INTRODUCTION
Children’s Aid Societies (CAS) are not-for-profit agencies that, by law, are required to protect children from physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. The mandate of Children's Aid Societies according to the Child and Family Services Act is to: “Investigate allegations or evidence that children under the age of 16 may be in need of protection.”
BUSINESS CHALLENGES
Along with the obligation to protect children comes an enormous document and data management responsibility. At every step in the process of performing their duty, the agencies are required to document their actions and demonstrate that they took due care and ultimately provided protection for the children.
SOLUTION
The Hamilton CAS and the Hamilton Catholic CAS utilized Microdea’s Synergize Document Automation solution to allow all documents whether they are newspaper articles, emails, photographs or scanned paper documents, to be systematically captured, stored, retained and maintained in secure standard electronic formats.
“We selected Microdea for their ability to smoothly transfer information between systems, and their Synergize product for its quick indexing capabilities, strict security features and because it is even easier to use than our previous solution,” said Debbie Russo, Information Management Technician, Hamilton CAS.
RESULTS
Synergize ensures excellent document security and audit controls and is able to strictly enforce all the processing rules and access to information controls that the CAS agencies are required to abide by.
With Synergize, original documents cannot be removed from the system, ensuring information integrity, security and privacy, yet at the same time the Synergize system provides an extremely easy to use interface to allow authorized personnel quick and efficient access to documents when needed.
“Synergize is more secure than our previous system and is definitely easier for staff to use. Our case workers, especially, are pleased that they always have rapid access to client records from any location, which allows them to make fast and informed decisions,” says Allan Behan, Director Finance & Administration, Hamilton CAS. “Most importantly, we know that our past, present and future client information is secure and readily accessible.”