Foster Care

Foster care is every agency’s biggest responsibility. Foster families are homes for children whose families are temporarily unable to look after them. Foster families undergo a rigorous examination to ensure that they are homes where children can be safe. The Ministry enforces strict compliance with dates and checks that are needed to ensure child safety. This information must be accessible in real-time in a secure manner, so that current information is available to only those users that need to see it.

Foster Care Features in Matrix

Matrix application assists foster care by enhancing collaboration and allowing data to be viewable in real-time. Matrix features include:

  • Placement History and Preferences
  • Role Based Placement Wizard
  • Auditing Interaction with Children and Foster Homes
  • Matching Resources with Children
  • Integrated Reporting
  • Role Base Security

Placement History and Preferences

Matrix excels at keeping information current while maintaining historical records. Matrix application can track opening and closures and re-openings of foster homes in one easily accessible place. Within Matrix, a worker can view age preferences, levels of training and all dates that correspond to inquiry, applicant, home study and approval pathway standard. In addition, the available beds within the foster home are also tracked.

Role Based Placement Wizard

Matrix makes placing children easier with a streamlined interface based on the worker’s specific role in the agency. This allows workers to concentrate in areas they know best. The wizard can be configured by agencies to ensure applicable resources for selection and role of the worker who can make the placement. The placement wizard is integrated with Matrix workflow, and each step can ensure that the user is notified of any upcoming forms due or reminded about specific dates.

Auditing Interaction with Children and Foster Homes

The importance of tracking interaction with children and foster homes is enhanced in Matrix. This allows the system to track the users, the information and the date that the information was accessed or altered.

Matching Children with Foster Homes

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

Matrix application allows for securing families, files, or individuals that have privileged information. Only authorized users or departments can view the secured information. Matrix can be configured for multiple levels of security so any securing needs are addressed. For more information regarding role security see the Role Based Security feature section.

Matrix Reporting Features

Matrix solution includes a reporting services module for all of your reporting needs. Core statistics and reports are available in real time to managers. Matrix currently offers 30+ reports based on foster homes and children in care. Reports can be automatically generated by the system and emailed to recipients at scheduled times. Reports can be exported to Excel, PDF, TIFF, CSV and XML formats. For more information regarding reports see the Integrated Reporting feature section.