Technology Awards

IT Recognition Award Recipients

January 2005

Department of Social Services
Missouri Children’s Division Comprehensive DCN History Report Project

Recipients:

Christy M. Bullock
Jan L. Schneider
Mark Finnell
Randall O. Wagner
Ruth A. Eggemeyer
Cory M. Heislen
Lesley M. Pettit
Art Luebbering
Missy Phillips

Project Description

The Children’s Division of the Missouri Child Abuse/Neglect Hotline Unit (CANHU) received 84,939 reports of child abuse/neglect (CA/N) last year. The CA/N Hotline a 24 hour per day, seven days per week operation is manned by 44 trained and experienced Children’s Division workers.   Within moments of receiving a CA/N report, information is forwarded electronically to one of the 114 county offices or the city of St. Louis office for investigation, an assessment must be initiated within 24 hours, or immediately when it is determined that the child is in imminent danger.

Taking into consideration the critical need to place accurate information in the hands of the workers as quickly as possible, Department of Social Services, Information Services and Technology Division (ISTD) staff implemented a computer software application known as the Missouri Children’s Division Comprehensive DCN History Report.  It effectively provides a better, faster and more comprehensive view of client history in place of what was once very cumbersome and time consuming process.  

Acting on local concerns the Local Investment Commission (LINC), a community partner, worked with Children’s Division staff in the Kansas City, Mo. area to produce a document that outlined that area’s needs pertaining to management and client reporting.  It was delivered to the Information Services and Technology Division (ISTD) applications staff, who used it as a starting point for developing a reporting application utilizing Information Builders’ WebFocus software. The ISTD WebFocus development team worked with Children’s Division staff to expand on the requirements outlined in the document, adding functionality and data elements to assure that the application was valuable to staff in all areas of the state. 

The Comprehensive DCN History application is comprised of a number of reports that give Children’s Division staff an abundance of information on the entire history of a Department of Social Services (DSS) client. The worker enters a DCN (Departmental Client Number), which is a unique identifying number assigned to all clients within DSS programs. The initial report is a view of the DCN history within the Children’s Division, broken down into Child Abuse and Neglect (CA/N) History, Family Centered Services (FCS) History, Intensive In-Home Services (IIS) History, and Alternative Care (ACS) History. If more detailed information is needed, the worker can drill-down on various links to obtain numerous other reports which contain more detailed information on the client’s activity in any of the four systems involved.

One of the unique characteristics of the Comprehensive DCN History application is the fact that the information contained in the reports covers such a large time span. The sheer magnitude of the data that has to be processed to produce the reports accounted for some of the major challenges in the development of the application.

The project was a success and the application currently:

• provides better information to front-line staff working on CA/N cases.
• reduces the time and expense involved in producing a comprehensive report (a full report can be produced in less than 5 minutes)

This project has benefited not only the Children’s Division staff, but also potentially, hundreds of families who are receiving, or will be receiving, services from the division. The ease of accessing information helps caseworkers make better, more informed decisions that may be critical to the safety and well being of children.

In April of 2004 the Comprehensive DCN History application received the Computerworld Honors award.  The Computerworld Honors Medal of Achievement is awarded annually to men and women around the world who have made outstanding progress for society through the visionary use of information technology,” said Patrick J McGovern, Chairman of the Computerworld honors Chairmen’s committee and founder of International Data Group.  It has been included in the prestigious Smithsonian Institution’s Permanent Research Collection. The 2004 Collection, which will now be archived in libraries, museums, academic and research institutions around the world, will serve as primary source material for scholars and as a resource for individuals who hope to use information technology to create solutions to address their own challenges.

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