We are going to learn about Charlie Lewis and her team. Here is what Charlie would like to share about her team:
Who are you and who are the members of your team?
Charlie Lewis
Allison Jones
Jessica Cook
Natalie Chin
Roger Templin
Sampashree Nayak
Siddharth Gandha
How long has your project been around?
Answers4Families has been around since 1994. The project was then called the Nebraska Network for Children and Families until 1998 when it was changed to Answers4Families. Answers4Families started with a mere 40 families that had children with a special health care needs, giving them each a terminal the Extel II with dial-up connection so that families could talk to one another and professionals. 1994 was the year the World Wide Web was born, a.k.a. the Internet as we know it today. There were no smart phones, no flat-screen TVs, and get this, no Google, Netfilx or Dropbox. To relate to common things to 1994, gas prices were $1.09, a movie ticket to Forrest Gump cost $4.00, and O.J. Simpson was chased in his white Bronco.
Fast forward to today, Answers4Families comprises of several projects, gas prices are at $2.39, a movie ticket to Jumanji cost $9.00, and the Bronco was last rolled out on June 12, 1996. The Answers4Families website is still in existence to serve those with special needs across the lifespan and provide information, resources and providers. Answers4Families also supports the Nebraska Resource and Referral System where users can complete a self-assessment and based on their needs identified in the assessments, providers are generated to them to choose from.
Here is a list of projects under the umbrella of Answsers4Families:
• Money Follows the Person-provides a referral program for the nursing facilities to refer current residents to community living when asked if they would like to return to their home and/or community.
• Aged and Disabled Waiver online learning for services coordinators their pre-service requirement.
• Home Visiting-Core Practices and Principals provides home visitors in Head Start, Sixpence, and Early Development Network (EDN) services coordinators.
• Online learning for Early Development Network pre-service for Coordinators.
• Respite Provider Orientation and Respite Network Coordinators training are available.
• Challenging Behavior is also an online course that was created and included in the Answers4Families Classroom.
• Nebraska Circle of Security website is coordinated with Answers4Families, EDN and the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
• Early Childhood Community Link is a website for State level partners for systems level work and collaboration.
• eLifespan Respite System which was created by Answers4Families and provides a matching of respite providers to the needs of the caregiver and care recipient.
• Nebraska Respite Data Dashboard provides a landscape of respite programs both formal and informal (all DHHS respite services)
• School Health provides information and the opportunity to collaborate and discuss school health topic for school nurses.
• Maintain the Online Classroom that offers training for Children and Family Services Specialists. Answers4Families also creates the online content from the trainers outline and materials.
Any new or exciting things to know about your project or team? (Personal or work related)
We are really excited about the respite dashboard that we are creating. After exploring several options of finding a platform that will deliver the information that is needed, Splunk was chosen to do just that. Currently, the charts are crafted primarily by hand each month, but with the large amount of data that is now being provided, we had to look at a platform. Sampashree Nayak and Siddharth Gandha have been added to help with the Respite Data Dashboard.
Any challenges in the project/job assignment?
Juggling all of the projects is challenging. But with all challenges, continuous learning happens, and that is a good thing.
What are you hoping to accomplish during the next year?
Accomplishment would be to hire a PHP developer, so we can grow our current projects and create new ventures.
Any resources or places we can visit to learn more about your project(s) i.e. Facebook, twitter, website etc.
https://nrrs.ne.gov/
http://answers4families.org/
http://ecclink.org/home
https://www.answers4families.org/classroom/
http://www.necosp.org/
https://nrrs.ne.gov/respite/data/dashboard_index.php
http://edn.ne.gov/cms/
http://www.ifspweb.org/
https://www.facebook.com/Answers4Families/