Referral and Outcomes Monitoring System – Service Provider Portal
The work undertaken by service providers with families within the Child and Family Support System (CFSS) is essential to mitigating child safety concerns and ensuring that children can remain safely within their families, homes and communities. To support this work, the Department of Human Services (DHS) draws upon various forms of data capture. This data capture then informs strategic policy and decision-making in relation to services for children, their families and communities.
The Referral Outcomes Management System (ROMS) supports this data capture and is used to record:
- the referrals for families to receive CFSS support
- the outcome of the referrals
- the outcome of any CFSS service provision
CFSS Providers provide data about engagement strategies, and service duration to provide all of CFSS with a better understanding of the CFSS population, the demand for services, length of service provision and the effectiveness of CFSS in preserving children in their families and communities.
To gain a better understanding of the CFSS population, CFSS service providers input information related to engagement strategies, case plan outcomes and service duration, amongst other things. This information is used to analyse the demand for services, including what type of service/s are needed, both within CFSS and beyond, to keep children safe in their families and communities.
Records within ROMS are ‘referential’, meaning data and information can be directly recorded against a family’s Referral or Service Provision Episode. This will make it easier for Service Providers and Case Workers DHS to see the status and outcomes of Referrals and Service Provision Episodes and will make the data entry undertaken by service providers (Engagement, Family Snapshot and Service Episode outcomes) much easier.
ROMS is not a case management system. Each CFSS service provider will maintain their own internal system and processes for recording case notes and client information.
Go Live and Training
ROMS is live from 24 July 2023.
Training
Users have undertaken training through June and July. A User Guide is available within ROMS as well as Knowledge Articles for detailed advice on completing the various sections. Training videos will be available in late 2023.
Further training can be offered to new users, to organise please contact the team via dhsromstraining@sa.gov.au.
Drop In Sessions
Service Providers can join a weekly Drop-In Session to ask any questions, these are available on Mondays between 1:30pm and 2:30pm during August and September.
To access the Drop-In Session meetings, please speak to your manager, contract manager, or reach out to the Project Team via dhsromstraining@sa.gov.au.
ROMS Frequently Asked Questions
What has changed?
• The previous iApply system and manual spreadsheets have been replaced with a tailored Microsoft Dynamics solution.
• CFSS Pathways Service have greater functionality and reduced data entry. ROMS will maintain a record of all referrals (from implementation), so we can immediately see the referral history of a family when undertaking the service matching process.
• IFS Providers have a dashboard to see their current service requests, active Service Episodes and reminders for key events, such as engagement, Family Snapshot and closure.
• Service Providers have individual logins for each of their Case Workers and will be able to manage these users directly in ROMS.
• Structured data allows EIRD and CFSS to better understand
• the families who are being referred,
• who and where services are being delivered,
• the duration of service provision,
• and o the outcomes of service provision.
This data gives us all an understanding of where services are needed in areas across SA and allows us to determine what services are required by the families within the CFSS population.
Will new features be added?
• ROMS is based on the current business processes of CFSS Pathways Service and IFS Providers, but with the ability for a referral to move through all steps of the workflow as one connected piece of information.
• The first version of ROMS will be a ‘minimum viable product’, which means it will have everything we need to complete our current workflows. Whilst this will include some efficiencies and enhancements, additional workflows and requirements will be considered in phase two of the project.
• We anticipate there will be some minor changes in the weeks immediately after Go Live, so are planning for a Version 1.1 to be released in November to support these changes.
• ROMS will support CFSS as it grows and evolves. Further workflows and enhancements will be added over time as required
Service Provider Portal Specific Frequently Asked Questions
Username and password + expiry
• DHS can determine how often the password expires. We will implement a 90-day expiry period, which will come into effect in October 2023 and continue on from this date.
• External users will also be able to reset their password directly from the portal.
How do I know when I have a new Service Request?
IFS Providers will receive an email notifying you of a new request in the Portal through the email address nominated by your organisation.
Are we entering more information?
The information captured by IFS Providers in the Engagement, Service Provision, and Closure is not greatly different to what was captured in iApply. You are now able to record some information in different ways, which allows you to record it at the point that it occurs. For example:
• The record can be accessed at any point between acceptance and closure, so engagement information can be recorded immediately after it has occurred.
• Case Plan Goals can be added and updated following a case plan review.
• Multiple Contact Hours, Brokerage Costs and Service Breaks can be added, so a separate tally does not need to be recorded.
How much ‘double entry’ will I need to do in the Portal and then our Case Management System?
ROMS is focussed on structured data capture and not case management records. We have tried to limit the amount of duplication between ROMS and case management, many fields within ROMS are an options list, rather than lengthy free text. Some key dates and outcomes reasons are crucial for our understanding and evaluation of CFSS.
Do I have to enter information as it happens, or can I do it at closure?
ROMS allows you to access and edit records for individual Service Episodes at any point in time. You can use this to update information about the Service Episode multiple times, as it happens, or when you complete the Episode Closure. Safer Family Services and EIRD Contract Management will communicate their expectations about when a Service Episode should be recorded as closed in ROMS.
Can we record capacity in ROMS?
The ability to record and monitor capacity within ROMS is not supported at this time but is being considered for future enhancements. The CFSS Pathways Services team will continue to work directly with Service Providers to understand capacity and support Service Matching.
How do I record that I have negotiated a transfer to another provider or team?
After you have negotiated with the other IFS provider to transfer a family to them, you can transfer the referral record within ROMS from the Service Provider Portal.
Terms of Use
ROMS is to be accessed and used by authorised users only. ROMS contains personal and sensitive information, which is accessed for the purpose of receiving and managing Service Episodes as part of service provision. By accessing or using ROMS you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.
Breaches may impact on a person’s employment or lead to disciplinary action, and we may terminate or suspend access to ROMS immediately without prior notice or liability for any reason whatsoever, including without limitations if you breach the Terms. Users of ROMS must not allow unauthorised users to access, share or distribute the information stored in the system to other people.
Users must comply with the South Australian Government Information Privacy Principles
https://www.dpc.sa.gov.au/resources-and-publications/premier-and-cabinet-circulars/DPC-Circular-Information-Privacy-Principles-IPPS-Instruction.pdf.
Contact
If you have any questions or concerns, please speak to your manager, or contract manager, to reach out to the Project Team via dhsromstraining@sa.gov.au.
Date last updated: 7th July 2023