Cranstoun: Supporting an organisation through significant expansion
“IIZUKA’s approach to software implementation and support is so refreshing. Case Manager has loads of capabilities and has proved to be very flexible, while coping with the complexity and levels of security we need to protect our clients’ data.”
Mike Foston, Data Systems Manager, Cranstoun
Cranstoun is a charity committed to empowering people and change across its service areas: substance use, domestic abuse, criminal justice, housing and young people.
Cranstoun’s vision is to be a world-class leader in rebuilding lives, working to save lives and reduce harm to individuals, communities and society.
The charity has grown significantly in the last few years, with many Local Authorities choosing them to manage their services in these areas.
They needed a secure case management system that would grow with them. It needed to be flexible enough to cope with changing processes and new services, yet robust enough to manage extremely complicated cases with complex family relationships, clients with multiple needs, sensitive data and which involve a number of different agencies.
Choosing Case Manager
Cranstoun were aware that Safe Lives had chosen IIZUKA’s Case Manager to manage casework and reporting for the Drive Project (see theircase study here), which works with high-harm, high-risk and serial perpetrators of domestic abuse to prevent their abusive behaviour and protect victims.
They approached IIZUKA and, through a series of demos and workshops, were reassured that Case Manager would meet their needs. IIZUKA provides free business analysis services to all new customers if needed, which helps them to map, or in some cases reengineer their processes and ensures that all requirements have been specified before any configuration begins.
Supporting Cranstoun through their expansion
Cranstoun’s needs have changed regularly over the three years’ they have been using Case Manager, as they win contracts with new Local Authorities.
Data Systems Manager Mike Foston said:
‘We’ve had to make changes to Case Manager quite frequently because we manage such complex cases and the organisation has grown so quickly - we’ve increased our number of caseworkers fivefold in the last three years and we’re still on that journey.
That’s why it’s been so important to have such a good relationship with IIZUKA. Their approach to software implementation and support is so refreshing; I know that they will respond quickly and where necessary adapt Case Manager to meet the revised processes arising through the development of our service. Case Manager has loads of capabilities and has proved to be very flexible, while coping with the complexity and levels of security we need to protect our clients’ data.’
Supporting Cranstoun’s casework on domestic violence
Case Manager supports Cranstoun’s caseworkers to collect confidential client data and complete the Safe Lives assessment, which identifies whether a case needs to be referred to a MARAC (multi-agency risk assessment conference). The system mirrors the paper process that caseworkers were already familiar with, allowing new users to get to grips with the system quickly.
Case Manager allows Cranstoun to map and view the complex relationships which are a feature of their work, while protecting individuals’ data. For example, one person could be both a perpetrator of domestic violence and also a victim and different caseworkers might need access to different sets of data about that individual’s journey through the service. Case Manager can restrict the data that different caseworkers can access by specifying permission levels for different roles.
The future
Cranstoun has grown so rapidly, with contracts all over the UK, so together we are now planning some further training and best practice workshops for new users.
Mike is clear that Case Manager has a pivotal role to play in Cranstoun’s continuing growth:
‘Cranstoun is still on a journey. We’re winning new contracts to supply services for Local Authorities and each new contract won can mean refinements to the software. At one point we had more than 70 case types, but we now have a clear vision of where we’re going and will be working with IIZUKA to simplify our processes and how the software supports us to ensure we’re both efficient and effective.
IIZUKA are firmly in our plans for the future and we’re looking to develop the use of Case Manager for additional teams.’
Client feedback
“Wendy Taylor, Assistant Director at Cranstoun said:
“We’re all about delivering world-class services and continuing to innovate and use new ways to help people who use our services.
“All year round our teams work with vulnerable people who have been subject to domestic abuse and for us it’s always about ensuring that we can give people the support they need when they need it.
“We received over 4,500 referrals across our domestic abuse services last year. That means that our teams need to have the right systems which allow them to easily manage caseloads. IIZUKA has been helping us do just that.”
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