Mawiw Council’s new Jordan’s Principle Case Management system improves workload and efficiency

Mawiw Council Inc. is an Indigenous organization based in New Brunswick. Their focus is to improve the overall well-being of the three largest rural First Nation communities in New Brunswick through health initiatives, economic development, education, and environment.

Since 2018 Mawiw’s Jordan’s Principle team of 11 members has been supporting these communities to help ensure that no child is denied access to services they require. To best meet community member needs, Mawiw Council works every day to establish a positive rapport with their communities, implement a culturally appropriate and holistic method of client intake, and ultimately bridge the gap between Focal Point (ISC) and the client (community members requiring service).

The case work involved in supporting families and their service needs is vast and requires a large amount of data gathering and reporting in order to remain efficient, effective, and organized. It is very important for families to receive their required services as soon as possible. When data is not easily accessed - the process is slowed down and funding approval doesn’t happen quickly enough for the clients’ needs.

Mawiw realized a change was necessary because they were feeling this pain all too often, their existing data system simply was not meeting their staffs’ needs, and failing to support the management’s overall objectives. Through research, it was quickly realized that there was no software system in the market that was designed specifically to meet the unique needs presented by the Jordan’s Principle initiative. Not even the Federal Government had a data management system in place to support Jordan’s Principle.

Mawiw approached Dadavan Systems because of their long-standing relationship with First Nation communities all across Canada. Dadavan Systems, a software development company, has been working with First Nation communities for over 20 years, specializing in the development and implementation of unique data management solutions. Together, Dadavan and Mawiw designed the Jordan’s Principle Case Management (JPCM) solution that not only met Mawiw’s immediate needs, but also laid the ground work for a solution that has the potential to meet the needs of communities and Jordan’s Principle organizations all across Canada.

The needs expressed by Mawiw were simple. They needed a system that was:

• Very well organized
• Accessible by staff from anywhere
• Provided robust reporting
• Made client intake / interactions more efficient and effective

From the initial design to final feature implementation this project took about 1 year and it has been a great success for the Mawiw team.

Ashten, a JP Coordinator for Mawiw says: “Working with clients over the phone has become much more efficient and the level of service we provide them has drastically changed. This is due to our ability to access all important information from our computer. Previously we’d have information stored in different locations (physically and electronically), so the client would have to be put on hold as we searched. We no longer have to do this!”

The number one benefit Mawiw has experienced with this implementation, and change from their previous File Maker Pro based system, has been the system’s ease of use and quick access to client information. Multiple staff members have reported saving up to 15 minutes per client when having to create a new service request. Service Coordinators’ data entry process used to be manual and repetitive - with the implementation of JPCM, information is entered once and cascades to all relevant parts of the system and it auto fills standardize information.

Starleen, a long time JP Coordinator for Mawiw Says: “Changing to JPCM has made it much easier and more accurate to generate cheque requisitions for provider payments. JPCM’s information cascading functionality ensures that cheque requisitions generated match the payment amounts recorded against a client file / service, limiting the chances of human error.”

While dealing with the clients and their needs is a number one priority for Mawiw staff, financial reporting is a very close second. It is crucial that certain staff members on the Mawiw team have the ability to pull specific reports when requested by management or organizations like ISC.

Joyce, Finance Administrator at Mawiw, understands this all too well. “Reporting is a big part of my role and prior to JPCM, I was spending a lot of my time sifting through the data that I pulled from PALS (PALS produces one large excel report and does not allow for data filtering). I would have to work with a large excel file and search for the specific information I was looking for, in some cases building a report would take me hours. Now, I have reports built in JPCM that with the click of a button, give me the data I need. I can pull specific data in less than a minute, saving me countless hours each week.”

Today, more than ever, it is important to be able to do your job from anywhere and have access to all the tools / data you need to be effective and meet the needs of your clients. Implementing the JPCM solution has made this possible for all of Mawiw’s Jordan’s Principle Staff. Not only is this important when being forced to work from home due to uncontrollable circumstances, but also when staff changes take place and services need to continue moving forward without delay. Both Starleen and Ashten shared their perspectives on this.

Starleen: “Now that we are working with JPCM, I can log in from anywhere to retrieve information relating to a client. Clients don’t need to experience service delays because I’m not at the office. I can access their file from my home or anywhere I have access to a computer and internet.”

Ashten: “It was always challenging when staff went on vacation or left their position. Their clients would call into the office and we’d have to track down their file by going to another office or computer. Now we can easily look up the client file in our online database and if necessary, we can even reassign the client to a different coordinator to allow for work to continue without delay.”

The evolution of the Mawiw & Dadavan partnership has produced a case management solution that will drastically change the way communities, and Jordan’s Principle organizations across Canada keep track of their client’s cases and the services they require. It is our goal that with the implementation of the JPCM solution, communities and organizations will be able to better service their clients, eliminate service delays, and ensure that every child receives the support they need.

Patrick Francis, Acting Director of Jordan’s Principle Initiative: “Working with Dadavan has been a rewarding experience; we urgently needed a change to meet the level of service we wanted to provide our communities. Without this development it would have been difficult to capture the descriptive data required for accurate and efficient reporting. Also, we can now onboard new staff without having our clients experience service delays, this in itself is very valuable.”

Jenny Hill, President, Dadavan Systems: "We have a long-standing history of providing database solutions for First Nation communities. We started in the education sector and then moved into the cultural sector. It felt like a natural progression to develop a database for their health care needs. Our goal is to continue to collaborate with First Nation communities across Canada and create software that helps to support and connect community members."

Contact Dadavan

If you'd like to hear more about the Mawiw - Dadavan partnership or dig deeper into the JPCM solution please reach out to:

Justin Moore, Director of Business Development @ Dadavan Systems

Cell: 902-478-6270, Justin@dadavan.com