Blog

Our blog isn’t about us. It’s about you. We discuss business challenges and real issues human service agencies and caseworkers face everyday. You’ll find traditional human services software articles about things like document management for human services and social work technology. But you’ll also find inspirational stories to boost caseworkers’ spirits and tools to help agencies find and gain support for technology in human services.

Posted Tuesday, February 6, 2024 by Team Northwoods

Answering the Top 10 Questions on Buying Human Services Technology

“As directors, it is our sole responsibility to clear the path and move obstacles out of the way for people to stay in our agency. Any time you can give caseworkers more time with families, it helps with their morale and their balance. That ultimately has a positive impact on the work we’re doing.” – Joe Kellerby, Child Welfare Director, Mesa County Department of Human Services

This quote from one of our customers underscores why technology has such a huge impact in human services. Technology allows workers more time to do the job they signed up to do—assisting clients in being healthy, safe, and successful—which is critical for supporting and sustaining the workforce.

Yet, buying technology can still be incredibly difficult, especially for agencies who haven’t done it before. We know it’s overwhelming to navigate all the options available, so we created a technology toolkit to help your human services agency navigate the journey—from defining the problem you want to solve, to evaluating the right partners, to implementing and optimizing your solution. Here’s a quick preview of the top questions we answer.

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Posted Monday, December 18, 2023 by Team Northwoods

Readers' Choice Recap: Top Blog Posts of 2023

Another year is coming to a close and that means it's time to recap our top blogs of 2023. Whether you're new here (welcome!) or a regular reader (welcome back!), we hope you'll find something new and insightful in this year's list.

Subscribe to the blog via email so you never miss out on future content or get in touch with our team if certain trends, topics, or challenges are on your mind as we head into the new year. As always, thanks for reading along with us!

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Posted Friday, June 30, 2023 by Laura Haffield

Unlocking Innovation: How Code for America and Minnesota are Charting a New Path

The public health emergency has significantly altered the delivery of government assistance programs over the past four years and has also spurred on a great deal of innovation to better serve those in need. Traditional concepts of what it looks like to apply for benefits have drastically changed.

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Posted Tuesday, December 6, 2022 by Team Northwoods

Readers' Choice Recap: Top Blog Posts of 2022

Another year is coming to a close and that means it's time to recap our top blogs of 2022. Whether you're new here (welcome!) or a regular reader (welcome back!), we hope you'll find something new and insightful in this year's list.

Subscribe to the blog via email so you never miss out on future content or get in touch with our team if certain trends, topics, or challenges are on your mind as we head into the new year. As always, thanks for reading along with us!

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Posted Wednesday, February 9, 2022 by Team Northwoods

Success Tips: Realize Value with Cloud Technology for Human Services

As human services agencies have grown more comfortable with the idea of cloud technology, the conversation has shifted from “what should we do?” to “how do we get it right?”

In our experience, your agency will be more successful if you have a solid answer to that second question from the very beginning. If you recognize the difference between moving to the cloud simply to check a box and doing it in a purposeful, thoughtful way, you’re more likely to find a solution that provides long-term value and return on investment for both your agency and the community you serve.

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Posted Friday, July 30, 2021 by Team Northwoods

Connect the Dots: How Traverse Supports Kinship, Trauma-Informed Care

Child welfare caseworkers need to know how technology supports their practice, priorities, and daily work. Otherwise, it’s just another obstacle standing in the way of their mission to help kids and families. Keep reading for a preview of how Traverse, our cloud-based document management, forms management, and mobility software for child welfare, supports kinship and trauma-informed care—two things we know caseworkers want to learn more about.

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Posted Wednesday, July 7, 2021 by Don Abney

To Code or Not to Code: What's Best for Human Services Software?

Years ago, when I was leading technical teams at Nationwide Insurance, they launched the marketing slogan "Life comes at you fast." Some of the developers in the company quickly adopted the phrase for our own purposes. It rang true as we navigated the never-ending parade of new technology and new ways to design software.

It was, and still is, confusing to know what tools and methods to adopt. And we are the software people! If it’s confusing to us, it’s likely a dark art to the rest of the world. Some of the latest tools on the scene that we know people are still wrapping their heads around are low-code/no-code software development platforms. We thought it might be useful to share our thoughts on how they might benefit our readers.

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