A Tale of Two Programs: Crisis and Music

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A Tale of Two Programs: Crisis and Music One of the most successful implementations of the Case Man template was at the Community Crisis Center in Elgin. The CCC runs a comprehensive set of programs to help women build positive and sustainable lives after domestic violence. It’s all there: information and referral, shelter, counseling, dental services, employment training – everything imaginable to take a women from “what can I do?” to “Look at what I’ve done.” I started working with them in 1997, first with Kim Cecil, and after she left to become a social worker, Theresa Boksa. They’d had a home grown application, but it couldn’t keep up with the complexity of the situation. The Case Man template was still a prototype, so much of the work was proof of concept. On a typical day I’d drive to the Center office and spend the morning working on other projects and chores, and then around ten I’d drive out to Elgin. Early on I discovered that if I left at 5 I’d get home at about 7:30 pm, much of that moving very slowly past O’Hare. But if I stayed until around 6:00, I’d still get home around 7:30, but in a much better mood. As a shelter, the CCC operated round the clock, so staying later wasn’t odd. However, it created a more relaxed environment; less clock watching and more dialogue, that while very structured from my perspective, felt more informal from staff’s viewpoint. We got through the requirements and staff interviews quickly, and had the first generation system within a few months. The system quickly became a hit with counselors and utilization soared. One of the favorite features was report that printed a counselor’s contacts for a specific period, which was then signed and filed, created a legal printed re... ... middle of paper ... ...into the system as an example student. She almost auditioned in real life, but decided she didn’t have the time. We did attend one of the concerts at Symphony Hall with a few of her fellow high school band members. It was a very nice evening. I mourned the inability to support the database after Fusco’s exit. Most of the entreaties I made to do any maintenance were declined because of cost. Some help was provided, but my overall impression was that the symphony had gone into the kind of austerity mode where things that were under appreciated or not fully understood are cut first. When that includes data quality and integrity it’s harder to see the impact of the cuts. It’s the same way that that reduction in force in Europe known as the plague – too many people were lost, and it almost took civilization with it. But then, I’m a bit biased on these things.

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