New Things

The Pathways Systems Team is working on several projects in order to enhance PATHWAYS COMPASS system functionality. We've finished developing a new ID Card Scanning module, and it's now being tested at the Fulton County (GA) Human Services Department. The module allows clients to access services by scanning a photo ID card that has a barcode on it.

In March we will release our Document Upload project which will provide PATHWAYS COMPASS users with the ability to upload documents and store them in client records. And we're also working on a set of Community Administrator modules - available in the spring - that introduce a new community data collection and reporting concept that we think our community partners will be very excited about (more about this project later...)

Beini Ouyang - J2EE Developer, Pathways Systems Team

Community Collaboration

The term collaboration is bandied about a great deal today. The word collaboration can be interpreted in different ways, and collaborations can take a different form in every community.

Collaborations can be viewed as situations where one party wins and one party loses or where both sides settle for a compromise. If the right people are brought together in a very constructive way, with the appropriate information, they can create visions and strategies that address their joint problems and concerns. When these collaborations include organizations, civic leaders and other community members who have a stake in the same problems, they can more effectively create positive change.

Pathways supports community collaboration with technology designed to meet the diverse needs of human services organizations. Pathways is a not for profit organization with more than 10 years of history working with state and local governments, emergency assistance organizations, homeless service providers and other human services agencies. We understand the issues nonprofits face, such as limited staffing, so our systems are designed to help you do more with limited resources,

Our PATHWAYS COMPASS Community Information Sharing System helps more social services consumers to find a path to success by enhancing collaboration between social service organizations.

Every day, agencies and communities using PATHWAYS COMPASS work collaboratively and effectively by:

• Instantly sharing information on services consumers receive
• Electronically tracking referrals between agencies (via email and paper forms)
  
• Securely and conveniently maintaining internal client records
• Easily collecting & producing community data for local and national funders
• Generating ongoing unduplicated counts of local residents in need, including special populations such as the homeless
  
• Uniformly collecting client assessment and outcome measurement data at human services organizations across the community
  
• Providing a community-wide view of program and service utilization

Pathways would like to work with your collaboration to see how PATHWAYS COMPASS can propel you to meet the increasing compliance demands of your funders, clients, regulators, partners, providers... even in these challenging economic times.

Tommy Phillips, Director, Community Partnerships

How Well Does Our Training Work?

If you're an active PATHWAYS COMPASS user, you recently received an email with a link to complete a User Training Assessment. This User Training Assessment is an effort to gauge how well PATHWAYS COMPASS users understand the core functionalities of the system after participating in User Training classes. For instance, does the average system user know how to contact the Support Team; how to search for a client record; or how to record a program enrollment and a program discharge?

As of February 13, 2009, 90 PATHWAYS COMPASS users had completed the Assessment. The Technical Assistance and Training Team will use this information to evaluate and possibly make changes to User Training classes. We will share the results of the Assessment in the near future. Thank you all for taking the time to complete the User Training Assessment.

Jeanette Pollock, User Support/Training Manager

Pathways: the year ahead

As I look forward to 2009, I realize there are many things to be thankful for... and many things to look forward to.

• A great team - Pathways has been fortunate over the years to attract a smart, motivated staff; none smarter or more motivated than the team we have now. During the past year we've concentrated on growing our Technical Assistance and Training Team, adding two more Technical Assistance professionals and a Data Quality Analyst
• Our partners - More than a thousand people at 420+ human services organizations count on our PATHWAYS COMPASS Community Information Sharing System to coordinate care for 120,000 people every year. I can't say enough about the communities and human services professionals we serve. We at Pathways are honored to help them make a difference in the lives of their clients
• New stuff - During the next few months we'll have a lot to tell you about. Details will be coming out soon, but here are a few teasers: our Research Team will release a very interesting study on the results of collaboration between different financial assistance agencies; and our Systems Team will roll out several new PATHWAYS COMPASS features, including ID scan cards, document upload, new community wide reporting and enhancements to our new outcomes module

We know that many of the organizations we serve are going to have to do more with less this year due to the deepening recession. During these difficult times, Pathways stands ready to help communities stretch their limited resources by enabling human services providers to work together more closely, reduce costs and increase their overall impact.

No doubt, 2009 brings us unprecedented challenges and opportunities. I can't wait to get started.

Bill Matson, Executive Director