Juvenile justice related blogs
Multi-County Juvenile Detention Center Upgrades to RiteTrack for Facility Management
The Multi County Juvenile Detention Center (MCJDC), in Lancaster Ohio, is a 48-bed facility that went live with RiteTrack in 2018. Multi County was using an old detention management system primarily for intake. Their old system could not manage incident reports, room confinement calculations or youth personal property. This system also didn’t allow for data collection or reporting capabilities, and the facility relied on paper documentation and Excel spreadsheets to supplement it and help run the organization.
Register to watch the case study recording where you can hear the director and assistant director of MCJDC discuss their experiences with implementing and using RiteTrack as their case management and reporting database system.
You may be able to relate to the Director of the MCJDC, Dana Moore, who said in the past if she wanted medical information on a youth or to see if a social worker met with a youth that she would have to ask the staff. Now with RiteTrack all Director Moore must do is open the youth’s file in RiteTrack, and all the information on a youth is stored in one easily accessible location. Moore can see how many incident reports she had, the type of incident reports, along with demographic data on the youth at the facility.
Director Moore also reported that staff is more engaged with the youth. The staff feel more empowered in their interactions as they have access to information on youth. MCJDC employees also report that the RiteTrack system is easy to use, and they can locate information quickly. Dana and the MCJDC staff report that intakes are completed in less than half the time it took previously which enables staff to have more time to provide service to the youth.
Handel worked closely with MCJDC to customize reports that provide Moore with up-to-the-minute data on what’s occurring in the facility as well as summarizing the previous day’s events involving the youth. Director Moore is now able to utilize a case management and facility management system that meets the requirements of the State of Ohio and facilitates real-time data collection. Required annual reports often took days to compile but are now completed within a few moments drawing from the data entered daily into RiteTrack. These reports can be exported to Excel or PDF formats as well. Exporting to these formats from RiteTrack is standard functionality.
One of the biggest differences Director Moore sees between the previous solutions and RiteTrack is the support provided by Handel. “With the old vendor there could be days of e-mailing back and forth before we could get an answer,” but with Handel she said “I always get an immediate response with we call even on evenings or weekends. It doesn’t matter because the project manager was always there for us.”
For more information about RiteTrack or to schedule a demonstration click here.
Better Today than Yesterday: Managing JDAI Standards and Reporting
Watch this recording of the Managing JDAI Standards and Reporting webcast.
Many juvenile justice communities strive to comply with JDAI standards but struggle with the required JDAI data collection.
During this webinar, we examined how RiteTrack increases your facility’s capabilities to measure, track and report on its JDAI efforts. We will also review how JDAI communities can utilize such a system to analyze data and formulate questions related to JDAI information. This comprehensive system provides the framework needed to help any facility adhere to evolving JDAI standards.
The secret lies in documenting and tracking this in the daily case management functions. RiteTrack’s JDAI reporting produces comprehensive reports for race, gender, age, and geography, as well as other requirements including daily population counts, quarterly reports, etc. Additionally, it compiles the required JDAI reporting in real time and eliminates a separate method of JDAI data collection.
Key features from the system that were demonstrated included:
- Tracking assessments
- Tracking treatment plans & progress notes
- Generating JDAI reports (race, gender, age, geography, etc.)
- Reporting on facility data
- Incidents
- Room confinements
- Restraints
- Reporting for JDAI requirements (daily population counts, quarterly reports, etc.)
RiteTrack’s sophisticated web-based interface and industry-best security model ensures only the right people have access to appropriate and relevant information from any location. Including JDAI compliance, standards and reporting.
So, whether you are running a county detention facility or a JDAI community, you should take a look at this offering because RiteTrack supports an emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation, along with resident and facility management.
Multi-County Juvenile Detention Center Shares Benefits of RiteTrack
When the Multi-County Juvenile Detention Center in Ohio decided to implement a new case management software system two years ago, they had several goals in mind:
- Replace Excel spreadsheets and paper forms with a centralized, web-based software
- Improve internal operations and outcomes through better information
- Ease the process of generating and submitting information to outside agencies
The MCJDC is a 48-bed facility that serves boys and girls. They accept youth from four Ohio Counties: Fairfield, Licking, Hocking, and Perry. In the fall of 2017, Multi-County chose the RiteTrack Juvenile Case Management software from Handel Information Technologies. The implementation project kicked off in late October 2017 and Multi-County went live on their new system on January 1, 2018.
During a recent webinar, Steve Koenig from Handel sat down with Dana Moore, Multi-County Superintendent, and Bret Sark, Deputy Superintendent, to discuss their experience with RiteTrack (RT) some 15 months after going live.
The following is a summary of some of the key takeaways from this conversation. Some of the wording has been paraphrased for clarity and in some cases similar topics have been grouped together.
Why a New Case Management System?
Multi-County is required to report back to various stakeholders. With the old process it was very tedious and sometimes outright difficult to find, collect, and report back good information.
The old process consisted of many disjointed systems including multiple Excel spreadsheets, paper forms, and a case management database. In many cases, one employee may have a specific spreadsheet for specific information that would not be shared with others. According to Dana Moore, when someone requested information or staff needed information there was generally a lot of time wasted running around looking for the data or even finding the person who had the statistics. “It was not only difficult gathering the information we needed to make decisions and to provide services to the youth served, but it was also very difficult compiling the necessary reports required both internally and externally,” she says.
“With the new system, we have instant access to all the information we need at our fingertips. When someone calls for information we no longer have to say ‘Hold, please; we will get back with you.’ We can give instant answers, and we now have high quality information readily accessible so that we can make decisions in real-time.”
RiteTrack also gives them a battery of standard reports as well as reports specifically customized for them so that they now can provide feedback to their stakeholders with the click of a button.
Key Outcomes
Dana and Brett repeatedly mention the importance of having a centralized, web-based system, where data is available in real-time. Yet, security for sensitive information is also vital. Access to the centralized system is set up through different security groups so that individuals logging on to the system have access only to the information required for them to do their jobs. For instance, law enforcement personnel may just have access to basic client demographics, whereas a shift manager may access incident reports, restraints, and room-confinement information.
The focus of this initial phase has been on the intake process which is the heart of their operation. Dana says they were surprised to find out how many of their needs were met by RiteTrack “directly out of the box.” They had initially expected that they would need to do several customizations but decided to dive in and discover what RiteTrack could do for them at the start. What they found was that RT right away met most of their needs and so they were able to keep customizations to a minimum.
“There isn’t any information from our facility that doesn’t go into RT somewhere,” says Dana. She believes that having all this information allows staff to be better at time management which makes them more efficient and which ultimately leads to better decision-making.
Another key benefit Dana mentions is RT’s ability to export data to Excel. Since all staff are very familiar with Excel, this is of great value. RiteTrack gives them a centralized system for all their data but they can still export to Excel and do further data analysis as needed.
A further benefit Dana declares is that their paper consumption has been cut in half since implementing RT. Not only that, but they have been able to scale back their copier contract also and these translate to some significant financial savings.
Brett additionally explains how some of the reports in RiteTrack have helped improve the quality of information. “The Missing Data Report gives us direct insight into what important data fields our employees may miss, and we can catch those mistakes and correct them. In the past these have gone undetected and have caused problems down the road. Having access to staff information, attendance, and performance records is also very valuable.”
Best Practices
Multi-County went live after only two months of implementation work. Dana credits this speedy process to their willingness to see how much they could use the system right “out of the box” and not to over-customize RT. “Once we dived in, we actually cut in half what we thought we needed to customize,” she says. She strongly emphasizes the importance of plunging in rather than doing too much speculation as to what an agency may want. She recognizes that change is hard, and most employees don’t like big changes. Yet, she has found that her employees picked up RiteTrack very quickly. “It is so intuitive,” she adds. “After just basic training, our employees figured it out. It also helps that the system is organized very logically and that it guides us through the intake process step-by-step.” Talking about the go-live date on January 1, 2018 she readily says, “We didn’t have a single glitch that first day. All of our data was there and our reports were spot on.”
Dana and Bret also credit Handel’s Project Manager, Jeanne Wolcott, and Steve Koenig for being instrumental in their success. “There were times when it would have been really easy to hit the panic button had we not had Jeanne on the other end to guide us and give us ready answers. When we needed help, she would jump and do a screenshare, showing us how to do things.”
“During the week that your staff spent here at the initial kick-off, you pulled in someone from every side of the facility to answer questions such as: What are your needs and what do your reports look like? You were able to understand our needs and then demonstrate how RT could meet those needs. I can’t imagine a better process. That was huge. Everyone felt valued and it was a big part of getting everyone’s buy-in. They felt that they were heard.”
“The success for us was the team you provided. It made the transition very seamless and positive. Doing the project in smaller phases is also something I strongly recommend.”
On-Going Support
Brett and Dana are both very complimentary about their experience since going live in January 2018. “Handel’s support is absolutely first class.” When asked about the biggest difference between their former vendor and Handel, Dana doesn’t hesitate, “With the old vendor, there could be days of emailing back and forth before we could get an answer. With Handel we get an immediate response when we call—evenings, weekends, or even holidays. It doesn’t matter. Jeanne is always there for us.”
She brings up an example of a recent incident. Ohio Department of Youth Services recently visited them and needed a report in a very specific format. RiteTrack didn’t have a report in the exact format they needed so they called Handel. Within one hour they had their report. “This is almost unheard of,” Dana recounts.
Future Expansion
As Multi-County continues to realize the immense impact RiteTrack has had on their operations, Dana says she is making plans for future expansions. “Our next goal is to expand RT into the clinical area so that our medical department can use it. We also plan to implement support for the Topaz signature pad.”
“When a mandate comes down requiring some new report, we have the confidence that RiteTrack can provide the answers.”
Register to watch the recording here.
Implementing and Monitoring PREA Standards with a Data System
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) passed in 2003 was to provide for the research and analysis of the incidents of prison rape. While this is focused mostly on the adult corrections system, PREA also is monitored in juvenile detention facilities as well.
Handel has worked closely with our customers to build implementations for juvenile facilities to manage the complexities of PREA standards. Whether your facility is beginning to incorporate these tracking standards or is overwhelmed by the intricacies or find they have become burdensome, register to watch this recording exploring a RiteTrack implementation that incorporated PREA seamlessly.
PREA standards require the use of risk assessments, PREA-related questions (e.g., sexual orientation, gender identification, etc.), agency documentation, and reporting to reach the outlined goals in the initiative.
During this recording, we will demonstrate those features in RiteTrack plus the following:
- Client intakes
- Progress notes
- Risk assessments
- Medical documentation
- Room assignments
- Staff training documentation
- Outside agency documentation
- Record keeping
- Data generation
- PREA reporting
Handel has implemented RiteTrack software in numerous juvenile facilities, juvenile detention and juvenile treatment facilities. Register and watch this recording to see how RiteTrack assists facilities in the day-to-day operations as well as incorporating required PREA standards.