No organization wants their consumers to have a poor experience. But the consequences of negative experiences aren’t all equal. A delivery issue for the home goods product you ordered is an inconvenience, but ultimately a minor one.
In the world of the justice system, accurate data and efficient, connected systems are paramount. The stakes are incredibly high with outcomes having significant impacts on people’s lives. But it’s not easy to manage effectively.
For the juvenile system specifically, it is a complex ecosystem where a number of providers and agencies may be involved. A youth is not able to go home and the court must decide what to do, with a number of providers and jurisdictions potentially coming into play. And when dealing with youth in need, collaboration is critical. The organization, accuracy, and security of data being processed requires integrated platforms operating in real time.
The good news is that the justice market is going through a period of disruption, and organizations like ours are working to help agencies process high volumes of children efficiently and safely. To do it, several barriers have to be removed, such as:
The solution to solve these issues is a link between the court administration system and case management system. That can be done with a tool we call a Youth Placement Exchange. The goal is for this exchange to serve as an integration platform between the court administration system (which could be on Salesforce or Tyler) and the service provider’s Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) system. Then you can integrate platforms from system to court and court to system, or create synchronized data between the two.
What agencies need is a solution that can take data such as intake forms, incident and court reports, case notes, and more and make that information readily accessible and shared between the court and service providers’ systems. And to do that, you have to make connections between previously disparate systems.
Think about what you have once you are able to seamlessly connect both sides working on these cases. The data necessary to make the best decision can be shared securely and accurately, and also in the proper context, as you can associate documents with their records, as an example. And it removes the need for both the court and the service provider involved to enter data – which can cause duplication issues.
This not only benefits the youths, who the process is serving to begin with, by improving program outcomes through useful data that can help reduce trauma. But it also has a major impact on the employees involved, from the caseworkers and prosecutors to the judges and private provider partners. The user-centric system increases productivity and promotes quality and compliance by automatically syncing data captured throughout the life of a case. By making the job easier and taking away some of the stresses and pressures that come with the occupation, you’re reducing turnover and keeping experienced and talented employees to continue making a positive impact.
Government agencies are broadly realizing and jumping on the benefits of more modern, centralized technology platforms. And it looks as if the justice system is gearing up for a disruptive period where they are transforming the way in which these agencies work and collaborate. And the juvenile justice system is front and center in seeking to create a better and more accurate experience for everyone involved.
