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In this case study:
Client: DC Child and Family Services Agency
Industry: Public Sector
Products and Services:
Microsoft Power Platform
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Microsoft Azure Cloud
Location: Washington, DC
About CFSA
The DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is the primary public child welfare agency in the District of Columbia, entrusted with the crucial responsibility of safeguarding child victims and those vulnerable to abuse and neglect, while also providing vital assistance to their families. As a dedicated agency, CFSA is committed to ensuring the well-being and safety of children in the community, working diligently to prevent harm, intervene in cases of maltreatment, and support families in need.
The Need for Online Access to Social Assistance
The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the inefficiencies ca used by manual forms and systems in place for the public to apply for assistance and essential child welfare services. The agency knew that to provide the best possible support to children and families, it needed to modernize its processes and make the application processes efficient and accessible online and mobile. More specifically, the agency wanted to make it easier to administer a subsidy program that gives financial aid to grandparents and close relatives caring for minor children whose parents cannot care for them.
CFSA partnered with Quisitive and collaboratively, they undertook a tight seven-month transformative project to introduce a Kinship Navigator platform to streamline child welfare subsidy application processes, optimize accessibility, and bolster support for DC’s community. The Quisitive team worked closely with the Agency to create a public-facing portal and mobile app to process subsidy applications. The result has been a transformation is how the public and staff process and track applications, and has resulted in more families gaining access to essential financial aid that helps to keep children safe and with their families.
Getting the Kinship Navigator App Up and Running
Through close collaboration with CFSA, Quisitive’s team conducted extensive discovery and research, pinpointing pain points in existing workflows and strategically devising automated processes for a comprehensive and user-friendly public website and application. Leveraging Microsoft’s Power Platform Power Pages, Dynamics 365, and Azure Cloud, as the core technology stack, Quisitive was able to develop an intuitive website and mobile application that allows families to submit applications, upload documents, and track important information they need to receive essential services and financial aid.
Issa Barkett, Project Manager, CFSA
Mark Nagao, Power Platform Solution Architect, Quisitive
Keeping DC Families Together
Since the rollout of the Kinship Navigator program, CFSA has experience a drastic uptake of applications for social services. Close to 8,000 families have accessed and used the app and website.
- Reduction in foster care entries
- More families gaining access to vital services and support
- Better child safety and security
- Faster processing of applications and reduced administrative time and costs
Robert L. Matthews, Agency Director, CFSA
Working with Quisitive was seamless. They became an extension of our team. They took the time to understand our organization and users and brought our vision to life.”
Empowering Child Welfare: A Transformative Journey with Quisitive
Quisitive’s indispensable role in revolutionizing child welfare services in DC has left an enduring positive impact on vulnerable children and families, reinforcing the power of technology in fostering positive change and social well-being.
“We loved developing this solution with CFSA. Knowing that this technology impacts people’s lives and helps make their situations better is very rewarding, and is why we do what we do.”
Mark Nagao, Power Platform Solution Architect, Quisitive
