Stewards of Change is bridging our research and practice to provide real world scenarios about the successes and challenges that child welfare and human services organizations face as they create new consumer-centric models of care. These articles include various perspectives about how to leverage business models and technology to support new approaches and service models.

 

Mecklenburg County Takes an Automation Journey
By Richard W. Jacobsen, Jr., Mecklenburg County Executive in Residence, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Institute for Social Capital
Quality employee and customer experiences as well as smooth business operations are core to this North Carolina County’s new Integrated Social Services System.

 

SOA: Don’t Start From Scratch
By Rick Friedman, CMS/US DHHS
By leveraging Medicaid’s flexible IT architecture, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency discovered ways to share data across boundaries, setting an example for other behavioral health agencies.

 

Allegheny County DHS: Extreme Makeover
After a tragic system failure, a Pennsylvania Department of Human Services decided a nip-tuck wouldn’t do. More than a decade later, the dramatic transformation to a fully integrated cross-agency system is complete, with organizational, technological and cultural lessons learned for all.
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Re-engineering America’s Social Safety Net: the Person-Centric Initiative
By Cindy Wright, Thomas Wright Partners
America’s social safety net is flawed in its construction. It needs fundamental re-engineering to support each individual in reaching self-defined life goals.

 

A Lego-like IT architecture based on data-sharing and standards helps transform a traditional, turf-based public system into a cost-effective, customer-first model.

 

Camellia Project Update: Alabama’s HH S Departments Knock Down Silos
By Cathy R. Crabtree, Associate Commissioner,
Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
An interoperability program involving five state agencies and numerous community partners is under way in the Yellowhammer state, eliminating barriers to eligibility and improving client access to services.

 

KY-Child: A Star is Born
By Kathy Frye, CIO/Deputy Executive Director, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Kentucky’s innovative system streamlines reporting and sharing of birth records and newborn health data.

 

New Jersey’s One eaSe e-link: Harder than it Seemed
By William G. Kowalski
The Garden State’s network of coordinated social, health and employment services proved impossible to sustain. Here are 14 interoperability obstacles to avoid.

 

20/20 hindsight illuminates what not to do when you’re implementing large IT projects.