NetCIL RSA Data Collection Protocol

NetCIL Database System

NetCIL Data Collection Protocol

For use with the Department of Education RSA Section 704 Annual Report

Revised 10/10/2012

More recent information may be available at:

http://help.netcil.com

Introduction

These instructions describe the methods that should be used to collect data via the CFAL database system for reporting to the Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration. Following these instructions will ensure the accuracy of the statistics that you provide to RSA via the revised Part I or Part II reporting instrument.

The NetCIL Client database system is comprised of four major components. All data is stored in a Microsoft Access database file server that resides in a shared folder on your network. Most data entry is performed via a second Microsoft Access client application that is installed on each workstation that runs CFAL. Each client application connects to the network file server.

The following diagram illustrates the flow of data using NetCIL to generate an RSA704 Report:

Definitions:

Before you begin data entry, please consider the following CFAL database concepts:

1. Definition of a “Consumer”

People in the CFAL database are categorized by their “Contact Type”. Contact type can be set on the People form, Referral form, or the NetCIL IRLog application. When you first begin to interact with someone, it’s usually because they are seeking information and referral assistance; therefore when a new person is entered into the CFAL database, their contact type defaults to “Information and Referral.” When you begin to provide services to or set goals for someone, they then become a “Consumer”. When you develop a CSR for someone, they then become a Consumer, and you should set their “Contact Type” accordingly. To do so, you must provide the necessary demographics required by RSA/704. If some mandatory information is missing, a message will appear, showing the missing fields and the contact type will be reset to “Information & Referral”. If all mandatory fields are filled out, once you set the contact type to “Consumer”, a note will be automatically be posted saying that the “Person becomes a consumer” and the date field will automatically be filled out with today’s date. This can be changed to reflect the actual CSR. Please note that the date entered will determine whether the consumer is “New” or “carried over” during the reporting period. Once set, the database will never automatically change a person’s contact type.

2. Definition of “Transactions”

Every case note, work log entry, provision of service, or goal is considered by the NetCIL Client database to be a transaction. Each transaction has an associated date, which normally will be written automatically as the current date and time when a record is entered. You can always edit the dates of any of your records. In order for statistics regarding these transactions to be included in a report, the transaction dates must fall within the reporting period as described in the following sections. In order for an individual to be considered “active” during a reporting period, a case note or referral with a service must be recorded. Consumer records that include a goal set or met during a reporting period will also be considered active.

Even though RSA only requires you to submit a report on an annual basis, NetCIL Report and the NetCIL Client database allow you to create a 704 Report for any time period. For example, if you select a start date of October 1, 2011 and an end date of March 31 2012, NetCIL will generate a “second quarter” FY 2011 report that only shows statistics through the end date of March 31 2012. Any consumer who deactivates after that date will still be listed as “active.” They will be listed as “inactive” for any report that ends after their actual date of deactivation.

How to record data for the RSA 704 Report:

Subpart I – Administrative Data

The NetCIL Client database now contains structure to store all of the administrative data elements of the 704 Report. The capability to edit and retrieve Subpart I information will be included in future versions of NetCIL Manager.

Subpart II – Number & Types of Individuals with Significant Disabilities Receiving Services

Section A – Consumers Served During the Reporting Period:

(1) Active CSRs carried over from the preceding reporting year:

To be counted in this category, an individual record must meet the following criteria:

- Contact Type must be set to Consumer, Inactive Consumer or AT Consumer (California only).

- A service must be recorded in the current reporting period.

- A service must have been recorded during the year prior to the reporting period.

(2) Number of CSRs started since the beginning of the reporting period:

To be counted in this category, an individual record must meet the following criteria:

- Contact Type must be set to Consumer, Inactive Consumer or AT Consumer (California only).

- A service must be recorded during the current reporting period.

- No service recorded during the year prior to the current reporting period.

Please note that if an Individual starts as an Information and Referral contact and then becomes a Consumer at a later date, a note will be automatically written with the transaction type “Person becomes a Consumer.” For reporting purposes, the date of this record will determine whether the consumer is recorded as New or Carried Over.

Section B –Number of CSRs Closed by the end of the reporting period:

To close a CSR, a consumer must be “deactivated” as follows:

1. Retrieve the consumer record using the People form - change Contact Type to “Inactive Consumer” and select “Enter” or “Tab”

2. A new window will automatically open. Select a “Reason for Deactivation” and an applicable “Date” so that the reason will be properly recorded. If no reason is selected, “Other” will be assumed.

3. This process will automatically add a case note “Consumer Becomes Inactive” in the consumer’s history record with the reason for deactivation and the selected date.

The deactivation process will also drop any open goals by automatically writing an “Actual End Date” and selecting “Dropped” in the “Outcome Score” list. If any grant or program was linked to the consumer record (Grant History), an automatic “Inactive Date” will be written.

The date that you specify will determine whether or not a consumer is listed as inactive for a given reporting period. For example, if a consumer is listed as “inactive” but the date of deactivation is after the end date of a report, the consumer will still be listed as “active” for that report.

Once a “de-activation” case note is written, the consumer will be listed as inactive for all reports that end after the date of deactivation. If a consumer “re-activates,” change their contact type back to “Consumer” or “AT Consumer”. A new case note will automatically appear, and the category “Consumer Re-activates” will be selected. The consumer will then be listed as active for all reporting periods during which the consumer was once again active.

Section C – Number of CSRs Active on September 30 of the Reporting Year:

NetCIL Manager will always list the number of active consumers as the number of consumers carried over plus the number of new consumers minus the number of consumers who deactivate during a given reporting period.

Section D – IL Plans and Waivers:

To record the development of a consumer plan, or the signing of a waiver:

1. Retrieve the consumer record using the People form.

2. Check either the “Independent Living Plan Developed” or the “Waiver Signed” check box as appropriate. A note will automatically be written and displayed with the appropriate category and the current date. Edit as required.

Section E – Age:

Age is calculated automatically based on date of birth and the end date of a report. If date of birth is unknown and you want to change the contact type to “Consumer”, a warning message will appear to let you know that the age is missing. If you don’t know the exact date of birth, just enter an approximate age in the field, the date of birth will be set to 1/1/yyyy as a convention and the “Est” (estimated) check box will be automatically checked

Section F – Sex:

If gender is set to Trans/Unknown and you want to set the contact type to “Consumer”, a warning message will appear to let you know that the gender must be set to either male or female.

Section G – Race & Ethnicity:

Select the appropriate ethnic group from the dropdown box. If no ethnic group is selected, information will be included in the “Other” category. NetCIL Client does not allow the selection of more than one race category. In cases where multiple races are indicated, select “Two or more races.” In the case where race is ambiguous, select “Other/Unknown” or the race category that most closely fits the consumer’s demographic.

Note: As of FY 2008, RSA no longer reports the “Hispanic Ethnicity” separately. Hispanic or Latino indicates a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. A consumer who reports a Hispanic/Latino ethnicity should be counted as “Hispanic/Latino” in the race category, even if the consumer also reported other race categories.

Section H – Disability:

A consumer’s primary disability determines how they are reported. Each disability will be reported according to its associated “RSA/704” category in the Site Profile – Configure Disabilities form. Try to select a primary disability that best describes the consumer’s condition according to one of the standard RSA/704 categories: Cognitive, Mental/Emotional, Physical, Hearing, or Vision. If the consumer’s condition is a combination of any of these main categories, list their primary disability as “Multiple.” Any other primary disability will be listed in the “Other” category.

Section I – Individuals Served by County during the Reporting Year:

When you enter a person’s record in the NetCIL Client database, county of residence is automatically selected according to zip code. As long as county data is set correctly, data for Section J will be automatically written when a 704 Report is generated. An “unknown” line will be written as the last line in the Section J table showing a total of all records for which county of residence is indeterminate.

Subpart III - Individual Services and Achievements

Section A – Individual Services:

The 704 Report now distinguishes between services requested and services received. NetCIL Client and NetCIL Manager differentiate the two circumstances as follows:

1. For a single instance of a service provided on a single date, write a note (“Notes” button on the People form) and specify the service in the “Services” dropdown edit box. All such services will count in both the “Consumers Requesting Services” and “Consumers Receiving Services” table in Section A.

2. For service requests that have not yet been fulfilled, make an entry in the “Referrals” section of either the People or the NetCIL I&R Log.

NetCIL IRLog will automatically write an open service request whenever a “Referral to Staff” record is written. All Service and Referral records for which the “Completion Date” is blank will be considered to be “open” referrals, and they will be counted in the “Consumers Requesting Services” but not in the “Consumers Receiving Services” table in Section A. Once a service request has been satisfied, write a “Completion Date.” If the “Completion Date” occurs before the end date of a report, its record will be included in the totals for “Consumers Receiving Services.”

Note that the table in Section A represents an unduplicated list of consumers; a consumer will count only once in each service category regardless of the number of times that the service was requested or received in a given time period.

NetCIL Client users will be alerted that open referrals are pending each time they run the application. On the Main form, all open referrals will be listed. In order to close the Referral, a Completion Date must be entered either directly on the “Main” screen or in the Referrals section on the “People” form.

You can configure your own list of services through the Site Profile section of the NetCIL Client database, and then list as many as you wish in a consumer’s profile. In order for these services to be properly reported on the 704 Report, each must be associated with a standard “RSA/704” category.

Section B – Increased Independence and Community Integration:

Item 1 – Goals related to Increased Independence in a Significant Life Area

To record goals, perform the following steps:

1. Retrieve the consumer record using the People form.

2. Open the Consumer Goals form (“Consumer Goals” button).

3. Select the “Type of Goal” from the list that most closely describes what the consumer wants to accomplish. For compatibility with 704 Reporting, “Mobility / Transportation” are divided into two separate goal types. Any goal that does not specifically correspond to a column in the spreadsheet will be reported as “Other.”

If the “Goal Start Date” falls within a reporting period, or if a goal was set prior to the reporting year and is still being worked on, it will be included in the appropriate “Goal Set” column of the Consumer Achievements tab. If the “Actual End Date” is recorded and it falls within a reporting period, the achievement will be included in the “Met” column, regardless of when the goal was set. Any goals for which an “Actual End Date” is left blank will be counted in the “In Progress” column, as long as the goal’s “Start Date” falls before the end of a given report period. The “Target End Date” field in NetCIL Client is for reference purposes only.

Be advised that only one goal per category in the “Significant Life Area” will be counted on the Federal RSA/704 report. For example, if a consumer sets 2 Educational goals, they will only be counted once in that category. However if they set 2 goals, one in the “Educational” significant life area category and the other one in the “Community Based Living” category, both goals will be counted.

Item 2 – Improved Access to Transportation, Health Care Services, and Assistive Technology

A new category has been added to accommodate Item 2 data collection. When entering a new goal for consumers, select the appropriate category for “Improved Access” from the “Access Category” dropdown box. Note that a new dropdown box called “Goal Standard” has also been added. This optional category is for your internal use. If you wish to use it, edit the contents of the table “Consumer Goal Standards” via the database window. Enter values as appropriate. These values will then become defaults for all new records that are entered as Consumer Goals.

You can also record an “Access Category” when creating or completing a referral. Per RSA instructions, doing so allows you to record and report improved access for those individuals without a CSR (IL Plan).

Section C – Additional Information Concerning Individual Services or Achievements:

The capability to edit and retrieve Section C narrative information will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

Subpart IV – Extent of CIL Compliance with the Six Evaluation Standards

Section A – Compliance Indicator 1: Philosophy

Item 1 – Consumer Control

(A) Board Member Composition

The capability to edit and retrieve board member composition will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

(B) Staff Composition

1. Create a record for each member of your staff by using the People form. For decision-making (FTE) staff members, set contact type to “Staff Member.” For all others, select “Other Staff.”

2. Record a “Primary Disability” and “Race” as appropriate. “Disabilities” and “Minorities” data will be calculated for all staff members according to “Primary Disability” and where “Race” is set to a value other than “White/Caucasian” or “Other/Unknown.”

Item 2 – Self Help and Self-Advocacy

The capability to edit and retrieve Item 2 narrative information will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

Item 3 – Peer Relationships and Peer Role Models

The capability to edit and retrieve Item 3 narrative information will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

Item 4 – Equal Access

The capability to edit and retrieve Item 4 narrative information will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

Item 5 – Alternative Formats

The capability to edit and retrieve Item 5 narrative information will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

Section B – Compliance Indicator 2: Provision of Services on a Cross-Disability Basis

The capability to edit and retrieve Section B narrative information will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

Section C – Compliance Indicator 3: Independent Living Goals

Item 1 – Consumer Information

The capability to edit and retrieve Item 1 narrative information will be included in the NetCIL Manager Site Profile page. The RSA/704 Report is generated in a format that allows this narrative information to be edited.

Item 2 – Consumer Service Record Requirements

Section D – Compliance Indicator 4: Community Options and Community Capacity

Item 1 – Community Activities Table

The new 704 Report has replaced Community Achievements (System Change) with Community Activities. To accommodate this change, “Community Achievements” in NetCIL Client now referred to as “Community Activities,” and Work Log entries should be tied directly to these “Community Activities” in order to properly report data for Section D. To configure NetCIL Cleint for Section D reporting, follow these steps:

1. Open the “Community Activities” form from the NetCIL Client Main form or in NetCIL Manager, click on the “Config” optio and then “Community Activities”.

2. Enter a descriptive name for a “Community Activity” that will reflect its pertinent “Issue Area” and “Activity Type.”

3. At your option, you can still associate the activity with the old 704 “Goal Type.”

4. Enter a “Start Date,” “Target End” and “Actual End” dates as appropriate. When creating Work Log entries, users will not be able to select Community Activities past the “Actual End” date of the activity.

5. Associate the activity with a pertinent “Issue” and “Activity”. You can add “Issues” and “Activity Types” in NetCIL Manager by clicking on “Config”, Community Activities and Issues or Activity Type. Once the configuration is complete, NetCIL Manager will generate data for all combinations of Issue and Activity areas that are found in the Work Log for a given time period.

6. List “Objectives” for the activity as appropriate. Text that you enter here will be reported in the 704 Report Community Activities Table.

7. List “Outcomes” for the activity as appropriate. Text that you enter here will be reported in the 704 Report Community Activities Table. For internal use, you can also assign an “Outcome Score” to the activity.

8. Enter “Notes” as appropriate. This field is for internal use only, and text that you enter here will not appear on 704 Reports.

It is still possible to associate Community Activities with Projects and Events in order to coordinate your staff’s activities, but doing so no longer has any effect on 704 Reporting statistics.

To record effort expended towards Community Activities:

1. Press the “Work Log” button on the Main form.

2. Write a new record, and select the category from the “Community Activity” dropdown list that most closely defines the work that has been performed.

3. Record the time spent in the “Hours” dropdown list. Note that all times are rounded to the nearest fifteen minutes.

4. All other Work Log data elements are optional.

Item 2 – Description of Community Activities

The structure of the NetCIL Client file server has been expanded to include the ability to store and retrieve information for Section E, Section F, and Subparts V-VIII of the new RSA 704 Report. Future versions of NetCIL Manager will allow this information to be automatically generated.

For more information on any of the topics covered in this document, please refer to the CFAL Client User’s Manual. A current copy of the manual is available from our website by following this link: http://help.netcil.com.

For additional assistance please contact ed2c technical support toll-free at (888) 678-0683 or by sending e-mail to techsupport@ed2c.com.