Recently, I asked Case Commons Founder and CEO Kathleen Feely, who is also the Vice President of Innovation at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, what it meant to win Code For America's (Inaugural) Technology Award. The award, given in partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs, recognizes Case Commons' flagship product, Casebook; a software that works for caseworkers, providing them with the tools and support they need to better serve children and families.
Marquis Cabrera: What is Case Commons? And - what is your flagship product?
Kathleen Feely: Case Commons' mission is to transform public sector human services through user-centered design & technology. We're pursuing this vision through the development of Casebook - the first collaborative, family-centered case management system for child welfare, enabling workers serving the most vulnerable families and children to be more effective and efficient via new web-based software tools.
Marquis Cabrera: What does winning the Code For America Technology Award do to grow Case Commons' mission?
Kathleen Feely: This award recognizes the value Casebook provides and the critical need for states to adopt technology that better supports child welfare workers, from the front office to the front lines. Casebook puts improved outcomes for the most vulnerable children and families within reach, and accelerates the transformation and integration of 21st century human services. More and more state leaders are realizing the need for innovative technology, like Casebook, to drive better data, policy and practice.
Marquis Cabrera: What are your short-term goals?
Kathleen Feely: Today, there is a profound need for better technology in many of our public human services nationwide. Companies working to transform government technology need to collaborate to help educate government leaders about the value of this technology, and its ability to both improve government services and save money. Case Commons is eager to meet with departments and agencies all across the country that are looking to invest in improved child welfare outcomes through technology. By assessing their existing services, Case Commons can determine what Casebook can do to help better support their workers to protect those most in-need, all at a lower cost.
Marquis Cabrera: What do you hope Case Commons, ultimately, accomplishes?
Kathleen Feely: Case Commons' goal is, and has always been, to improve life outcomes for our country's most disadvantaged children. Casebook helps the helpers so that they can make the best decisions for the children under their care.
We envision the child welfare space fully transformed nationwide, where agencies equipped with Casebook's modern tools and technology are integrated across human services to better protect and serve children and families. With Case Commons' vision, information is available to those who need it, when they need it, and people are the focus of technology systems not compliance.
Our hope is to transform the way government provides services using modern technology to easily collect, analyze, and use real-time data and information to provide vital services to Americans nationwide.