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Havasupai Tribal Court Modernizes Case Management with RiteTrack

Tiffany Edmonds — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:15:35 +0000

Handel IT is proud to partner with the Havasupai Tribe as they modernize the operations of the Havasupai Tribal Court with RiteTrack’s Tribal Court Module. Previously relying on pen-and-paper processes, the Court faced increasing challenges keeping pace with its growing caseload. With several hundred cases handled annually the need for a more reliable and efficient system became clear.

Manual processes made it difficult to maintain complete and accurate court dockets. Preparing dockets required several steps, and hearings or actions could occasionally be missed. As a result, approximately 30% of hearings resulted in continuances, often because scheduling details or updates had not been fully captured. By implementing RiteTrack, the Court is transitioning to a centralized, web-based system designed to help Tribal courts manage cases, hearings, and documentation with greater consistency and visibility.

Implementation Overview

Through the implementation of RiteTrack, the Havasupai Tribal Court will move from paper-based and spreadsheet-driven case tracking to a secure digital system that centralizes case information and court activity. Court staff will enter hearings, actions, and case updates directly into the system, allowing RiteTrack to automatically generate accurate court dockets and maintain a complete record of proceedings.

This transition will streamline daily court operations while ensuring that staff have immediate access to the information they need to prepare for hearings, track case progress, and manage case documentation more effectively. The Court also manages a high volume of both civil and criminal cases each month, further underscoring the need for a more efficient and reliable system.

Implementation Objectives

The Havasupai Tribal Court’s implementation of RiteTrack is focused on strengthening the efficiency and reliability of its daily court operations. A primary objective is transitioning from manual tracking to a centralized digital system that provides a consistent and organized way to manage court information. The Court is also working to improve the accuracy and completeness of its court dockets by reducing the multi-step manual preparation process that previously allowed hearings and actions to occasionally be missed.

By capturing hearings and case activity directly within the system, the Court aims to improve visibility into upcoming proceedings and provide staff with a clearer, more reliable view of case activity across the Court. Additionally, due to the large volume of cases currently being tracked manually, timely implementation of the system is a key priority for the Court.

Key Features and Benefits

Automatic Docket Generation – Hearings and case actions entered by staff are automatically added to court dockets, helping ensure they remain complete and accurate.

Centralized Case Management – Case details, parties, hearings, and documents are managed within one secure system instead of across paper files.

Comprehensive Case Tracking – Track charges, case parties, hearings, documents, fines and fees, and other court activity throughout the lifecycle of a case.

Court Documentation – Maintain a complete digital record of court actions, improving organization and long-term recordkeeping.

Rapid Implementation Timeline – The Court has prioritized getting the system up and running as quickly as possible due to the high volume of cases currently being tracked manually. RiteTrack’s implementation approach is designed to accommodate accelerated timelines with active client engagement and timely feedback throughout the process.

With the implementation of RiteTrack, the Havasupai Tribal Court is taking an important step toward more efficient case management and more reliable court operations. By implementing RiteTrack, the Havasupai Tribal Court is establishing a more efficient and reliable approach to managing cases, hearings, and court records—supporting court staff and improving the administration of justice for the community they serve.

Discover how RiteTrack can transform your tribal court.

The post Havasupai Tribal Court Modernizes Case Management with RiteTrack appeared first on Handel IT.

How Customer Feedback Shapes RiteTrack’s Case Management Software

Tiffany Edmonds — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 20:19:56 +0000

RiteTrack Isn’t Just “Set It and Forget It” Software

We know that no two organizations operate exactly the same way. That’s why our platform isn’t just an off-the-shelf product. Every implementation is a collaboration, built with the unique needs of each program in mind.

But it doesn’t stop there. Feedback from our users doesn’t vanish into a suggestion box. It actively shapes our software offerings, informs future updates, and helps us prioritize the features that matter most to the people relying on RiteTrack every day.

How We Collect Feedback

We listen at every stage of the journey:

During implementation: We hear directly from tribal court clerks, administrators, and other staff about what works — and what could work better.

After launch: Ongoing support tickets, user requests, and training sessions provide a steady flow of real-world insight.

Informal conversations: Project managers, user trainings, and periodic surveys give us even more opportunities to understand evolving needs.

This continuous dialogue ensures that our development process always reflects the real challenges our users face.

From Feedback to Features

When a customer shares an idea, it doesn’t sit in limbo. Instead, it enters a structured workflow:

Feedback submitted through support, training, or conversations.
Internal review where we discuss the request, compare it to other similar inquiries, and evaluate if and how it fits the system as a whole.
Development & testing where our team builds, refines, and ensures the feature meets quality standards.
Release as part of a system update.

Sometimes this process happens quickly — within the next release cycle. For more complex enhancements, we stay transparent, communicating timelines and keeping users informed.

Real Examples of User-Inspired Enhancements

Here are just a few ways our users have directly shaped RiteTrack’s functionality:

Smarter case search: A tribal court wanted a way to look up a person in the search bar and see every case they were associated with. That feature is now standard across the system.
Enhanced confidentiality controls: Concerns about potential conflicts of interest from a tribal court led us to create a “restricted user profile,” preventing certain staff from viewing sensitive cases. This also provides a way to effectively “seal” cases when necessary.
Improved financial security: Based on feedback, our financial services module now allows claims to be secured by department, ensuring each group can only access claims relevant to them (when systems are integrated).
Reminders: RiteTrack now allows users to set personal reminders for tasks, such as logging case notes. Reminders appear within the system at the specified time, ensuring important actions aren’t overlooked.

Each of these started as a customer request — and each is now part of RiteTrack’s standard toolkit.

RiteTrack’s Global Search delivers faster, more comprehensive results, helping users quickly find the person or case information they need.

At the end of the day, our goal isn’t to force programs to adapt their work to fit our software. It’s the opposite: RiteTrack adapts to support how you work. That’s why we see ourselves as more than a software vendor. We’re a partner, committed to evolving alongside you and making sure the system serves your mission, today and into the future.

Got an idea or pain point? We want to hear it. Reach out to your project manager or customer support — we’re always building something better together.

New to RiteTrack? See how our client-first approach can support your organization.

GET IN TOUCH

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Top 5 Challenges Probation Departments Face + How Tech Can Help

Jacob Brandes — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 22:28:04 +0000

With rising caseloads, probation staff have less and less time to spend with each individual they supervise. Every minute spent fighting with slow and outdated probation case management software takes staff away from their clients. That’s why having the right tools matters– Not just for documentation, but for tracking outcomes to find best practices.

Here are five of the biggest challenges and how the right probation case management software can make a difference:

Challenge #1: Outdated Systems

Software best practices can quickly become outdated in today’s ever-changing tech landscape. This can make a system made just a few years ago seem ancient. Outdated systems slow down staff. When systems are slow to use, require duplicate data entry, or delay reporting, staff end up spending more time struggling to use software than supporting clients.

Modern software like RiteTrack are designed around staff needs and industry best practices. RiteTrack, in particular, is built to be flexible, so that it can be updated based on industry best practices and user feedback. Some recent examples include tying a case to a person so that the staff only have to enter data once, or faster computing for reporting meaning a report can be generated within seconds.

Challenge #2: Tracking Outcomes, Not Just Activities

Many probation departments do an excellent job of documenting what has been done with a case: court hearing held, community service hours, drug tests, and so on. Tracking the case is very important, but that data can provide helpful insights.

Measuring the outcomes of these cases can build best practices for a department. In RiteTrack, there is comprehensive reporting where staff can look deeper into one specific case or all the department’s cases. Tracking activity is important, but understanding what works is even more powerful. RiteTrack’s reporting helps departments look into recidivism over time, revealing which services and interventions are most effective.

Challenge #3: Staff Turnover

Turnover for probation departments can throw a wrench into a department. New staff already have so many things to learn about their jobs. Teaching new staff how to use the software can be quite time-consuming.

Software with an easy-to-use interface can speed this process up drastically. RiteTrack has an interface similar to tools most people are familiar with, like user dashboards that can be set to what is most applicable to a person’s day-to-day tasks. Below is an example of a staff members active cases to where they can see their case load. Another example is easy search capabilities where staff can search a name, case number, or anything else in the system, meaning it is easier to pick up for new staff.

RiteTrack’s Active Person Cases Report makes it easy for staff to see and manage their active cases in an intuitive, interactive interface.

Challenge #4: Coordination Across Agencies

Siloed departments can hold important information from the staff member that it could benefit most. Staff can sometimes still get this information, but it can take time and cooperation from other departments.

An integrated solution can eliminate this disconnect between departments. Instantaneously bring case information from department to department, showing the whole picture from a client’s case, giving vital information to staff so they can better assist the client with their case.

Challenge #5: Software Does Not Fit How Staff Work

Off-the-shelf solutions often force staff to change their processes to match the software, like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. This can be quite frustrating for staff.

RiteTrack is built to be flexible and adapt to the staff’s processes. The software is configurable to your department’s unique processes, forms, and reporting needs, so staff can work how they already work, only faster.

Every one of these challenges pulls focus away from what matters the most, helping clients succeed. With the right case management tools, probation staff can work faster and make data-driven decisions that lead to real impact.

Want to see how other probation departments are solving these problems? Reach out to s chedule a personal demonstration of RiteTrack’s Probation case management software.

EXPLORE RITETRACK FOR PROBATION

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Built for Wraparound Care: How RiteTrack Embraced the Model from the Start

Even Brande — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 14:01:36 +0000

RiteTrack is one of the leading human services software solutions on the market today. A great number of state, local, and tribal government programs today use RiteTrack in juvenile justice. RiteTrack is particularly effective in facilitating collaboration among the different stakeholders involved in a case. This has proven to have strong impact in wraparound care models used in communities throughout the country. This is the story of how RiteTrack came to be, why wraparound is built into its DNA, and why this makes RiteTrack so powerful in serving the needs of these types of programs.

The Birth of RiteTrack

To start a successful business, it is helpful to have some relevant experience. When I started Handel in 1997, I had spent the previous four years working for another tech startup, first as project manager, and later in sales and marketing. I also had basic coding and database skills, honed since I got my first computer at the age of 12. What I lacked was the “what”. What type of software are we going to sell? At first, I was just picking up custom software projects one at time. I built a point-of-sale software for a flooring company, a vehicle registration database for the local county government, and an investment portfolio reporting solution for our local bank, just to name a few. Few, if anyone that I know, have built a successful company making custom software, one solution at a time. To build a successful company one has to have a product that can be sold over and over again. A product for which you are an expert. Preferably, according to “Built to Last” author Jim Collins, “best-in-the-world” kind of expert. A “hedgehog concept”.

According to most sources, only about one out of ten tech startups survive. Fortunately, this was a statistic I didn’t know at the time I started Handel, or I may have never even tried. At this point I should point out another ingredient that I believe is important for a company to have success: Luck.

Many people will likely disagree with me about this. However, with my background in tech startups, mentoring other entrepreneurs, and teaching entrepreneurship classes at a university, I have seen luck or coincidences, or simply being in the right place at the right time, play a big part the success of many companies. Whatever it was, I believe Handel’s success was partially built on some amount of luck, specifically a phone call that came in the spring of 1998, less than a year into our existence.

A former college classmate called me. She had heard that I had started a company that was building custom databases. She was the IT manager of a human services department in a large Colorado county. They needed a database for their new Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC). Could I possibly make such a solution for them? At this point I should remind the reader that English is my second language. There was a slight obstacle for me to answer this question. I had no idea what the word “juvenile” meant. It was just not a word that had crossed my still-growing English vocabulary after moving from Norway to the US a few years earlier. After briefly educating myself, I called my friend back and replied that I would be happy to take a look at their database needs.

Juvenile Assessment Centers

Juvenile Assessment Centers (JACs) originated in the United States in the early 1990s as a way to streamline and improve the response to juvenile delinquency by providing a centralized point for intake, evaluation, and referral of youth entering the justice system. The first model was developed in Florida, where policymakers and practitioners recognized the need for a more coordinated and efficient approach to assess the needs and risks of young offenders. JACs were designed to bring together multiple agencies—such as law enforcement, mental health, substance abuse, and social services—under one roof to conduct comprehensive assessments and quickly connect youth with appropriate interventions. This wraparound care model aimed to reduce system fragmentation, promote early intervention, and improve outcomes for at-risk youth.

This was indeed the spark that led to the birth of RiteTrack. In 1998 there were a lot of companies developing corrections software. There were also a lot of companies developing human services software. However, as it turned out, nobody seemed to offer a solution that served at the intersection of these two fields. This, as it would turn out, was exactly what these wraparound care programs, like the JAC, needed.

At the time, this first project felt just like another custom software project. I had already moved on to another project, when a few months later a call came in from another Colorado county. They had heard we had a software solution for wraparound programs. Then one day, a call came in from Miami-Dade County, Florida. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Colorado anymore.” This was the inflection point that would change the history of Handel. If one of the largest counties in the country was calling a three-person startup in Laramie, Wyoming, then this was clearly a market that nobody else was serving. From that day on, our focus changed strictly to build RiteTrack, the human services software that has been the driver of Handel’s success for the past 25 years.

The Information Management Needs of Wraparound Care Models

When we designed the original version of RiteTrack, we were intentional about aligning both its functionality and user interface with the unique needs of wraparound care models. These models emphasize holistic, family-centered approaches to juvenile justice and social services. Key goals of wraparound programs typically include:

Family-Driven Care
Cross-System Collaboration
Adoption of Restorative Justice Practices
Trauma-Informed Care
Community-Based Alternatives to Detention

RiteTrack was built to fully support these goals through a purpose-built database schema centered around wraparound principles, a robust security framework, and dual interfaces — one for employees and one for clients. Following is a quick overview of how RiteTrack addresses some of these essential needs:

Family-Driven Care

Modern juvenile justice systems increasingly prioritize family engagement in both treatment planning and decision-making, recognizing the vital role families play in a young person’s rehabilitation. RiteTrack is designed to encourage this involvement at every stage of the case. Family input is gathered during the development of treatment plans and, through the client portal, families can access updates and share feedback throughout the process. This ensures families stay informed and engaged, while allowing case workers to maintain open, ongoing communication.

Cross-System Collaboration

RiteTrack is designed to facilitate seamless collaboration across multiple agencies and roles. Whether it’s intake workers, case managers, counselors, teachers, judges, or law enforcement officers — each role is assigned access to specific portions of the client’s record relevant to their responsibilities. For example, teachers can update and review academic progress but will not see legal or mental health data, while judges may have access to legal records but not educational files. Each organization can fully customize these access controls, enabling coordinated cross-system collaboration while protecting client privacy — all with the goal of delivering the best possible outcomes for youth.

Adoption of Restorative Justice Practices

RiteTrack empowers programs to analyze case data and identify patterns linked to both recidivism and successful rehabilitation. These insights can inform and shape treatment plans by highlighting approaches that have proven effective for youth in similar situations, helping programs adopt restorative practices that are grounded in evidence and tailored to the needs of the community.

Trauma-Informed Care

Given the widespread impact of trauma on justice-involved youth, many programs are embedding trauma-informed practices into their service models. RiteTrack helps ensure that trauma-related insights are effectively communicated to the providers and stakeholders working directly with each young person, supporting a more empathetic and informed approach to care and intervention.

Community-Based Alternatives to Detention

As systems increasingly shift toward community-based interventions rather than traditional detention, RiteTrack provides the infrastructure to support this transition. By systematically tracking youth participation in services and community programs, RiteTrack helps organizations document progress, measure outcomes, and strengthen the case for alternatives to detention.

These are just a few examples of how RiteTrack supports wraparound care models. We would love the opportunity to demonstrate, either in person or through an online session, how RiteTrack can advance the work of your programs and support youth and families in your community. Our long history of serving communities who have embraced the wraparound care models gives us unique experiences and insights. We would love to bring this expertise to your community.

REQUEST MORE INFORMATION

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Enhancing TANF Software: RiteTrack MER View

Casey Bader — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:19:39 +0000

At Handel IT, we continuously update RiteTrack to enhance standard functionality and improve the user experience. Project managers and support staff maintain regular contact with customers, not only for support but also to gather feedback and suggestions. I learned during a user training session years ago that users of RiteTrack, or any software system, often count the number of clicks it takes to perform an action. These users frequently suggest improvements based on their daily interactions with the system and their most common activities. To this end, Handel prioritizes listening to its user base to expand RiteTrack while making it more efficient.

This user-focused approach is especially important for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) programs, which provide essential services to families striving for stability. TANF agencies not only offer financial assistance but also help parents gain employment, access services and education to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families and help reduce the number of out-of-wedlock pregnancies. TANF programs often collaborate with Employment and Training programs working with TANF clients to provide education, certifications, and job placement services – critical resources that these programs provide together to transform the future of young families. Additionally, direct monthly benefits help low-income households maintain stable living conditions, allowing children to remain in their homes whenever possible. Given the many moving parts in TANF case management, efficiency is key. The more streamlined the system, the more time caseworkers can devote to meaningful, outcome-driven services rather than navigating complex software solutions.

RiteTrack TANF Software – Listening to Our Users

The RiteTrack TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) software is one of the most intricate and comprehensive solutions we offer. Much of its complexity lies behind the scenes, where monthly aid calculations are performed, and federal datasets are generated for grant reporting. However, these calculations and reports require significant data entry. With RiteTrack, this data entry is typically a one-time process unless a client’s status changes. When changes occur, the process of updating information within a Person or Case record can become cumbersome. Staff may have to go between the records of different family members and the case file to update all the required information. Too many cumbersome clicks. Users expressed a desire for less navigation and a more streamlined view of the monthly maintenance calculation data.

One of the most time-intensive processes in TANF case management is ensuring accurate monthly benefit calculations. To address this challenge, Handel developed the MER (Monthly Evaluation Report) View in our RiteTrack TANF software solution.

The MER View is a single screen that allows users to efficiently navigate the data involved in a monthly calculation. RiteTrack intelligently pulls only the information for the current month into the MER View, while historical data remains accessible under Person and Case records. Within the MER View, users can confirm and update household members, income, expenses, over/under payments, sanctions, and exemptions, and automatically calculate the household’s monthly benefit.

TANF Client Portal

For larger TANF programs, client self-service access is a game-changer. The RiteTrack Client Portal is an essential companion to our TANF software, allowing families to manage their case information online. Members can now review and update personal information (as allowed by the program) such as contact information, TANF statuses, and work participation activities. Forms and documentation can be uploaded into the Portal and then pulled directly into RiteTrack, notifying the case worker that the documents are pending review. The amount and status of monthly benefits can also be accessed. This can save significant caseworker time from answering questions about benefits, gathering documentation, and updating records. The Portal also provides a Public Calendar for TANF events and works with other RiteTrack modules like Employment and Training and Indian Child Welfare.

The Client Portal provides secure access to service utilization history and more.

Improvements to Affect Outcomes — Achieving Goals

The goals of a RiteTrack implementation include improving staff efficiency, affecting better outcomes for members, and ensuring accurate reporting for stakeholders and funding agencies. Handel is committed to continuing to improve the RiteTrack system to better enable success of these goals. The MER View is an example of listening to user feedback and acting on it to improve the experience. By simplifying processing Monthly Evaluation Reports and benefit calculations staff save time and are more likely to be accurate, improving reporting. Less time doing paperwork and lower-level tasks free up staff to provide more direct services and program improvement.

By developing the MER View, Handel has addressed inefficiencies identifying by users. We recognize that the success of any implementation depends heavily on user satisfaction, and at Handel, we are dedicated to ensuring happy customers.

Is Your TANF Software Helping or Hindering Your Agency?

If your current TANF case management system is slow, inefficient, or outdated, it might be time to explore how RiteTrack can help. With optimized benefit calculations, seamless client access, and automated reporting, our solution is trusted by tribal and state agencies nationwide. Contact us to schedule a personalized demonstration and see firsthand how our software can enhance efficiency, improve reporting accuracy, and boost caseworker satisfaction.

EXPLORE TANF MODULE

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RiteTrack’s Client Portal Revolutionizes Enrollment

Casey Bader — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 15:21:13 +0000

RiteTrack’s Client Portal Revolutionizes Enrollment

by Casey Bader

RiteTrack’s Client Portal revolutionizes enrollment processes and communication with members. The RiteTrack Enrollment module is a trusted solution used across Indian Country to manage applicants, members, and enrollment processes efficiently. It simplifies access to crucial information such as relationships, tribal affiliations, contact details, and enrollment documentation for both staff and members. Additionally, RiteTrack automates the generation of ID Cards and Family Trees, while statistical reports provide valuable insights into membership demographics and trends to save staff time.

Introducing the RiteTrack Client Portal

Enhanced Member Service

The Client Portal represents a seamless extension of the Enrollment module, revolutionizing the traditional enrollment process. Now, members can handle applications, submit required documentation, and track statuses online from the comfort of their own home. Once submitted, documents are securely stored in RiteTrack, triggering notifications to enrollment staff for prompt review and action. The Client Portal also grants convenient access to recorded blood quantum as well.

Secure Personal Information

Applicants and members can download and upload forms and documents.

The Client Portal facilities two-way messaging with Enrollment staff.

Streamlined Service Delivery

One way the Client Portal facilitates seamless interactions between tribes and their members is by offering downloadable forms from multiple programs. Users can complete these documents and upload them directly via the portal, significantly enhancing operational efficiency and user convenience. For more personal support, the portal facilitates direct two-way messaging between members and enrollment staff.

Increased Community Engagement

In addition to personalized access for registered users, the Client Portal provides a public area where community members can explore the Tribe’s calendar of events and hearings, managed through various RiteTrack modules. Personal calendars can even be synchronized to the Tribe’s calendar for member convivence. Comprehensive details on community news, elections, and legislation are readily accessible through the News Feed, maintained by program staff. Moreover, council member profiles, featuring photos, service dates , and biographies, foster greater transparency and connection with members.

Public Calendar

Looking Ahead With RiteTrack

RiteTrack’s Client Portal represents a significant leap forward in enhancing tribal operations and member services. By automating manual processes and integrating direct messaging for personalized support, tribes can prioritize core activities while still ensuring excellent service delivery. Every RiteTrack module can seamlessly connect with the portal, providing comprehensive online access to essential services.

Immediate notifications to staff of messages and documents.

Transform your Tribe’s engagement and empower your staff with RiteTrack’s Client Portal. Contact Handel Information Technologies today to discover the transformative potential of the Client Portal for your Tribe.

GET A FREE PORTAL DEMO

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Modernize Tribal Services with the RiteTrack Member Portal

Casey Bader — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 16:40:21 +0000

Modernize Tribal Services with the RiteTrack Member Portal

by Casey Bader

Technology permeates and improves all of our lives. Convenience is the name of the game for today’s consumers with more and more interactions and processes becoming automated. This extends to Indian Country too, where members expect the same from their Tribal organizations. Handel Information Technologies developed the RiteTrack Client Portal to meet these expectations, allowing members and applicants to securely access contact information, enrollment status, financial assistance, and more. The member portal empowers staff members to be more efficient as they can look up information and access forms on the portal instead of contacting each department individually. Staff may still provide personal service in the member portal through the two-way messaging capabilities.

RiteTrack’s Client Portal enables Tribes to modernize their communication with members and communities. The portal allows individual members to upload applications, view current contact information and documents, and view program status. Additionally, public users can view information about upcoming events and hearings, and download applications and forms. In addition, members have direct messaging communications with tribal offices with two-way messaging capabilities. With the ability to be integrated with any of our standard modules (as well as to be customized to fit your tribe’s specific needs), the Client Portal is ideal to enhance efficiency and achieve growth in any Tribe.

RiteTrack Client Portal Person Contact Information

RiteTrack Client Portal In Action

Enrollment

For Enrollment departments, the portal provides an intuitive interface for applicants and enrolled members to view and submit information online, minimizing calls and office visits. Handel’s Client Portal allows applicants and members to review their current and past enrollment status. Furthermore, it enables users to verify their contact information and upload necessary forms (such as change of address forms) directly for the department’s review.

RiteTrack Client Portal Associated Enrollment Status

RiteTrack Client Portal Associated Claims

Financial Services and TANF

The Client Portal streamlines applications for services and tracks the processing status of current claims. Members can review the services for which they are eligible, upload applications, and monitor their total service usage. Staff are saved time from having to answer queries about services and can spend more time managing services and cases.

Tribal Court

Users associated with Tribal Court can access summary information about cases, hearings, and legal actions, ensuring they stay informed and up-to-date. For the community at large, the Public Calendar can publish dockets and other court activities. RiteTrack can also send reminders and notifications about upcoming hearings and overdue conditions, simplifying the court’s communication with members.

RiteTrack Client Portal Associated Court Cases

Standard Features

RiteTrack Client Portal Messages Functionality displayed on both the RiteTrack system (laptop) and Portal interface (mobile).

Documents and Messages

The RiteTrack Portal enhances member and community communication by facilitating direct, two-way messaging between tribal/department staff and portal users. Both staff and users can upload and download documents and exchange messages through the RiteTrack system (staff) and portal interface (users). The RiteTrack dashboard highlights unviewed portal messages for staff and documents once messages and uploads are addressed.

Public Calendar

The Public Calendar can display any events scheduled in RiteTrack to users. Like the functionality in Microsoft Outlook, court dockets can be posted and viewed as a calendar or list of hearings over any period. Community events, trainings, and classes can also be displayed on the Public Calendar with time and other summary information about the event. Users can even add the calendar to their Google, Apple, or Outlook calendars to stay current on all their subscribed tribal happenings.

RiteTrack Client Portal Calendar Functionality

RiteTrack Client Portal Public News Feed

News Feed

The News Feed in the Client Portal gives the public access to view tribal news and events. This eliminates the need for mailed notices and newsletters by allowing all content to be accessed online. Tribal members can receive notifications via email or text about tribal news or an upcoming event.

Council History

Tribes are able to share information about current Council members so the community knows who is representing them. Council information includes photo, dates of services, and a custom biography.

RiteTrack Client Portal Council History Record

By leveraging the RiteTrack Client Portal, Tribal organizations can enhance service delivery, streamline communication, and provide a modern, user-friendly experience for their members and applicants. Contact Handel Information Technologies to explore how the RiteTrack Client Portal can work for your Tribe.

GET A FREE PORTAL DEMO

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Multi-County Juvenile Detention Center Shares Benefits of RiteTrack

Even Brande — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 20:22:28 +0000

When the Multi-County Juvenile Detention Center in Ohio decided to implement a new case management software system two years ago, they had several goals in mind:

Replace Excel spreadsheets and paper forms with a centralized, web-based software
Improve internal operations and outcomes through better information
Ease the process of generating and submitting information to outside agencies

Photo: Jess Grimm/Eagle-Gazette

The MCJDC is a 48-bed facility that serves boys and girls. They accept youth from four Ohio Counties: Fairfield, Licking, Hocking, and Perry. In the fall of 2017, Multi-County chose the RiteTrack Juvenile Case Management software from Handel Information Technologies. The implementation project kicked off in late October 2017 and Multi-County went live on their new system on January 1, 2018.

During a recent webinar, Steve Koenig from Handel sat down with Dana Moore, Multi-County Superintendent, and Bret Sark, Deputy Superintendent, to discuss their experience with RiteTrack (RT) some 15 months after going live.

The following is a summary of some of the key takeaways from this conversation. Some of the wording has been paraphrased for clarity and in some cases similar topics have been grouped together.

Why a New Case Management System?

Multi-County is required to report back to various stakeholders. With the old process it was very tedious and sometimes outright difficult to find, collect, and report back good information.

The old process consisted of many disjointed systems including multiple Excel spreadsheets, paper forms, and a case management database. In many cases, one employee may have a specific spreadsheet for specific information that would not be shared with others. According to Dana Moore, when someone requested information or staff needed information there was generally a lot of time wasted running around looking for the data or even finding the person who had the statistics. “It was not only difficult gathering the information we needed to make decisions and to provide services to the youth served, but it was also very difficult compiling the necessary reports required both internally and externally,” she says.

“With the new system, we have instant access to all the information we need at our fingertips. When someone calls for information we no longer have to say ‘Hold, please; we will get back with you.’ We can give instant answers, and we now have high quality information readily accessible so that we can make decisions in real-time.”

RiteTrack also gives them a battery of standard reports as well as reports specifically customized for them so that they now can provide feedback to their stakeholders with the click of a button.

Key Outcomes

Dana and Brett repeatedly mention the importance of having a centralized, web-based system, where data is available in real-time. Yet, security for sensitive information is also vital. Access to the centralized system is set up through different security groups so that individuals logging on to the system have access only to the information required for them to do their jobs. For instance, law enforcement personnel may just have access to basic client demographics, whereas a shift manager may access incident reports, restraints, and room-confinement information.

The focus of this initial phase has been on the intake process which is the heart of their operation. Dana says they were surprised to find out how many of their needs were met by RiteTrack “directly out of the box.” They had initially expected that they would need to do several customizations but decided to dive in and discover what RiteTrack could do for them at the start. What they found was that RT right away met most of their needs and so they were able to keep customizations to a minimum.

“There isn’t any information from our facility that doesn’t go into RT somewhere,” says Dana. She believes that having all this information allows staff to be better at time management which makes them more efficient and which ultimately leads to better decision-making.

Another key benefit Dana mentions is RT’s ability to export data to Excel. Since all staff are very familiar with Excel, this is of great value. RiteTrack gives them a centralized system for all their data but they can still export to Excel and do further data analysis as needed.

A further benefit Dana declares is that their paper consumption has been cut in half since implementing RT. Not only that, but they have been able to scale back their copier contract also and these translate to some significant financial savings.

Brett additionally explains how some of the reports in RiteTrack have helped improve the quality of information. “The Missing Data Report gives us direct insight into what important data fields our employees may miss, and we can catch those mistakes and correct them. In the past these have gone undetected and have caused problems down the road. Having access to staff information, attendance, and performance records is also very valuable.”

Best Practices

Multi-County went live after only two months of implementation work. Dana credits this speedy process to their willingness to see how much they could use the system right “out of the box” and not to over-customize RT. “Once we dived in, we actually cut in half what we thought we needed to customize,” she says. She strongly emphasizes the importance of plunging in rather than doing too much speculation as to what an agency may want. She recognizes that change is hard, and most employees don’t like big changes. Yet, she has found that her employees picked up RiteTrack very quickly. “It is so intuitive,” she adds. “After just basic training, our employees figured it out. It also helps that the system is organized very logically and that it guides us through the intake process step-by-step.” Talking about the go-live date on January 1, 2018 she readily says, “We didn’t have a single glitch that first day. All of our data was there and our reports were spot on.”

Dana and Bret also credit Handel’s Project Manager, Jeanne Wolcott, and Steve Koenig for being instrumental in their success. “There were times when it would have been really easy to hit the panic button had we not had Jeanne on the other end to guide us and give us ready answers. When we needed help, she would jump and do a screenshare, showing us how to do things.”

“During the week that your staff spent here at the initial kick-off, you pulled in someone from every side of the facility to answer questions such as: What are your needs and what do your reports look like? You were able to understand our needs and then demonstrate how RT could meet those needs. I can’t imagine a better process. That was huge. Everyone felt valued and it was a big part of getting everyone’s buy-in. They felt that they were heard.”

“The success for us was the team you provided. It made the transition very seamless and positive. Doing the project in smaller phases is also something I strongly recommend.”

On-Going Support

Brett and Dana are both very complimentary about their experience since going live in January 2018. “Handel’s support is absolutely first class.” When asked about the biggest difference between their former vendor and Handel, Dana doesn’t hesitate, “With the old vendor, there could be days of emailing back and forth before we could get an answer. With Handel we get an immediate response when we call—evenings, weekends, or even holidays. It doesn’t matter. Jeanne is always there for us.”

She brings up an example of a recent incident. Ohio Department of Youth Services recently visited them and needed a report in a very specific format. RiteTrack didn’t have a report in the exact format they needed so they called Handel. Within one hour they had their report. “This is almost unheard of,” Dana recounts.

Future Expansion

As Multi-County continues to realize the immense impact RiteTrack has had on their operations, Dana says she is making plans for future expansions. “Our next goal is to expand RT into the clinical area so that our medical department can use it. We also plan to implement support for the Topaz signature pad.”

“When a mandate comes down requiring some new report, we have the confidence that RiteTrack can provide the answers.”

Register to watch the recording here.

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Yurok Tribe Names RiteTrack as Supporting Piece in Grant Award

Tiffany Edmonds — Fri, 03 May 2019 20:15:17 +0000

The Yurok Tribe was awarded a portion of the FY 2018 Enhancing Community Responses to the Opioid Crisis grant. This is a grant intended to provide additional support for the youngest members of their community who are affected by the opioid crisis with a program that will use evidence-based and culturally appropriate tactics. In this grant submission they identify their integrated RiteTrack database system as integral to managing data from multiple departments involved in these cases which they will use to create a feedback system for continued assessment. The programs/departments included on this system are:

Tribal/local superior courts
Law enforcement
Indian Child Welfare (ICW) services
Child protective services (CPS)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
The schools

We are honored to partner with the Yurok Tribe on this initiative to improve the lives of some of their most vulnerable citizens.

Read here for additional information about Yurok’s award and program here.

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To Build or Buy? The Pros and Cons of Buying Off-The-Shelf vs. Building Your Own Case Management Software

Even Brande — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:22:46 +0000

In 2017 Handel will celebrate our 20th year in business. It really does not feel like 20 years since the day I sat up Handel’s first office in the basement of my house. We got our first break from customers who wanted us to build custom database solutions for them. Since I didn’t have a product to sell them, building custom software was the only way to stay in business. We initially developed a variety of custom software solutions including point-of-sale software (our POSIE POS software for local florists were an early hit), reporting software for bank portfolios, inventory management, and many other solutions long forgotten. Most of these solutions were so individually tailored that they were almost impossible to mass-market. However, they paid the bills and kept us in business during those early years. One day in 1998 an old college friend contacted me. She was working in the IT department of the human services division of a large Colorado county and they were looking for a database for managing youth in a juvenile diversion program. Perhaps because English is my second language or maybe because I had never had much exposure to the human services world, I neither knew what a “juvenile” was, nor what a “diversion program” was. Not that this would stop me. I had bills to pay and a family to feed. “Of course I can do this” I thought. 2 months later, the pre-cursor to RiteTrack was delivered. The system did exactly what the customer had asked me to do and it worked really well. That is, until 15 or more employees used the system at the same time. Somehow in our negotiations we failed to discuss how many users would be using the system on a regular basis. The chosen solution was built on Microsoft Access. For all its power in terms of developing quick applications, Access at the time was not designed to support a large number of users, a task better handled by its big brother, Microsoft SQL Server. This was only one of many lessons we learned in those early years. Probably the most important lesson I learned: If you want to build a business you have to be really good at something. It is very hard to be successful at doing many different things for many different customers. The custom-shop model kept us alive for our first years and it led us directly to RiteTrack. Both good things because we would not be around today if we hadn’t started out this way. We chose to follow the path that RiteTrack created for us into the field of human services. We soon ditched all of our other efforts and became really good at one thing. A strange thing happened when we did this. Our business started to grow.

If you are a government agency looking to implement a complex human services software for managing the clients that you serve you are faced with a variety of choices. You can build a system in-house, you can hire a consultant to build a system for you, or you can choose from a variety of vendor-provided products. Unlike the late 1990s when we started out, the marketplace today offer “COTS” (commercial off-the-shelf) software for virtually any market niche. However, unlike the 99 cent apps you buy in an app-store, the type of social services government software we develop (often referred to as enterprise resource planning software, an unfortunate term in my opinion since most human services programs don’t think of themselves as an enterprise -a customer once asked if it had something to do with “Star Trek”) has to meet several complex requirements including business rules (rocket science has nothing on TANF eligibility), the number of different departments and users served, reporting requirements, security models, customizations specific to their particular county, state, or tribe, and many other variables. Large state software projects involving major government contractors frequently run into 8 figures ($10 -50 million is not uncommon). Needless to say, small government entities do not have total budgets (never mind IT budgets) that come close to such figures. In the perceived absence of existing COTS systems that can be had for much less, government entities often go the route of developing a custom solution system in-house or hiring a local developer with the expectations that the system will cost them a lot less. Unfortunately what may seem like a great deal up front ends up costing considerably more over time and exposes your organization to a great amount of risk.

The process often goes something like this:

Said project has a finite budget. A request for proposal (RFP) is put out. Vendors bid on the project. A local software developer comes in with the lowest bid. By law, you the customer has to go with lowest bidder. The local software developer has stellar credentials when it comes to having all the right technical skills but has no domain expertise (like us at the start, they have no concept of your domain, being it juvenile justice, child welfare, TANF or other). You on the other hand have all this knowledge but no expertise with complex software projects. Seems like a match made in heaven. Or not.

Having been on both sides of the fence, both as the custom software developer and later as the “COTS” vendor, we feel qualified to speak on this subject. While the low-bidder-local-custom-shop developer may look good on paper, there are a lot of hidden costs and risks associated with custom software projects. We have seen some of these projects succeed, many fail outright and most never living up to the customer’s expectations.

Here are some of the common pitfalls of custom software projects:

The Vendor Does Not Understand Your Job

Software developers are very good with what is in their technical toolbox whether that is mobile app development, web development, database design, or traditional desktop software development. However, the left-brain dominant traits often found in those attracted into the computer science field, such as problem solving, algorithmic thinking, and a general excitement for technology also can be a detriment to these same individuals trying to understand common problems faced by those who work in the human services field. As somebody who probably falls more into the left-brain category, I can assure you, 100s of projects in the human services field can not substitute for actually having been a social worker or worked in the field of human services. First, I would dare to say that those attracted to the field of computer science are generally disposed of the typical people skills required when serving other human beings. Second, until you have actually worked in this field, it is very hard to put yourself into those people’s role. So, no matter how well you communicate the job of a social worker, even the most well-meaning, right-brain inclinded software developer will never get a complete understanding of your needs.

Your Organization Lacks Experience with Complex Software Projects

For lack of anyone else in the organization who volunteers, you become the point person for overseeing the new software project. You went to school to get a degree in social work because you love helping people, yet, here you find yourself in charge of overseeing the implementation of a highly complex software system. You are constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the software developers you are working with, all the while tearing your hair out and wondering how you ended up in this situation. You find yourself Googling words like “scrum”, “agile development” and “procedural design”.

You and the Vendor Both Underestimate What It Will Take To Succeed

Complex custom software projects always come in ahead of schedule and under budgets. False. Most complex software projects where there is a great amount of uncertainty usually stick to the original design document? Again, false.

The truth is, when you are dealing with a vendor (or an internal programmer) who have been tasked with developing software for something they know very little about and you have been tasked with being the representative for your organization in charge of the project, something you have never done before, suggesting that there are a lot of risk factors would be the understatement of the year. These projects always start out with a lot of positive energy. This should be easy! We should have something up and running in two months. There are two primary reasons why projects like these rarely come in on time and on budget. The first category is that there is a lot of uncertainty with these types of projects and you simply can’t know what you don’t know. There are often a lot of surprises lurking around the corner. Once you got the eligibility matrix in place you realized that you had forgotten to account for some of the key data points required to calculate eligibility. Back to the drawing board. The second reason is what is commonly referred to as “scope creep”. That scenario goes something like this: We have already created a place for tracking staff and caseloads. While we are add it, it should be easy to add in a piece to track our staff’s various certifications. I once had a software developer ban me from ever using the term “should be easy” in the context of software development. Once one “should be easy” turns into ten “should be easy” you have a problem: It is no longer easy. Our recommendation is to have great initial design specs and save the “would be nice” and “should be easy” for a future phase.

You Wait Until Everything is Perfect to Go Live

This is somewhat related to the previous paragraph. If you wait until everything is perfect in your custom software solution, you will probably never go live. Nothing in life is perfect and this is rarely more true than when it comes to technology. Even the best developed most quality tested software will have unforeseen glitches once it goes from production into the hands of the end-users. You will never be able to foresee all the challenges your end-users will put you through. Furthermore, some of your design assumptions will always turn out to be wrong anyway, so no need to wait until everything is perfect. No matter how perfect you think it is, you will find something you forgot once you go live. Better find this out sooner rather than later.

Vendor Is Not Around To Support You in the Long Run

When we implement RiteTrack for a client it is not uncommon that we replace an existing system that was developed in-house. The two most common reasons for switching to a new system are:

The technology is obsolete.
The person who wrote the system is long gone.

Working with a vendor who is providing an off-the-shelf system you are less likely to run into either of these situations. The vendor typically provides upgrades so that the software stays current. The vendor is less likely to disappear than an employee. While the latter does happen, we find that most vendors in our market space has been around for a long time. Sometimes companies get acquired but the software typically continue to exist under the new owner.

Not Playing Well With Others

Another common issue we see in home-grown systems is that they are often not designed to easily integrate with other systems or they are not built using standardized data schema, thus making it hard for third-parties to pull information out, or for integrating with other systems.

Conclusion

There are many hidden risks and costs associated with building a human services software system in-house. While this option appears attractive on the surface, it often ends up being much more expensive than finding an existing solution from a vendor who has experience in your space. Worse yet, with a custom-built system you have little assurances to fall back on in the likely risk of failure. With a vendor, failure is typically not an option because the vendor stakes their entire reputation on their product. If you have any questions about this, I would welcome the opportunity to hear from you.

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