On August 6, Youth and Family Services became the final division of DSS to gain access to a new, fully integrated case management system.
Integrated Social Services Information (ISSI) is a joint effort between DSS and IST and was first launched in 2002 by DSS’ Fraud division. Mecklenburg County partnered with Buncombe County to develop the Youth and Family Services version of the ISSI system and it is the largest application ever developed and implemented by Mecklenburg County. ISSI Child Welfare was a $2.4 million project with a projected return on investment of $1.2 million a year. The expected lifespan of ISSI is over 10 years.
With all major areas of DSS using ISSI, information about clients and the services they receive will be easily shared between divisions, providing improved care coordination, convenience for clients and time savings for staff.
"We are extremely excited about our child welfare ISSI system. This software will increase our agility, mobility and productivity while enhancing our ability to serve customers in their homes and community,” says DSS Director Richard "Jake" Jacobsen.
ISSI is also available to DSS staff remotely, allowing them to access case files from their homes or out in the field. Employees will also be able to access ISSI from their cars, thanks to aircards, which use mobile phone technology to connect to the County network.
Remote access to ISSI Child Welfare will also reduce traffic congestion and air pollution and reduce the amount of office space needed by DSS.
ISSI allows staff to input customer and case information, manage their caseloads efficiently, coordinate services with other DSS units and generate forms, letters and reports.
"ISSI Child Welfare helps DSS keep children safe by allowing case workers to spend more time with children and families and less time with paperwork,” says IST Applications and Data Director Brian Sturgill. “The ISSI solution combines the power of a single integrated database with work process automation. Case workers will now have access to up-to-date reliable case information to provide the best benefits available for children and families. Additionally, many time consuming process such as intakes, state form generation and assessments have been automated, providing a higher level of speed, consistency and reliability."
ISSI users can also fax and e-mail data from a desktop or laptop, send and create alerts, bookmark their most recently used cases and take advantage of extensive search capabilities.
“ISSI represents the best partnership between two County departments, DSS and IST,” says IST Project Management Division Director Gwen Simmons. “I am very happy to have been the executive project manager for this project.”
IST Director Jerry Pinkard and Brian Sturgill recently met with a leading national human services software vendor to provide an overview of ISSI. The vendor, who provides services to states and counties throughout the country, was very impressed with our system and stated in a memo to Jerry, “The system the County has put together for Child Welfare is certainly heads and shoulders above anything else we have seen. Keep up the good work.”
“Hearing this from such an expert in this field is such a compliment to DSS and the IST staff that produced ISSI,” says Jerry. “I am very proud of their work.”
DSS and IST celebrated the ISSI-CW launch with a hot-air balloon celebration in the Kuralt Centre Ballfield.
Many thanks to the ISSI Project Team, who helped make the development and implementation of ISSI Child Welfare a success:
•Ricky Johnson – IST Project Manager
•Teresa Hosseini – DSS Project Manager
•Dallas McCollough
•Brent Cook
•Kathy Williams
•Leo Bohland
•Laureen Ekeze
•Bronia Ashford
•Charles Bradley
•Cindy Brady
•David Fee
•Betty Hooper
•Regina Jenkins
•Ramona Masterton
•Christine McSwain
•Wendy Noutsis
•Misty Perkins
•Joni Schriber
•Rachel Wells
•Joy Win
•Jeffrey Chen
•Lynda Perry
•Gwen Simmons
•Reggie Grier
•Ken McWhirter
Keefe Barnes
•Lisa Boldt
•Michael Piwonka
•Manju Chaturvedi
•Teddi Peters
•Tamika Tims
•Isa Mumoh
•Scott Newell
• Brian Sturgill
•Tom Turpin
•Frances Davis
•Jeff McIntosh
•Wayne Butler
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