Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention derives priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/239,770 entitled “SOFTWARE SYSTEM FOR QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF SOCIAL SERVICES”, filed: Oct. 12, 2000.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to a social service case management and, more particularly, to a method for the tracking and assessment of social services data in a knowledge base that provides quantitative accountability for social services based on reduction of barriers. The method is implemented in software form with a navigable user interface.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Background  
           [0005]    State legislatures are pressuring agencies to become more efficient in the delivery of social services. Unfortunately, while many agencies excel at providing quality services, there is currently very little that an agency can do to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of its counselors. Surveys have been completed which show that counselors do very little evaluation of their work with clients, and as many as 40% of counselors report doing no evaluation. When evaluation is done, it tends to be with the client in the session by asking the client if the session was helpful. No quantitative assessment is made of the impact of counseling on the client&#39;s situation. Consequently, there is currently no reliable way for an agency to assess the effectiveness of its counselors, or just as important, for counselors to quantify their performance to their agencies. Previously, managers and consultants did not place a high priority on evaluating counseling effects. However, funding pressures are emphasizing the need for efficiency, and that is forcing the need for assessment. Indeed, counselors are beginning to see that without data to attest to their successes, their jobs are vulnerable. Survey results indicate that up to 42% of counselors do not know to what extent their supervisors&#39; expectations were being met. This presents a high risk that program administrators may assume that counseling is not necessary. Counselors need to become more active at marketing what they do and the results they achieve (i.e., the nature of service, nature of program, results of evaluation). They know this and yet can do nothing about it. Unfortunately, there is no generally-accepted method of collecting and evaluating counseling data. Few models exist for evaluating the actual effects of counseling, and Counselors and managers need a functional assessment approach. The present inventor has found that it is possible to map barriers to client progress. For example, in career counseling, clients have specific “barriers” to productivity including: a lack of belief in self; low motivation to change; belief that potential for success is low; finances (especially for clients in colleges and CECs); family responsibilities (especially for clients in college or working mothers); and unemployment. It is possible to map the major career-related problems within the context of the client&#39;s life. Given the barriers to success, the Counselors can be more prepared to work with clients to help them overcome the barriers they face. This improves the Counselor&#39;s effectiveness and efficiency. More importantly for the present purposes, it provides a foothold for objective assessment: a model for evaluating the actual effects of counseling based on reducing or eliminating barriers. It would therefore be greatly advantageous to provide a method and means for assessing social service case workers based on an objective prioritized mapping of barriers to client progress. It would also be advantageous to implement this new form of evaluation model as software in a distributed computing environment tom increase visibility and use across at all levels in the organization, with supervisors sharing their evaluations with workers and vice versa. This would help to ensure an integrated approach to service delivery.  
           [0006]    Currently, there are many existing systems for electronic storage and retrieval of information that are specially adapted in certain respects to various industries. For example, Key-word search engines like Pubmed® allow users to find articles based on Boolean combinations of MESH headings, author, or keyword string searches. These are currently not well-adapted for social service case management because the data is so highly subjective and is scattered across heterogeneous databases that are difficult to link and query. Consequently, there is a need to develop a better system for the storage, retrieval and interpretation of case management information, based on the barrier-mapping model, in order to track and help achieve optimal clinical and financial patient outcomes.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a software method for the storage and querying of social service data on the basis of defined social services, general customer demographics, specific customer biographical data, and defined outcomes.  
           [0008]    It is another object to provide a system to help manage and coordinate resources for the achievement of optimal clinical and financial patient outcomes, and to facilitate collaborative patient care management across the continuum of available social services.  
           [0009]    It is another object to assist in developing, implementing, revising and reporting activities related to any case management program.  
           [0010]    It is another object to record information about social-service clients in a database that can be accessed by multiple users at one or more sites.  
           [0011]    According to the present invention, these and other objects are accomplished by providing a system for social service case management tat facilitates storage and querying of social services data in a knowledge base that provides quantitative accountability for social services via a navigable user interface. The method includes the tracking and assessment of social services based on a defined list of client barriers to success, and it then objectively tracks progress of the social worker based on the reduction and/or elimination of those barriers. The invention also comprises an implementation of the foregoing method in software form which facilitates the guided compilation of a knowledge base that quantifies the barriers to success, facilitates objective tracking of progress toward the reduction and/or elimination of those barriers, and which generates tangible results by structured querying of the knowledge base and generation of evaluate progress. The collected information is incorporated into a structured relational database whereby storage tables are inter-related by one or more shared fields. All of the foregoing method steps are administered to and by the social worker using a navigable user interface. The graphical user interface includes a plurality of single-click buttons each for initiating a predetermined SQL query for allowing a user to generate a report for maintaining quantitative accountability for social services. The software method is combined with suitable hardware for implementation of the entire system. The hardware may include a conventional computer workstation with standard internal components such as a microprocessor with peripheral chipset mounted on an appropriate motherboard, storage, a monitor, a modem, a standard input device such as a mouse, and an operating system such as Microsoft Windows. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and certain modifications thereof when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the general method steps according to the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a screen print of an exemplary “Add Participant” screen.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a screen print of an exemplary “Participant Demographics” screen.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a screen print of an exemplary Progress Element (or Record Efforts) entry/update screen.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a screen print of an exemplary Barrier entry/update screen.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a screen print of an exemplary “Update Participant Previous Employment” screen.  
         [0019]    FIGS.  7 A- 7 C are a tabular listing of the preferred relational links between fields in the above described knowledgebase tables.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is a screen print of an exemplary Basic Client Information Report profiling a given client.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 9 is a screen print of an exemplary caseworker report with total client contact information for a given caseworker.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 10 is a screen print of an exemplary Barrier statistics report.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 11 is an example “Efforts to Outcomes” report.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 12 is an example “Barrier Reduction Report” report. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]    The present invention is a method for the tracking and assessment of social services based on defining client barriers to success and then objectively tracking progress of the social worker based on the reduction and/or elimination of those barriers. The invention also comprises an implementation of the foregoing method in software form which facilitates the guided compilation of a knowledge base that quantifies the barriers to success, facilitates objective tracking of progress toward the reduction and/or elimination of those barriers, and which generates tangible results by structured querying of the knowledge base and generation of evaluate progress. All of the foregoing steps are administered to the social worker by a navigable user interface.  
         [0026]    The basic method of the present system in this context are based on a model involving five specific categories of information regarding: 1) the social service provider, 2) the client, 3) client barriers to success inclusive of severity, 4) client outcome, and 4) general demographic data. FIG. 1 is flow chart illustrating the general method steps according to the present invention.  
         [0027]    At step  100  the agency and/or individual case managers enter baseline information for each case worker inclusive of basic identifier information such as LastName, FirstName, Case Worker ID#, Employment Date, Position, and other informational fields as desired.  
         [0028]    At step  200  the individual case manager, once assigned to a client, enters baseline client information regarding each client inclusive of social security number, name address, ethnicity, gender, etc. Basic client data is used to populate a relational database table as shown below.  
                                                     “Clients” Table            Name   Datatype   Null Option   Is PK   Is FK               SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       FirstName   varchar(20)   NOT NULL   No   No       MiddleInitial   char(1)   NULL No   No       LastName   varchar(40)   NOT NULL   No   No       OtherPhone   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       PhoneNumber   char(20)   NULL No   No       Address1   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       Address2   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       City   varchar(30)   NULL No   No       State   char(2)   NULL No   No       ZipCode   char(5)   NULL No   No       Ethnicity   smallint   NULL No   Yes       Gender   varchar(50)   NULL No   Yes       ClientDOB   smalldatetime   NULL No   No       MaritalStatus   smallint   NULL No   Yes       NonCustodialParent   bit   NULL No   No       TCAExhaustee   bit   NULL No   No       LanguageSpoken   varchar(30)   NULL No   No       SourceOfIncome   smallint   NULL No   Yes       I9SocialSecurityCard   bit   NULL No   No       I9BirthCertificate   bit   NULL No   No       I9DriverLicense   bit   NULL No   No       I9LicenseNumber   varchar(30)   NULL No   No       I9LicenseType   smallint   NULL No   Yes       EducationGoal   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       EducationHighestGrade   smallint   NULL No   No       Attended       EducationLastYearInSchool   datetime   NULL No   No       GED   bit   NULL No   No       EducationProjectedGED   datetime   NULL No   No       Date       ProfessionalLicenses   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       MilitaryServiceEntry   datetime   NULL No   No       MilitaryServiceDis-   bit   NULL No   No       charge       MilitaryServiceDischarge   smallint   NULL No   Yes       Type       MilitaryBranch   smallint   NULL No   Yes       MilitaryDischargeDate   datetime   NULL No   No       CriminalFelonyConviction   bit   NULL No   No       CriminalMisdemeanor   bit   NULL No   No       Conviction       CriminalCivilCase   bit   NULL No   No       CriminalDateOfLastOffense   smalldatetime   NULL No   No       CriminalDispositionType   smallint   NULL No   Yes       CriminalProbation   bit   NULL No   No       CriminalBackgroundCheck   bit   NULL No   No       EmploymentFOF   smallint   NULL No   Yes       EmploymentShortTerm   varchar(100)   NULL No   No       Goal       EmploymentTraining   text   NULL No   No       Needed       EmploymentTraining   text   NULL No   No       Completed       ReliableName   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       ReliableNumber   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       ReliableCity   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       ReliableState   varchar(2)   NULL No   No       ReliableZip   varchar(5)   NULL No   No       ReliableRelationship   varchar(30)   NULL No   No       SocialWorkName   varchar(50)   NULL No   No       SocialWorkNumber   varchar(30)   NULL No   No       SocialWorkLocation   varchar(30)   NULL No   No       PhoneNumber2   char(20)   NULL No   No       EmployeeIDOriginal   smallint   NULL No   No                  
 
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 2 is a screen print of an exemplary “Add Participant” screen by which the caseworker is guided to add a new client and to enter basic details such as Name, SSN, PhoneNumber, and Date of Birth into the above table.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 3 is a screen print of an exemplary “Participant Demographics” screen by which the caseworker is guided to add client particulars. Previously entered data appears in the screen and additional data as shown can be entered into the relevant fields per the above table.  
         [0031]    In addition to basic client data, subordinate client data is entered by a succession of like screens and is used to populate a series of related tables. Preferably, in the context of employment placement, the subordinate data will include relevant information on the client&#39;s children, drug addictions, criminal dispositions, employment history, license types, military history, test scores, marital status, medical benefits availability, prior placements (including rejections), program outcomes, referral sources, and other data as desired. The following are an exemplary set of table definitions for storing this subordinate data.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Name   Datatype   Null Option   Is PK   Is FK                                “ChildRelationshipType” Table            ChildRelationshipID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       ChildRelationship   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No            “Choice” Table            Choice   varchar(10)   NOT NULL   No   No       ChoiceID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   No            “ClientAddictions” Table            SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   Yes   Yes       AddictionID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   Yes       AddictionHistory   smallint   NULL   No   No       LenghtOfDrugUser   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       DateOfLastUser   smalldatetime   NULL   No   No       DrugTested   bit   NULL   No   No       DateOfDrugTest   smalldatetime   NULL   No   No       DrugTestResult   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No       RecoveryInfo   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No            “ClientChildren” Table            SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   Yes   Yes       ChildFirstName   varchar(20)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       ChildLastName   varchar(40)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       ChildDOB   smalldatetime   NULL   No   No       ChildRelationship   smallint   NULL   No   Yes            “ClientCriminalDisposition” Table            CriminalDisposition   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   No   No       CriminalDispositionID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “ClientEmployment” Table            PlacementID   smallint   NOT NULL   Yes   No       DateEntered   datetime   NOT NULL   Yes   No       EmployerID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   Yes       TerminationDate   smalldatetime   NULL   No   No       JobTitle   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No       Hourly Wage   money   NULL   No   No       HoursPerWeek   smallint   NULL   No   No       MedicalBenefits-   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       AvailabilityID       FringeBenefitsAvailable   bit   NULL   No   No       CoveredByUnemployment-   bit   NULL   No   No       Insurance       EmploymentStatus   smallint   NOT NULL   Yes   Yes       DOTCode   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       CompletedProbation   bit   NULL   No   No       StartDate   datetime   NULL   No   No            “ClientEmploymentFOFTypes” Table            EmploymentFOF   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       EmploymentFOFID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “ClientI9LicenseTypes” Table            I9LicenseType   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   No   No       I9LicenseTypeID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “ClientMilitaryDischargeTypes” Table            MilDischargeTypeID   smallint   NOT NULL   Yes   No       MilDischargeType   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No            “ClientPreviousEmployment” Table            SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       Company   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No       JobTitle   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       StartDate   datetime   NOT NULL   Yes   No       EndDate   datetime   NULL   No   No       HourlyRate   money   NULL   No   No       HoursPerWeek   smallint   NULL   No   No       ReasonForLeaving   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No            “ClientSourceOflncome” Table            SourceOfincome   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       SourceOfincomeID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “ClientTestScores” Table            SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   Yes   Yes       TestDate   smalldatetime   NOT NULL   Yes   No       DateEntered   datetime   NOT NULL   No   No       Score   numeric(5,2)   NULL   No   No       EmployeeID   smallint   NULL   No   No       TestType   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   Yes   Yes            “Employers” Table            EmployerID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       Name   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       Address1   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No       Address2   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No       City   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       State   char(2)   NULL   No   No       ZipCode   char(5)   NULL   No   No       ContactName   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       ContactNumber   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       Commitment   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       RateOfPay   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       Benefits   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       EmployerMatch   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No            “EmploymentStatuses” Table            EmploymentStatus   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       EmploymentStatusID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “Ethnicities” Table            Ethnicity   varchar(20)   NOT NULL   No   No       EthnicityID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “Genders” Table            Gender   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   Yes   No            “MaritalStatuses” Table            MaritalStatus   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       MaritalStatusID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “MedicalBenefitsAvailability” Table            MedicalBenefits-   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       AvailabilityID       MedicalBenefitsAvailability   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No            “Messages” Table            MessageID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       MessageType   smallint   NULL   No   No       MessageText   text   NULL   No   No       MessageDateStart   datetime   NULL   No   No       MessageDateEnd   datetime   NULL   No   No       EmployeeID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes            “MilitaryBranch” Table            MilitaryBranchID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       MilitaryBranch   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   No   No            “PlacementRejectionReasons” Table            PlacementRejectionReason   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   No   No       RejectionReasonID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No            “Placements” Table            PlacementID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       PlacementDate   smalldatetime   NOT NULL   Yes   No       ScheduledStartDate   smalldatetime   NOT NULL   No   No       EmployeeID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No       ProgramID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       PlacementType   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       ReferralSource   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       RejectionReason   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       OpenToPlace   bit   NULL   No   No       OpenToPlaceDate   datetime   NULL   No   No            “PlacementTypes” Table            PlacementTypeID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       PlacementType   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   No   No            “PreviousEmploymentReasonForLeaving” Table            ReasonForLeaving   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       ReasonForLeavingID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No            “ProgramOutcomes” Table            PlacementID   smallint   NOT NULL   Yes   No       DateEntered   datetime   NOT NULL   No   No       EmpID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   No       ProgramHours   decimal(10,2)   NOT NULL   No   No       Date Worked   datetime   NOT NULL   Yes   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No       WorkActivityType   smallint   NOT NULL   Yes   Yes            “Programs” Table            ProgramID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       Address1   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No       Address2   varchar(50)   NULL   No   No       City   varchar(30)   NULL   No   No       State   char(2)   NULL   No   No       ZipCode   char(5)   NULL   No   No       ProgramType   varchar(50)   NULL   No   Yes       ProgramName   varchar(75)   NOT NULL   No   No       Disabled   bit   NOT NULL   No   No            “ProgramTypes” Table            ProgramType   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No            “ReferralSources” Table            ReferralSourceID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       ReferralSource   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   No   No            Column(s) of “Roles” Table “Roles” Table            Role   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No            “TestTypes” Table            TestType   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No            “WorkActivityTypes” Table            WorkActivityType   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       WorkActivityTypeID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No                  
 
         [0032]    At step  300  the individual case manager, after interviewing a particular client, enters goal-oriented information regarding progress elements (points for improvement) as well as social barriers faced by the client in accomplishing predefined social goals.  
         [0033]    For goal-oriented progress elements, the caseworker enters status information to a predefined categorical list of Progress Elements. Again in the context of employment placement, exemplary Progress Elements may include Retention; New Employment; Wage Increase; Promotion; and Educational Advancement. In addition to measuring the client&#39;s progress, the caseworkers must also measure their own effort towards each progress element. This is important because it avoids vague “checkups” on clients when they have employment and helps the caseworkers focus their energies on aiding clients&#39; progress towards specific goals. FIG. 4 is a screen print of an exemplary Progress Element entry screen by which the caseworker can specify a Progress Element (career path/employment planning), and enter contact information (location, time, date of next update and notes) regarding their own effort toward facilitating the specified Progress Element. By this approach, caseworker efforts can be measured against the outcomes produced. The periodic client contact data is used to populate relational database tables as shown below.  
         [0034]    “ClientUpdateReasons” Table  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Name   Datatype   Null Option   Is PK   Is FK                                “ClientUpdateReasons” Table            ReasonID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       Reason   varchar(100)   NULL   No   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No            “ClientUpdates” Table            ClientUpdateID   int   IDENTITY   Yes   No       PlacementID   smallint   NOT NULL   Yes   No       EmployeeID   smallint   NOT NULL   Yes   Yes       ClientUpdateReasonID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       Notes   text   NULL   No   No       DateEntered   smalldatetime   NULL   No   No            “ContactLocations” Table            ContactLocation   varchar(40)   NOT NULL   No   No       ContactLocationID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No            “ContactTypes” Table            ContactTypeID   int   IDENTITY   Yes   No       ContactType   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No            “DrugOfChoice” Table            DrugID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       DrugOfChoice   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   No   No            “EmployeeMessage” Table            EmployeeID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       EmployeeMessageID   int   IDENTITY   Yes   No       MessageID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       ReadMessage   smallint   NULL   No   No            “Employees” Table            EmployeeID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       ProgramID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       FirstName   varchar(20)   NOT NULL   No   No       MiddleInitial   char(1)   NULL   No   No       LastName   varchar(40)   NOT NULL   No   No       EmployeeType   varchar(30)   NULL   No   Yes       Role   varchar(50)   NULL   No   Yes       Disabled   bit   NOT NULL   No   No       UserName   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       Password   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No            “EmployeeTypes” Table            EmployeeType   varchar(30)   NOT NULL   Yes   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No            “EmployerContactLocation” Table            EmployerContactLocation   varchar(40)   NOT NULL   No   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No       EmployerContact-   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       LocationID            “EmployerContactType” Table            EmployerContactTypeID   int   IDENTITY   Yes   No       EmployerContactType   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No            “EmployerHistories” Table            EmployerID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   Yes       HistoryID   int   IDENTITY   Yes   No       DateEntered   datetime   NULL   No   No       EmployeeID   smallint   NULL   No   No       TimeSpentOnContact   int   NULL   No   No       ContactLocationID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       ContactTypeID   int   NULL   No   Yes       NextExpectedUpdate   datetime   NOT NULL   No   No       Notes   text   NULL   No   No                  
 
         [0035]    In addition to the Progress Element data, the data entry screen of FIG. 5 is used to specify Barriers to progress (such as Literacy), to specify Barrier Severity, and to enter contact information (location, time, date of next update and notes) regarding their own effort at each client contact toward reducing the specified Barrier severity or eliminating the Barrier completely. The periodic Barriers data is used to populate a relational database table as shown below.  
                                                     “ClientHistories” Table            Name   Datatype   Null Option   Is PK   Is FK               ClientHistoryID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       ClientBarrierID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       DateRecorded   smalldatetime   NOT NULL   No   No       EmployeeID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   Yes       Note   text   NULL   No   No       BarrierSeverityID   smallint   NULL   No   Yes       TimeSpentOnContact   smallint   NOT NULL   No   No       DateNextUpdate   smalldatetime   NULL   No   No       SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   No   Yes       ContactLocationID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   Yes       ContactTypeID   int   NULL   No   Yes                  
 
         [0036]    In the context of employment placement, an exemplary set of predefined Barriers will include Day Care (whether the client requires day care for dependants); Transportation (whether the client requires transportation to/from work); Health Issues; Family Issues (e.g., divorce situation); Behavior (behavioral issues); Attitude; Weight; Personal Hygiene, Disability, Laziness; Money Management; Lack of Skills; and Literacy. Specific barriers may be defined and added to the knowledge base by the agency or caseworker, and are preferably supplemented by the individual case managers as they know best what stands in the way of their clients&#39; success. The method also requires the subjective (but quantitative) identification of the severity of these barriers. Each barrier is assigned a BarrierID number, and the corresponding severity is identified by a SeverityID field which may be a scale of from 1 (lowest severity) to 10 (most severe). This assessment and definition of barriers allows them to be tracked, overcome and eventually closed by the caseworker. The barrier data is used to populate a relational database table a complete example of which is shown below.  
                                                     “ClientBarriers” Table”            Name   Datatype   Null Option   Is PK   Is FK               ClientBarrierID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       BarrierID   smallint   NOT NULL   No   Yes       SSN   varchar(11)   NOT NULL   No   Yes       BarrierIdentification Date   smalldatetime   NULL   No   No       BarrierClosed   bit   NULL   No   No                  
 
         [0037]    The barrier severity data is used to populate a separate table as shown below.  
                                                     “BarrierSeverities” Table            Name   Datatype   Null Option   Is PK   Is FK               BarrierSevenityID   smallint   IDENTITY   Yes   No       BarrierSeverity   varchar(50)   NOT NULL   No   No       BarrierSeverity Value   smallint   NOT NULL   No   No                  
 
         [0038]    In the software implementation, procedures are defined which enable the caseworker to define new client barriers, or to recall previously defined client barriers that already exist in the knowledgebase. An example procedure for adding a new barrier is as shown below, and predefined barriers are recalled based on the numeric BarrierID field.  
                                                                                                                                 spAddClientBarriers   CREATE PROCEDURE [spAddClientBarriers]                (           @BarrierID   [smallint],           @SSN   [varchar](11),           @EmpID smallint,           @SeverityID smallint,           @ContactLoc smallint,           @Time smallint,           @Update smalldatetime,           @Note text)                AS           Declare @NewCBID smallint           INSERT INTO [ClientBarriers]                ([BarrierID],           [SSN])                VALUES                (@BarrierID,           @SSN)                set @NewCBID = @@Identity           Insert Into ClientHistories                (ClientBarrierID,           SSN,           EmployeeID,           BarrierSeverityID,           ContactLocationID,           TimeSpentOnContact,           DateNextUpdate,           Note)                Values                (@NewCBID,           @SSN,           @EmpID,           @SeverityID,           @ContactLoc,           @Time,           @Update,           @Note)                      
 
         [0039]    Once the caseworker, client, and client contact data (including progress elements and barriers) is entered as per steps  100 - 300 , at step  400  the caseworker continues periodic client contact and at each point of contact reassesses the client.  
         [0040]    At this point, a succession of information update screens are provided to enable the caseworker to update client information which may have changed since the last contact. For example, FIG. 6 is a screen print of an “Update Previous Employment” screen by which the caseworker can update the client&#39;s employment history to reflect a change of employment. Additionally, the caseworker can return to the Progress entry screen of FIG. 4 and provide a progress update based on a new client contact, and/or return to the Barrier entry screen of FIG. 5 to update progress or even close out a Barrier to progress which has been overcome.  
         [0041]    All of the foregoing tables are relationally-linked. FIGS.  7 A- 7 C are a tabular listing of the preferred relational links between fields in the above described knowledgebase tables. A Relationship Name is given to each link, and the parent-child hierarchy is designated by the Parent Table Name and Child Table Name. The Column designation indicates the field-to-field assignments between common fields in related tables. All table data is stored in memory pursuant to the above-described storage structure in relational database format and thereby supports meaningful queries. Specifically, the method and data structure allows measurement of the efforts of caseworkers over time. In particular, one objective benchmark is provided by querying the client, caseworker and barrier data to measures the severities of barriers as caseworkers work against them (with clients) over time. This way, it is possible to assess how effective caseworkers are in reducing barriers over time. Another objective benchmark is provided by querying the client, caseworker and contact data to measure caseworker effects in specific contact types over time. These contact types are mapped to outcome indicators (like promotions) and it becomes possible to assess how effective caseworker are when their contact types (efforts) lead to desired outcomes.  
         [0042]    Given a fully populated database as per steps  100 - 400 , the caseworker and/or agency may initiate a reporting module as shown at step  500  which provides access to a predefined series of queries. The results of each query are displayed in a format conducive to the recipient of the information.  
         [0043]    A series of “Other Reports” can be generated for simple information. For example, a Basic Client Information Report can be generated as shown in FIG. 8 to profile a given client. Alternatively, the agency can generate a caseworker report as shown in FIG. 9 to compile total client contact information for a given caseworker (“John”). Client-specific reports can be generated such as that shown in FIG. 10, which is the result of a query of client and barrier data presented as the statistics for reducing a given Barrier (here job satisfaction). Further, job placement reports, client employment history reports, and other client-oriented reports can readily be generated by the appropriate queries.  
         [0044]    More importantly, the Progress Element and/or Barrier data can be effectively queried and presented for the benefit of the caseworker and/or caseworker-assessment by the agency. For example, as shown at step  600  (FIG. 1) the caseworker may seek a client-centric “Efforts to Outcomes” report which details clients in the system for at least 6 months who had more than 2 hours of“Retention” conversations with a casemanager. FIG. 11 is an example “Efforts to Outcomes” report which details (for each client) Possible Months Employed, Total Months Employed, Total Number of Contacts, Total Duration of Contacts, and Total Duration of “Retention” Contacts. Summary information is tabulated, and this includes average Job Retention Rate (81.46%), Average Contact (3368 Minutes), Overall Job Retention Rate of all students (69%), and Average “Retention” Contact (512.1 Minutes).  
         [0045]    Alternatively, as shown at step  700  (FIG. 1) the agency may seek a caseworker-centric “Barrier Reduction Report” which details caseworker success with clients to help them overcome the barriers they face. FIG. 12 is an example “Barrier Reduction Report” report which details (for one or more caseworkers) each Barrier faced, the caseworker&#39;s Efforts Against Barriers, Severity of the Barrier, Start Date, and Time in Program (both days and weeks). The foregoing data is tabulated and a summary listing is provided which includes Successful Client Barrier Reductions ( 1 ), Total Work Against Client Barriers (75 Minutes, 1.25 Hours), Number of Client Contacts ( 2 ), Successful Client Barrier Reductions ( 5 ), Total Work Against Client Barriers (782 Minutes), and the total Number of Client Contacts ( 16 ). This form of report ensures that the agency can provide caseworkers (or caseworkers can provide the agency) with quantitative accountability for social services based on objective reduction of barriers.  
         [0046]    The above-described method is implemented as software, and preferably “network software” designed to operate in the context of a local-area or distributed network that affords a multiple-user environment. The software is best configured as a true client-server application. This makes the software scalable in response to network expansion as well as capable of providing client data to different client-side applications without server-side reconfiguration. The server software runs on Microsoft SQL Server, including SQL 2000. The client software runs under Microsoft Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, XP or the like. The software can be installed on any network hardware that is supported by Microsoft Windows 98/NT/2000/XP, including Ethernet or token-ring hardware using NetBEUI, IPX, or TCP/IP protocols. For example, the method may be implemented over a 10-megabit Ethernet network using a 266-MHz single-processor Pentium server with at least 64 megabytes of RAM, and modest client-side machines (for example, a 100-MHz Pentium with at least 16 megabytes of RAM. The user interface is preferably a conventional color monitor, a dial-up or network connection, and a standard input device such as a mouse and keyboard. All data entry forms may be maintained on a designated internet server for user access. In any of the foregoing operating systems, the software may be incorporated as a program shell around existing relational database software such as, for instance, Microsoft Access (graphical database access), thereby providing built-in interoperability with peripheral programs such as Microsoft Word (word processor), Microsoft Excel (spreadsheet), and Microsoft Exchange (email server), etc. In operation, the present software provides a user interface that is simple and uncluttered. Typical user-interface response time is 0.5 seconds or less. Typical database response time (for data transfers between a client computer and the database server) is 2-3 seconds. Of course, performance will depend on the speed of the computer hardware and network.  
         [0047]    The system described above (inclusive of hardware and software) provides for the tracking and assessment of social services based on a defined list of client barriers to success, and objective tracking of progress of the social worker based on the reduction and/or elimination of those barriers. The resultant information helps manage and coordinate resources for the achievement of optimal clinical and financial patient outcomes, and to facilitate collaborative patient care management across the continuum of available social services.  
         [0048]    Having now fully set forth the preferred embodiments and certain modifications of the concept underlying the present invention, various other embodiments as well as certain variations and modifications of the embodiments herein shown and described will obviously occur to those skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with said underlying concept. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Technology Category: g