Community service organisations collect and record
huge amounts of information for performance reporting and quality
assurance, as well as for managing and informing service delivery and
evaluating their programs. Too often, it's all either an administrative
nightmare that sucks resources from service delivery, or an elusive
critical resource that often can’t be found when it's needed.
The purpose of this seminar was to introduce participants to key
concepts and practices for information management. It looked at two
elements:
Community organisations often consider the service delivery and quality assurance data they are required to collect for funders to be a necessary evil — an administrative millstone that, at best, distracts from the more pressing task of delivering quality services to clients. Much of this negativity is probably connected with the problem of multiple reporting that makes it such a burdensome task. This is unfortunate, because that data is gold — it tells the story of what an organisation does, documents strategies that work, shows us how we are making a difference.
In the first part of today's session, Rendle Williams from the
Salvation Army showed us how well-planned IT systems and
interoperable data can lead to best practice evidence-based case
management to maximise client outcomes.
As well as data needed for reporting and service evaluation, direct service organisations need to collect an enormous amount of information to manage and inform their service delivery. Tracking client progress, determining eligibility for assistance, making relevant referrals… all of these critical activities rely on recording and accessing information that is often stored on pieces of paper and kept in filing cabinets. But as organisations diversify, amalgamate, or spread over multiple sites, tracking and accessing this information can become a nightmare. Lost or duplicate information causes delays and mistakes, and searching for missing files can consume an inordinate amount of workers' time.
In the second part of today's session, Richard Vines from the
Children's Protection Society discussed some of the information
management challenges for the community sevrice sector, and showed some
of the techniques necessary to move an organisation to a digital
workflow that, when integrated with an information management system,
can yield huge benefits that significantly outweigh the cost and hassle
of change.
Download the presentations
Doing IT Better is a social justice initiative of the Centre for Community Networking Research
(Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University) and the Victorian Council of Social Service,
generously funded by a foundation.
The 2009 Seminar Series is generously sponsored by Multimedia Victoria.
© Victorian Council of Social Service 2009