Child Placements

CAS agencies need to take children into their care at any time of day. Placing a child requires information from many different departments and services. Resource workers must ensure that homes available; accounting workers need to ensure that that the home is being paid correctly; the legal worker needs to ensure that all court matters are settled; workers would need to monitor the child’s adjustment to the home. Many standards (e.g. 7 and 30 day visits, training, legal status, and home approval) need to be met for a child placement.

Child Placement Features In Matrix

Matrix application enables collaboration between the departments for more efficient placements with several features:

  • Matching Children with Resources
  • Role Based Placement Wizard
  • Integration with Workflow and Ministry Standards
  • Payment Administration
  • Integration with Accounting

Matching Children With Resources

Matrix allows for agencies to generate their own questions that can be applied to both the resource and child. Questions could include information on whether the resource is accessible to children with physical disabilities. Matrix gives the resource homes a ranking based on the answers to the resource and child questions.

Role Based Placement Wizard

The placement wizard in Matrix allows for workers to place children based on their specific role. Resource workers can place children into approved foster homes, while a child’s worker can set up family access, sibling visits and kinship care files. The wizard can be configured by agencies to ensure applicable resources for selection and role of the worker who can make the placement.

Integration With Workflow and Ministry Standards

The placement wizard has logic in the background that ensures placements meet Ministry standards. Workflow is integrated within the placement wizard so that workers are reminded to complete their scheduled 7 and 30 day visits, and fill out any paperwork with the appropriate due dates. Kinship home can be created and assigned with forms and due dates at time of placement.

Payment Administration

Payment administration is based on child and resources information. This allows the worker to set the rates for specific children and resources. A child with special needs will have their payment information follow where ever the child is placed. Resource information would include set rates. Both aspects of payment are considered at time of placement. Reimbursables are created by the agency and are maintained within the system.

Payment Editing And Export

Workers can review the payments within a time frame. The worker can edit and adjust the payments that have not been invoiced. A worker can filter this information as required. The worker can see totals of placement days for all vendors and children. The worker has the ability to export the foster pay information to Excel for further review.

Integration With Accounting

Matrix has an accounting export feature that allows Matrix to link with external accounting systems and transfer the foster payment information with an invoice date. Once a period has been invoiced and exported to the accounting system, any changes will be reflected as credits and debits to the current non-invoiced period. Current systems that Matrix supports are Traverse, Solomon and Navision.