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ChildWare PLUS, Child_Record

Documents (ChildWare PLUS)

Note: The Documents tab will only appear for agencies subscribed to ChildWare PLUS. To learn more about the additional system features available through an expanded subscription, visit the ChildWare PLUS page.

To quickly view and add a large variety of documents for each child record, navigate to the Documents tab. This tab compiles documents uploaded here and on several other tabs on the child’s record. Please note: anywhere you see a document icon, as with the Admin tab, you can retrieve or upload documents.

admin tab

From the Documents tab you can:

  • add a new document (using the ‘Add Child Document’ button); and
  • print a report of all documents for a child (using the ‘Print Document List’ button)

documents tab

To view or add a comment to an existing document, click ‘Select’ next to the document you would like to edit.

add comment to existing document

You can to view the uploaded document by clicking ‘View Document’ or record a comment for this document. Remember to press ‘OK’ if you’ve added a comment in the text field.

existing document_add comment_view_document

While in the Documents tab, you may also want to upload a new document using the ‘Add Child Document’ button.

add child document

The Document Type menu contains many options listed in alphabetical order to help find the document you want to add. Single data fields, such as the Child Service Agreement, do not require further specification. Data found in grids, such as General Health Assessments, will require you to select the specific health assessment. After selecting a document type, upload your document (see instructions for uploading files here).

selecting document type

additional fields to select assessment_adding child document

uploading document

Press ‘OK’ when you are ready to save the new document.

The Documents tab allows you to print a report of all saved documents for a child with the ‘Print Document List’ button. The report will open as a new tab or window in your browser and can be reviewed or printed, as needed.

print document list

document list

Child_Record

HS Eligibility

The Head Start Eligibility tab houses the Head Start-specific selection criteria and eligibility information that is initially entered when adding a child record. This is the family, financial and employment information that determines eligibility and priority for a Head Start enrollment slot. The HS Eligibility tab also provides a spot for recording special circumstances experienced by a child during his/her enrollment.

HS eligibility tabYou can add a new eligibility verification record or select an existing record. The eligibility record includes detailed information about the family at the time of enrollment and includes a scoring system to ensure you are serving children with the highest need for services.

eligibility verification

eligibility vertification

The eligibility verification record includes a completion and verification date. Once the record is verified, it cannot be edited. To edit, you will need to delete and re-add the record. Note: not all users have permission to delete data from ChildWare. If you do not have permission to delete, seek out the help of someone from your agency/site to discuss if this data should removed.

add delete eligibility verificationDirectly below the Eligibility Verification section on the HS Eligibility tab is the Special Circumstances area, where significant family circumstances should be recorded. It is very important to record Special Circumstances as they become known because these events are included in the end-of-year Program Information Report (PIR) required by the Office of Head Start.

Click the ‘Add Special Circumstances’ button to create a new record.

add special circumstanceThe Circumstance drop-down contains significant events or crises that a child may experience, though an ‘Other’ option allows  users to record circumstances that are not included in the list.

circumstance menu options

Based on the circumstance chosen, additional fields will appear to record date and other applicable details if follow-up is necessary. As an example, after choosing the ‘Homelessness’ option from the Circumstance menu, two date fields appear to record the effective date of homelessness and the date housing was acquired.

fields that appear after selecting circumstanceJust as it is important to record special circumstances for Head Start children as they occur, it is equally important to update special circumstances as situations improve or change. For example, the PIR will report not only that a child experienced homelessness during that program year but also if the homelessness need was addressed and resolved within the program year.

After adding the special circumstance details, click ‘OK’ to save.

Child_Record

Relationships

The Relationships tab stores a list of adult (contact) and child (sibling) relationships. Each person (adult or child) has their own record in the system, so contact records can be accessed via the Contact Data menu (under Child/Family) and siblings can be accessed from the Child Data grid.

From the Relationships tab you can:

CONTACTS GRID

You can store an unlimited number of contact relationships to the child via the Relationships tab. The first contact added is automatically assigned as the primary contact. The primary contact indicates who will be billed for services and who is the head of household for Head Start. The secondary contact designation indicates the second person listed on a family invoice and is a household member for Head Start reporting. To expand on the contact’s profile, press ‘Select’ to the left of their name. To add a new contact to the child, click the ‘Add Contact’ button.

contacts grid

ADDING A CONTACT RECORD

The Add Contact screen fields to record basic information—like name, relationship and a phone number—for the contact. You may choose from a list of existing contacts or add a new contact. Click ‘OK’ to save the contact.

add contact recordTo add additional demographic data, address, contact and emergency contact/pick-up details to the contact record, click ‘Select’ next to the contact in the Contacts grid. The contact’s name will be displayed at the top of this screen, along with the child they are associated with.

DELETING A CONTACT RECORD

To delete a contact record, click ‘Delete’ in the Contacts grid. A pop-up message will appear to confirm that you’d like to delete. Note: If that contact is only associated with one child, the contact will be deleted from the system. If the contact has multiple relationships, ‘Delete’ will remove the relationship association only.

delete contact

The Contact Record is organized into the following tabs:

MAIN TAB

The Main tab in the contact record displays demographic, contact and relationship information.

contact mainThe ‘Relationship to [Child Name]’ section at the bottom of this screen contains fields that are important to complete, such as:

    • if this contact is considered an emergency contact;
    • if they reside with the child;
    • if the contact should be included on a mailing list;
    • if they are allowed to pick-up (and, if so, under what circumstances); and
    • what order they should appear within the Billing Contact menus elsewhere in ChildWare

relationship areaYou may also add a photo for each contact in the Main tab. To do so, follow the same instructions as you would to add a child photo.

Note: you can navigate to other tabs within this contact’s profile without pressing ‘OK’ after editing each tab; however, press ‘OK’ when you have finished editing this contact record before moving on to the next contact.

CONTACT RECORD: CHILDREN TAB

Within the contact’s profile, the Children tab displays all child relationships for that contact within ChildWare.

children tabThe Child Relationships grid includes information to understand at-a-glance whether or not this adult

    • has pick-up permission;
    • is an emergency contact;
    • resides with the child; and
    • receives mailings from your agency

To create another child relationship for this contact, click the ‘Add Child Relationship’ button where you can connect this adult to another child in the system and define their relationship, pick-up, emergency contact, residency and mailing details. You can also create this relationship from that child’s Relationship tab.

CONTACT RECORD: EMPLOYER/SCHOOL INFORMATION TAB

Here you can record employer and/or school status information for this contact. Multiple employers or schools may be added for each contact.

Note: Head Start programs will also need to document employment and school status on the child’s Eligibility Record.

employment school info tab

CONTACT RECORD: FAMILY PARTNERSHIP TAB (PRIMARY CONTACTS ONLY)

Note: The Family Partnership tab is specific to Head Start and, therefore, will only appear for contacts whose children are enrolled in a Head Start program.

The Family Partnership tab stores Family Partnership Agreements and Family Strengths & Needs Assessments.

To record a Family Partnership Agreement, press the ‘Add Family Partnership Agreement’ button; to record a Family Strengths Assessment for the contact, press the ‘Add Family Strength and Needs Assessment’ button.

family partnership tabWithin the Family Strengths and Needs Assessment, there are opportunities to record family strengths/supports that currently exist from the guardian’s perspective as well as areas the family would like support, training or resources that relate to housing, adult education, employment, parenting, health and volunteering. To save, press ‘OK’.

FSA

The Family Partnership Agreement (FPA) provides a place to build family goals based on the information learned through the Family Strengths Assessment. After an FPA has been saved, goals can be created for the family by clicking the ‘Add Goal’ button.

FPA

From there, the goal is described and given a target achievement date. To meet the goal’s deadline, action steps and progress updates can be assigned as benchmarks.

Goal

CONTACT RECORD: EVENTS TAB

To enter an event for a contact, navigate to the Events tab and click the ‘Add Event’ button.

events tabNext, you be will asked to select from Event type drop-down, record an event date and any corresponding notes that may be important to save. You may also set reminders  that may be necessary as a result of the event, for example a referral follow-up reminder.

adding eventRead more about Contact Events here.

CONTACT RECORD: LOG TAB

The final tab in the contact profile is the Log, which functions as a place to review the history of updates made to the contact’s data. For more on the Log, visit the Log overview.

contact log tab

 

Child_Record

Logs

The last tab available within the Child Record is the Log, which captures and displays the history of updates made to the child’s data in ChildWare. Please note: not all changes to the record are recorded in the log. If you subscribe to ChildWare PLUS, you will also have an attendance log which records arrival and departure times for the child. Click here to view the full Attendance and Time Tracker tutorial.

log tab

This tab is especially helpful to investigate the details of an update or deletion to the child’s record. The grid display includes:

  • the type of change that occurred (either ‘Update’ or ‘Delete’);
  • the tab and field which was changed;
  • the old and new value of the field that was changed;
  • the date that the change occurred; and
  • the user who made the change

The Log tab can also be a powerful training tool to identify any users that may need support or clarification  on system modules, especially if patterns of mistaken updates/deletions start to occur.

Child_Record

Admin

The Administration or ‘Admin’ tab includes important date and corresponding data associated with mandatory paperwork such as media release, consent or emergency contact forms. Because the system is designed to track Pennsylvania state regulations, you can run reports and To Do List processing to find out which children need updated paperwork prior to your next DHS inspection. Click here to learn more about setting up your To Do List.

admin tabAttachments are represented with the blue and white document icon. If you subscribe to ChildWare PLUS, you can add PDF attachments.

attachment iconsIf the attachment icon is white with a blue outline, there is no document attached; if the attachment icon is all blue, a document has been uploaded. Click on the attachment icon to view the uploaded file.

To  attach a corresponding documentation in the Admin tab (or anywhere within ChildWare), click on the attachment icon and select the file that you would like to upload.

document upload_1

document upload_2When you are ready to save the attachment, click ‘OK’ at the top of the screen.

saving uploaded documentNow, you will be brought to back to the Admin tab where the attachment icon for the selected document is now blue to show that a file has been uploaded.

saved document attachment icon

 

Child_Record

Reenrolling a Child

To reenroll a child who has been discharged, find the child via the View or Search by filter in the Child Data screen. Press ‘Select’ next to the child’s name.

search for discharged child

At the bottom of the Main tab on the child’s record, in the Referral/Enrollment History grid, click ‘Add Referral/Enrollment’.

add referral button

In the Referral/Enrollment Add screen you can enter important referral information for the new enrollment record, along with a status for the record and an enrollment date. If the child is not yet reenrolling, you can add a referral date only and mark the child as pending, interested, waitlist or waitlist (Head Start). You can return to this record and add an enrollment date at a later time.

Click ‘OK’ to save.

referral enrollment details

When you return to the child’s Main tab, you will see the new enrollment record in the Referral/Enrollment History grid. You should review the newly-created service profile for the reenrolling child as the new profile is simply a copy of the last profile on file for the child. To make changes to a service profile, click ‘Select’ next to the new enrollment record. The service profile is listed at the bottom of the screen.

Note: you can also access the Service Profile from the Services tab.

second enrollment record

If any aspect of the service profile has changed, such as schedule, care type or parent copay amount, click ‘Select’ for the service profile to edit these details.

reviewing service profile_1

review service profile_2When you have completed your changes, click ‘OK’ at the top of the screen. Any changes to the service profile will apply to the new enrollment record, and this child will now appear in the list of ‘active’ children in the Child Data screen.

Congratulations on successfully reenrolling a returning child!

Child_Record

Discharging a Child

To discharge a child, go to the Child Data screen and select the child’s record you would like to discharge.

select child

At the bottom of the Main tab is the Referral/Enrollment History grid, which displays all referral/enrollment records for the child. Click ‘Select’ for the record you would like to discharge.

discharge_enrollment history

The Referral/Enrollment screen includes recruitment, intake and Head Start enrollment details, as well as including an area to record discharges or transfers. To discharge a child, begin by recording a discharge date. The ‘Reason’ drop-down includes a robust list of potential reasons for discharge to choose from, and you may also want to record additional information in the Notes field to describe the reason or circumstance for the discharge.

discharge info

Next, press ‘OK’ at the top of this screen.  You will be redirected to the child’s Main tab, where the discharge date and reason that were just saved now appear in the Referral/Enrollment History grid.

discharge grid

When a child has been successfully discharged, his/her name will no longer be included in the list of active children on the Child Data screen. To view any discharged children, click on the ‘View or Search by’ menu and select ‘discharged’ to filter the search results.

Note: if a discharge date is in the future, the child will be listed in the ‘active’ list until the discharge date.

view by discharged

Child_Record

Adding a New Child

To add a new child to the system, click the ‘Add Child’ button. You will be brought to the Child Add Form. The form collects data on two tabs: one labeled “Main”, the other labeled “Head Start”.

add child

The Main screen is where baseline information for each child is entered, such as the child’s first and last name, date of birth, gender, primary contact, referral date, expected enrollment schedule, classroom and care level.

add child_main

In the Primary Contact Information section of the Main screen, there is the option to connect the child to a new family or to an existing family within the system. Selecting the Existing Family option will prompt all existing contacts within the system to appear in the Billing Contact menu, where an existing contact or guardian can be chosen.

main tab_existing family

If your site offers Head Start programming, the Head Start begin date and funder should be completed on the Main tab and Head Start Eligibility information should be completed on the Head Start tab to save the child’s profile.

add child_head start

Save the child’s record by clicking ‘OK’. If any required fields are accidentally left blank, the system will identify all required fields with a red asterisk. After saving this record, the information entered in the Child Add Form will be distributed throughout a series of new tabs on the full child’s record. You can add additional information not available on the Child Add Form, or click ‘OK’ to return to Child Data.

saving new child

 

Child_Record

Child Main

The Child Main tab provides a place to record basic information about a child, including details on birth date, DOB verification, race & ethnicity and the languages spoken at home. This tab also houses the Referral/Enrollment History grid, where each enrollment record for the child is accessible.

child mainAside from capturing DOB, race, ethnicity and language information for a child here, the Main tab also serves as the place in the system to upload a photo for the child. To add a child photo, click the ‘Choose File’ button under the Photo box.

choose file to add child photoSelect the image file that you would like to use for this child’s photo.

selecting file for child photoBefore the photo can be uploaded to the Main tab, you will need to crop the photo into a square. Drag your cursor over the portion of the photo that you want to include in the image. Then, press ‘Crop & Save’.

crop and save child photoWhen you are ready to save all of your changes to this child’s Main tab, press ‘OK’.

save changes to main tab

contact_event_types

Family Need Identified

familyneedidentified

  • Date: Date the parent/guardian expressed an interest or identified a need for a particular service. This defaults to today’s date so be sure to update it if you are entering an event a few days later.
  • Staff: Select the staff person who will make a referral or deliver the service.
  • Service Type: Select the type of service the parent/guardian is interested in or may need. Options are:
    • Adult education such as GED programs and college selection
    • Asset building services (such as financial education, opening savings and checking accounts, debt counseling, etc.)
    • Assistance to families of incarcerated individuals
    • Child abuse and neglect services
    • Domestic violence assistance
    • Emergency/crisis intervention such as meeting immediate needs for food, clothing or shelter
    • English as a Second Language (ESL) training
    • Health education
    • Housing assistance such as subsidies, utilities, repairs, etc.
    • Job training
    • Mental health services
    • Parenting education
    • Relationship/marriage education
    • Substance abuse treatment
  • Referral Date: If the service will occur outside of your program, enter the date the referral was made.
  • Referred To: Enter the individual or organization where the parent/guardian was referred.
  • Services Received?: If the referral or identified need resulted in the family/individual receiving services, check this box.
  • Note: Enter specific details here about the identified need, referral and service delivered.

*Only family need identified events designated on primary and secondary contacts only will be included in the count under the Family Services section of the PIR (C.50).