A UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE DATA ENTRY SYSTEM

THE GOAL IS TO INCREASE THE AFCARS DATA COLLECTION COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY AND EFFICIENCY BY DEVELOPING PEN-BASED COMPUTER APPLICATIONS FOR FIELD USE BY ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE CASEWORKERS. THE CASEWORKER NEEDS AND PROCESSES WILL BE DETERMINED AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPED FOR BOTH DATA COLLECTION AND TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION WITH THE STATE OFFICES. FIELD TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED AND EVALUATED FOR THREE STATES (ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, OREGON). DURING PHASE I ALL 50 STATES WILL BE SUREYED TO DETERMINE THEIR AFCARS RELATED PROCESSES AND PLANS, AND SEVERAL WILL BE INTERVIEWED IN DEPTH. WE WILL EVALUATE THE EMERGING PEN-BASED COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND ARE APPLYING IT PROVIDE CASEWORKERS WITH PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS THAT ARE COMFORTABLE FOR THEM AND THEIR CLIENTS. IN PHASE II WE WILL DEVELOP THE SOFTWARE TO MEET CASEWORKER NEEDS AND TEST THE HARDWARE/SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS IN THE FIELD. THIS WILL DEMONSTRATE THEIR UTILITY AND YIELD THE BASIS FOR COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS THAT WILL SUPPORT THE GENERAL RECORDING AND COMMUNICATION NEEDS OF SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS AS WELL AS THE AFCARS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.