverse Connect. I can pre-fill forms or send forms to a recipient to fill out and sign in Traverse Connect. I can receive forms back in Traverse Connect and finish the form and it is uploaded straight to the file. The process is more organized,” Michelle said.

“We don’t have loose forms sitting around,” Shelly said. “They’re all contained in one secure application, which is Traverse.”

“The less systems that case managers have to delve into, the more they like it. They already have enough with Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and programs that we have to access with them,” Brian said. “It was nice to keep it all in one package. It’s continuity and a familiar system that’s shared across many different units in different areas.”

Consistent and up-to-date state and local forms

Knowing that forms are always up to date—and consistently stored in a way that is tailored to Carver County—helps the agency keep up with requirements.

“We work in a very bureaucratic world with a lot of different programs in our area and they all had different forms that would seem to get updated every year. Before social workers would use different forms or have outdated copies. With this system we were able to lock in that when they pull up a form, it would be the most current one, which is really huge for us,” Brian said. “The biggest thing that I get concerned about as a manager is quality assurance. We have to constantly report back to the state of Minnesota what’s been done, and I think systems like this allow us to get those needs met.”

Easy-to-learn software from a reliable partner

The software is so simple that Rachel caught on even though she could only attend half of the training. “It’s literally one simple step. It takes 30 seconds to a minute to add a collaborator to the person’s case and then it’s super easy from there,” she said.

Both leadership and frontline workers also agree that having Northwoods as a partner made the process of learning and adopting Traverse Connect that much smoother. “We’re not just left to figure it out on our own or feel like we don’t have anyone to turn to if we have some big questions,” Melissa said. “I also appreciate that when we do give feedback, it’s received.”

“Northwoods has always been there, and you listen to us,” Shelly said. “It feels like you understand the world of social work and how chaotic it can be, and you’re trying to find ways to really support us.”

Traverse Connect could be used in all sorts of different areas within our department, with pretty much any form that needs to be filled out or with a signature.”

– ASHLEY STENDER, Family Finding Social Worker, Carver County Health & Human Services

Additional Resources

Blog

Meet Traverse Connect: Our Portal to Engage Clients and Collaborators
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

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