“We will be able to regularly report outcomes in ways that allow us to
better train our staff and improve service to our families.”
- Liddy Hintz, Director of Emergency and Child Welfare Services, The Salvation Army, Syracuse

When Liddy Hintz, Director of Emergency and Child Welfare Services for the Salvation Army in Syracuse (use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use_SyracuseNY.nsf), decided to take on the challenge of changing her assessment tool, she researched what others were doing around the country. “I was using a tool that made it difficult to collect and report data, so I wanted to see what else was available to help tell our story in a more efficient and accurate way,” explained Hintz.

"I researched several tools and discovered that California was using the Family Development Matrix,” noted Hintz. “I realized it was the same tool that was used in ServicePoint. California had done research on the tool, and several Preventive Services programs were using it for assessment and measuring client progress. I was already very familiar with ServicePoint in an HMIS application, so I knew that it was a system which is flexible enough to work in a different type of implementation and accurate at a level that gives the organization ultimate confidence in data quality.”

Hintz said the ability to collect and view information from a variety of sources both separately and collectively was also a key factor in her decision. “We have three large collaborations, and all three are in this database,” noted Hintz. “We must be able to segregate and view data as needed, and because ServicePoint is web-based, they can access their data wherever they are.”

The next step was to locate funding to make the switch to a new assessment tool. The Community Foundation in Syracuse awarded a grant for performance measurement which provided funds to implement the database project. “We were able to demonstrate that this system would help us sustain and grow funding sources because we can better document impact and prioritize community needs by identifying service gaps. We will be able to regularly report outcomes in ways that allow us to better train our staff and improve service to our families.”

During the planning process, Hintz observed that because the project was an innovative application of the module, there were primarily SSOM reports available for HMIS implementations. “However, I knew this would not be a problem because we could build what we needed within ServicePoint,” said Hintz. “It’s really easy to build the customized assessment you want because you can put in a field to ask any question. This is important because the majority of the work we did in the transition involved building assessments to ensure we could get the data we need regardless of the format or parameters required by various funders.”

Data quality was also paramount in Hintz’s decision to use the SSOM. “I really like the way you can track different kinds of services and pull them out in a report, and the data quality rating feature in ServicePoint gives an organization confidence in its data that is not achieved with other systems,” added Hintz. “We look forward to tracking our performance and expanding use of the SSOM to other programs. At any point in time, I will be able to see the areas where we are making a difference not only in Child Welfare data collection but in a variety of program areas from Juvenile Justice to Functional Family Therapy to Preventative Services and Visitation.”

If you would like to download this story, click here.