OLM Systems, part of OLM Group, in conjunction with its development partner Salford City Council, has announced full ContactPoint type accreditation of CareFirst, its case management system for children's services. Funded by the DCSF (Department of Children, Schools and Families), OLM Group has successfully developed integral ContactPoint connectivity within CareFirst, operated in the Council.
ContactPoint is being created as a tool to improve the wellbeing of all children and young people, to help keep them safe and ensure that no child slips through the net. ContactPoint is a basic directory which enables practitioners to find out who else is working with the same child. It allows practitioners across the children's workforce to work together when they need to, and provide a more co-ordinated approach to meet a child's needs.
Type accreditation is a process put in place by the DCSF to allow software suppliers to demonstrate that their products meet certain ContactPoint standards. Once CareFirst has been instance accredited and linked to ContactPoint, it will mean that, without leaving the case management environment, practitioners will be able to access ContactPoint in real time to find out who else is working with the child that they are supporting.
Mark Simpson, ContactPoint/eCAF manager from Salford City Council said: "Implementing ContactPoint is a challenge for any local authority as it involves the implementation of new technology, important checks on data quality, new business processes and training in line with the new requirements. In partnership with OLM Systems, a transformation has been possible. The integration of CareFirst with ContactPoint will provide a significant change to the way children's services practitioners in Salford are working and most importantly, lead to improved well-being and safeguarding of children."
Accessing ContactPoint from within CareFirst is the first step in a complete systems integration strategy which has, at its heart, the aim of helping to support the health and happiness of children. Practitioners at Salford City Council will soon find that accessing ContactPoint fits easily within the normal day-to-day processes associated with Integrated Children's System (ICS).
Arlene Adams, MD, OLM Systems said: "This is the first time a local system has been integrated into a national system in this way. The technology is truly ground breaking, and we are very proud to have achieved such success through our close partnership with Salford City Council."