Friday, November 11, 2011

Pathways Office Closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday

Pathways Office will be closed in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th, 2011. Normal business hours will resume on Monday, November 28th, 2011 at 8:30am.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

PATHWAYS COMPASS Tutorials

PATHWAYS COMPASS Tutorials Now Available

These tutorials are designed to assist Users with data cleaning for bed programs (ES, TH and PSH).

Tutorials currently available for viewing include:

HUD APR Part I:
HUD APR Part I (Q7) - Basic Demographics
HUD APR Part 1 (Q7) – Housing Status
HUD APR Part 1 (Q7) – Income & Benefits at Entry and Exit

AHAR:
AHAR Data Cleaning for Housing Status
AHAR Data Cleaning for Demographic Information

To access these Tutorials, follow this sequence:
Go to www.pcni.org > Training > Guides & Manuals > Tutorials (at the bottom of the page).

If you have additional questions, please contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org or 404-639-9933 option 2.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Pathways Performing System Maintenance

Pathways will be performing maintenance on the PATHWAYS COMPASS system this Saturday, September 3, 2011 from 12:00 AM to 5:00 AM EST. During this time, it may be necessary to take the system offline. Therefore, access to the system may not be continuously available between those hours. Please plan accordingly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Pathways Office Closed on Monday September 5th, 2011

Pathways Office will be closed on Monday, September 5th, 2011 in observance of Labor Day. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, September 6th, at 8:30am EST.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Pathways Announces the Release of V5.16.80

Pathways Compass version V5.16.80 has been released. It includes system error fixes and an enhancement to the Programs page.

This release includes the following fixes and enhancement:
• Ability to update finance information on the Programs page,
• The Residential page
• Housing Status at program entry correction on HPRP Summary page
• Finance Script that associates Finance information to Program Entry and Program Exit/Discharge

The changes are outlined below:
Ability to update Finance information on the Program page:
The User now has the ability to update, correct, or add financial information that is directly tied to either the Program Entry record and/or the Program Discharge record. When updating, correcting or adding financial information, the Date Verified field must be populated.

To access this page: Activate the client record. Under the Client Menu, click Programs. Click on the edit icon. In the Program Entry Info area, click the link within the message “Click HERE to add or edit finance information.” This same message will be visible in the Program Exit Info area only if the client has been discharged from the program.

This functionality requires that the client has previously been enrolled in a Program and that the Program record has not been deleted by the User (that is, a Program record exists for the client).

Residential Page:
The Zip Code of Last Permanent Address field and the Last Night’s Residence field were previously moved from the Residence page to the General Information page. Both fields have now been collected on the General Information page and during Program Enrollment for a long time, so the original “versions” of the Residence page within a Process that were used to collect this information are obsolete and have been removed from the system. From now on, the only page within a Process you will see will be the “standard” Household Residence page.
Additionally, to make it possible to include the page in a Process without having to add a new Residence record each time, the Skip button has been added back to this page.

Under certain conditions, when selecting a Residence Type, the full list was not displaying. This issue has been resolved.

Housing Status:
Housing Status at Program Entry on HPRP Summary Page was displaying differently in two sections. This issue has been resolved and both sections now display the same information.

Finance Script:
As a result of the changes Pathways previously made in associating Finance records to Program Entry and Program Discharge records, a script has been run that examined all those persons that were still enrolled in a Program as of January 1, 2010 and has associated the best Finance record available to either the Program Entry or the Program Discharge record. This change should be reflected in the reports.

For more information on these updates, please contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Community Card Update

More than six thousand people are using Pathways new Community Card to get faster access to services they need, while the organizations serving them dramatically reduce time spent on data entry.

The Pathways Community Card system provides a complete solution to communities: providing client ID cards, unlimited card scanning capabilities, a program validation process and automated service transaction creation. Development of the scanning module was underwritten by the Fulton County Department of Health and Human Services (FCHHS) and piloted at the county’s Jefferson Place housing and case management programs.

“Implementation of the card scan function at Jefferson Place has increased efficiency in our day-to-day tasks,” said Shenelle Smith, FCHHS Systems Manager. “Our staff is now able to document consumer services in record time.”

The card scan module allows organizations to:
● quickly process repetitive service transactions at high volume sites; i.e. food banks, soup kitchens, clothing closets
● confirm that clients qualify for services they are receiving
● decrease data entry errors and increase staff productivity
● improve data quality by reducing the number of duplicate client records
● itemize costs associated with each service and analyze how each of these costs contributes to successful outcomes

“Although we have not implemented the cost association as yet, through the program/service association we were able to redefine available program services, which improved the overall service delivery to our customers,” Smith said.

For more information about the Community Card, contact Tommy Phillips at 404-639-9933 x305.

Pathways Announces the Release of V5.16.76

Pathways release V5.16.76 will be available this evening (June 15, 2011). The APR report is being released to allow agencies and CoC leads to begin looking at agency data in the new format well advance of required reporting deadlines.

This release includes the New HUD APR Report, and modifications to the Processing Pages to improve the quality of data entered during a process. In the near future, modifications will be made to the Programs page that will allow updating and adding financial information. This addition will also improve the quality of data submitted to the new HUD APR.

Finally, an improved version of the Program Enrollment and Discharge Export will be available shortly. This report will be used to help identify clients reported in the HUD APR who have missing data.

The changes, all of which are designed to improve the quality of the data used to submit the new HUD APR to e-snaps, are outlined below:

New HUD APR Report (pdf):
The New APR is presented in two separate reports, HUD APR I and HUD APR II.

HUD APR I covers e-snaps questions 7-25. To access this report:
 Main Menu > Reports > Statistical > HUD APR Format> HUD APR I (Do not filter) > enter parameters. (Note- be sure the Filter parameter is set to “No”.)

HUD APR II covers e-snaps questions 26-29. To access this report:
 Main Menu > Reports > Statistical > HUD APR Format > HUD APR II (Do not filter) > enter parameters. (Note- be sure the Filter parameter is set to “No”.)

While extensive testing has been completed on the APR reports, a couple of situations continue to be addressed:
 APR Questions 23-26 are still undergoing additional testing to ensure accuracy.
 Some labels are being corrected to match those in e-snaps, and some other minor issues are still being corrected.

Program Enrollment & Discharge (Export):
The Program Enrollment & Discharge Export will be updated in the near future to capture additional fields required for the new APR. The new columns are and what pages the information is pulled from:
 Program Type: Pulled from the Program Profile Page
 Program CoC: Pulled from the Program Profile Page
 Last Permanent Zip Code at Entry: Pulled from the General Information Page (stored during program enrollment)
 Length of Stay: Pulled from the General Information Page (stored during program enrollment)
 Cash Income Answer at Entry: Pulled from Finance Pages at Program Enrollment
 Non-Cash Benefits Answer at Entry: Pulled from the Finance Pages at Program Enrollment
 Housing Status at Exit: Pulled from General Information Page (stored during program discharge)
 Income Answer at Exit: Pulled from Finance Pages at Program Discharge
 Benefits Answer at Exit: Pulled from Finance Pages at Program Discharge
Processing Pages:
The “Skip” button has been removed from several processing pages to ensure the required data elements are being captured. These pages where the “Skip” button has been removed include:
 Intake Process – When a New Client is being entered in the system.
 Program Enrollment Process – When clicking the “Process” link on the Results List.
 Program Discharge Process – When discharging a client from a program

Note: The Skip button will still be visible when clicking on the links to these pages from the Client Menu. The Skip button should be only for viewing purposes.

Program Page Updates:

Client Finance information linked to a specific Program Enrollment and Program Discharge will be able to be updated or added. This capability will be added to the system in the near future.

To access this Page to update client financial information: Click on Client Visit Menu, then Program.
 Click on Program Entry Info: Click here to add/edit the finance information or
 Click on Program Exit Info: Click here to add/edit the finance information

These new links will open the Finance Wizard. Finance updates made the Program page will be reflected on reports.

Note: The Skip button will be visible on the finance pages here when assessing them from the Program page.

For more information on these updates, please contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

APR Development Status

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While it has been an arduous process, we are not quite at the finish line. Over 1225 items have been tested and now we are retesting items that had to be fixed. Your patience in this process is appreciated. The new estimate of completion date for the APR development and the APR report is June 15, 2011. If this causes any APR scheduling problems for your agency, please let us know.

In the meantime, we are asking each Agency Administrator and/or those persons responsible for generating the APR reporting to attend the Overview of the New Agency Level APR webinar. To register, go to www.pcni.org, click on the Training Link, then click on Sign Up for Training and select the webinar you wish to attend.

For more information, contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Change to the Current HUD APR for Directly and Indirectly Served

Effective May 12th, 2011 the current HUD APR Format Program Entry Report for Directly and Indirectly Served Clients will no longer include the detailed list of client keys in the Reporting Period Occupancy section.

This change is due to the overwhelming amount of data that is being displayed (sometimes in excess of a year), the number of report pages that must be transmitted, and the connection speed of the user’s network. This situation has contributed to the excessive turnaround time issues we have been having with our reports server and we are confident this change will ease the problems that some users have been experiencing. This move has been implemented to ensure that all reports run in a more timely fashion.

The HUD APR Entry report will now only include the questions that correspond to the HUD programming requirements, plus the Average Daily Occupancy and the Average Nightly Occupancy.

The portion of the Reporting Period Occupancy Detail section which includes Client Key, Entry Date, Exit Date, and Night’s Credited will be removed. The list of client keys enrolled in agency programs, Entry and Exit Dates is available through the Program Enrollment & Discharge Data Export.

If you have further questions on this change, please contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Pathways Announces the Release of V5.16.57

This release addresses updates relating to the Client Housing Status.

Several fields are updated on the General Information, Program Enrollment, Program Discharge and Program Record Editing pages (via the Programs command on the Client Visit menu). These fields are: As Of Date, Housing Status, Chronic Homeless, Zip Code (Quality field and Zip Code itself), Prior Night’s Residence and Length of Stay.

In all cases, Client Housing Status is kept separately for each agency, so only Client Status fields entered by the agency in session are used. Client Housing Status fields entered by another agency are ignored.

General Information Page update:The most recent Client Housing Status entered by the agency in session on the General Information Page displays on the General Information page.

Program Enrollment and Program Record Editing:During program enrollment, the most current Client Housing Status will show on Process Program Enrollment Information page as the default value.

Program Discharge and Program Editing:
On the Program Discharge page the most current Client Housing Status recorded by the agency will show as the default values. (Although only Housing Status is shown, all other Housing Status values will be stored and visible on the General Information page – as long as the Program Exit Date becomes the most recent “As Of Date”).

If you have additional questions, please contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Discharging Family System Error -Resolved

Please be advised that a recent system error was discovered upon the latest release. You are not able to discharge the entire family at one time and were subsequently required to discharge them individually.

This issue has been resolved.
If you have additional questions, please contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org

Thursday, February 10, 2011

PATHWAYS COMPASS New Training Registration Process

We now have a new website for the training registration process. The process remains the same for the webinars; however, there is one difference that we wanted to point out for the new onsite registration process: Once you select the link for the training, the system will redirect you to Eventbrite.com. When you land on this page you will have the option to register for the selected training from a drop down menu. You will notice that once registered there will be a reference to having purchased a ticket for the training. Please ignore any comments or references to “tickets” as these references are embedded into the design of the page.

If you have further questions or need assistance, please contact the Support Team at 404-639-9933 option 2, or 866-818-1032 option 2

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Volunteers Conduct Atlanta/Fulton/DeKalb Homeless Census

ATLANTA - Hundreds of volunteers, on a cold, rainy night, canvassed the streets of DeKalb and Fulton counties and the city of Atlanta in an effort to count the homeless population of the area.

The homeless census, which is conducted every two years, is sponsored by Metro Atlanta Tri-Jurisdictional Collaborative on Homelessness (Tri-J), a partnership of government representatives and service providers in Atlanta, Fulton County and DeKalb County. The project is managed by Pathways Community Network, and our research team will author a study based on this count and a large scale survey conducted afterwards.

Read more about the count in The Champion.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Job Opening - Technical Assistance/Training

Pathways Community Network is looking to hire a Technical Assistance/Training Specialist to work with local Continuum of Care (CoC) representatives to assess the needs of the Georgia organizations that are implementing Homeless Management Information Systems(HMIS), and provide appropriate technical assistance and training.

This is a full time position. More information about this employment opportunity is here

Friday, January 28, 2011

Pathways Announces the Launching of Our New Website

Pathways has launched a new website that allows for easier navigation. When you type in www.pcni.org or www.pcni.info you will see the new website. The page navigation allows you to quickly go where you need by use of the tabs across the top of the page. Below are the tabs and the information you can access under each link. To log in to the PATHWAYS COMPASS system you will be able to click the link under the Information System link or use the navigation tools (Log-In Now) at the bottom of the page.

About Us: On this link find information about our Vision and Mission, Pathways Milestones, Community Partners, Our Team, and Work opportunities at Pathways

Information Systems: On this link you can access the PATHWAYS COMPASS system (once you log-in, to save time this is a great page to put in your favorites or bookmark), Oracle BI Discoverer and access our Community Partner Forms.
Research: On this link you can access the Tri-Jurisdictional Homeless Count, Foster Grandparents Program Evaluation, and the Catholic Foundation Financial Assistance Study to name a few.

Training: On this link you will be able to Sign Up for Training, Download Training Materials, Download Guides, and Manuals and Videos (Forms are located under this link).

Community News: On this link you can read about topics such as: $1 Million Gift Supports Atlanta's Street-to-Home, United Way, Key West Mayor Gets a Close Look at the Homeless Report, Council approves project to fight homelessness, Online Auction Raises $13,000, Bringing It Back Home: River Stone Health Creates "Community Campus", and Olmsted County United Way Launches "Bus Buddies" just to mention a few.
Pathways Blog: On this link you will find information about Pathways announcements, Human Services Headlines, Systems Status, and Psych Central.

Contact Us: This link tells you how to contact us for more information about partnering with Pathways.

If you have additional questions, please contact the Support Team at support@pcni.org.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Pathways Office Closed Monday in Observance of the MLKing Day Holiday

Pathways Office will be closed on Monday, January 17, 2011 in observance of the Martin Luther King Holiday. The Office will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 8:30am.