Child welfare workers soon will be just a click away

Foster care case managers, child protective investigators and other Clark County Department of Family Services employees soon will use mobile devices when they're away from the office.

The County Commission unanimously approved a $575,000 technology project Tuesday to buy 420 laptops and other mobile devices that can access all child welfare databases, including a statewide case management system and department paperwork, and be used for data entry, court reporting and Internet and email access.

Funding for the project comes from a special revenue fund created in 2008 from entitlements received from governmental agencies and interest earnings, otherwise known as the county's entitlements fund, used for salaries, benefits, services and supplies.

Case management staffers "experience many hours of down time while away from their offices waiting for court proceedings or conducting site visits," according to the agenda item submitted by the department.

Lisa Ruiz-Lee, the department's interim director, said staff members take hard copies of documents and cellphones with them in the field, sometimes waiting in court for three to four hours, which can limit their work progress in other cases. "It's reducing the amount of time we have to spend doing nothing, essentially," Ruiz-Lee said.

The devices will allow workers to remotely access their office computers and provide the same level of security as their desktop computers at work.

County Manager Don Burnette said that the program will make the department more efficient after a 22 percent reduction in the county's workforce over the past four years because of the economic downturn.

"This will allow us to increase efficiency and productivity for staff at a time where we need it now more than ever, given the fact we have some staff limitations," Burnette said.

Family Services oversees children who are abused, neglected or require foster care. More than 3,000 children are in the child welfare system at any given time, according to department statistics.

Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 455-4519.