Computer-assisted tracking of a case management program for the homeless

Computer scan sheet technology was used to evaluate process and outcome variables in a case management shelter program for the homeless. Clients spent up to four months in this program, working on a number of goal areas, including housing, employment, drugs and alcohol, mental and physical health, and literacy. Using Tele-Form, a computer program that allows scan sheets to be designed on screen, case manager recording forms were developed that allowed interventions to be documented on a daily basis, while psychosocial goal areas were documented on scan sheets at intake and termination. Data from these scan sheets were fed into SPSS, a statistical program for the social sciences. Using the case management tracking guidelines developed by Frankel and LaPorte, 1998, the results of this study showed that scan sheet technology was an effective, efficient, and extremely cost-effective way to track case management. The analysis of the data and subsequent discussion suggested ways about how to make case management evaluation more uniform across the country.