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| Juvenile
Probation Department Spends More Time
Helping Troubled Youths |
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Business Challenges |
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Ensure care of every child by providing
rank-and-file workers with the required
information |
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Enable management to make decisions
on resource allocation |
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Increase efficiency of the system
through automation |
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| Results |
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No child will be able to “slip
through the cracks” |
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Reduced time spent on logistics results
in better management of children’s
cases |
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Proactive actions on emerging problems
can be taken based on trends and case
history |
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Better reporting helps
target the root causes of problems and
focus on resources |
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Increased collaboration
between schools, courts, and community
services |
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| “We were all
very impressed with the services and
the rapidity with which CTE was able
to develop responses that addressed
the items we identified . . . We were
similarly impressed with the qualifications
and obvious talents of your staff.” |
| Information Manager |
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The Department needed to replace its
legacy mainframe-based information system.
Described by many as “a black
hole we put information into but never
get any useful information out of,”
the system was time-intensive and relied
on cryptic and often misused codes to
store information. Information sharing
was difficult and sometimes two officers
would wind up dealing with children
in the same household and not know of
each other’s involvement.
The department, which deals with approximately
10,000 referrals annually, sought assistance
from CTE, a leader in collaborative
business innovation services that accelerate
deployment of enterprise applications,
to centralize and standardize information
and automate data collection and analysis. |
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| Business Challenges |
With up to 60 juveniles per Probation
Officer, employees found it difficult
to manage cases effectively. One supervisor
resorted to tracking upcoming deadlines
with a giant array of post-it notes.
Entering a child’s information
into the department’s computer
system was time-consuming and error-prone,
and made it difficult to determine if
a juvenile had been through the system
before.
The department’s computer system
also hindered the flow of information.
Probation officers, judges, court-appointed
attorneys, psychologists, and community
service supervisors all interact with
a juvenile. With no automated process,
all of this was being coordinated with
phone calls from the Probation Officer.
Court-appointed attorneys often would
simply receive a postcard informing
them they were assigned to a case, with
no additional information.
The department had looked at several
off-the-shelf products, but none met
their specific needs, and all attempted
to force them into a standard business
process. Technology and business experts
at CTE helped the department design
a custom-built solution to precisely
address their operational problems. |
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| CTE Solution |
The department began the project
by participating in the Cambridge Executive
Workshop (CEW) conducted by CTE, an
intensive three-week program where corporate
executives and staff collaborate to
identify new ideas and move them to
deployment. During the Workshop, the
department set goals to improve the
data management system and find a means
to better leverage the company’s
core knowledge and customer experience
in order to create growth and profitability
opportunities.
During the CEW, CTE specialists in business
solutions and technology work with clients
to: |
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Generate new, high-impact ideas using
CTE’s “left and right hand”
framework |
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Identify “lazy assets”
that can benefit from new technologies
and improved processes |
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Create a compelling, complete
business case with quantitative and qualitative
benefits |
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| Through the CEW, the department was
able to identify ways to create a “left
hand” vision to ensure that every
employee had the information necessary
to help reform juvenile delinquents.
The department used CTE’s Collaboration
Architecture to: |
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Develop an architecture that allowed
consolidation of data in disparate systems
with flexibility for the changing business
environment |
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Create a custom prototype of the solution |
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Provide a framework for Rapid Application
Development (RAD) and |
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Develop a deployment roadmap to quickly
capture maximum benefits |
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| The solution relies on software from
CTE’s Collaboration Software Suite
as the foundation for the flexible framework
to solve its multiple technology and
business challenges. The department
used the CTE Scoring Engine, an event-driven,
workflow-based correlation and trend
analysis system that supports dynamic
analysis rules, to filter and analyze
information after it is collected. The
CTE DataSwitch, a multipurpose communications
platform that combines several functions
within an easy-to-use interface, is
used for data collection and dissemination.
The CTE Sharp Statement Center, an XML-based
data extraction application that allows
organizations transform paper invoices,
case reports, work orders, and the like
into dynamic, personalized, interactive
statements, is the basis for information
dissemination and decisions. |
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| Solution Benefits |
The case tracking system enabled probation
officers to do their best and ensure
that every child had the opportunity
to get back on track.
The automation offered by the new system
allowed for more one-on-one time with
the children, time previously spent
on monotonous data gathering.
In short, this CTE solution gave the
department a platform to help every
juvenile their life in order. |
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