Do you know a hard-working front line innovator in human services? The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) has a new project, Voices from the Front Line, to highlight the great work that human services front line staff, supervisors, and teams do on a daily basis to achieve positive outcomes for the families they serve. [...]

Excessive stress can conflict with your productivity level and affect your physical and emotional well-being. We know how stressful the life of a social worker can be. So before you let out an angry growl or bring out the claws, try to identify ways to control your stress. After all it’s not about making drastic [...]

Technology offers the dream of innovation. Unfortunately, organizations are not always lucky enough to take full advantage of technology advancements because of budget woes or lack of staff. That’s why Northwoods is so grateful to be researching community partnerships and technology innovations with 23 Ohio counties in the Canton District through a grant from the [...]

Coach, Don’t Train In “Part 1: Before You Start, Know Your Workforce,” I compared a successful technology rollout in a human services agency to my own experience of using the right tool, a socket wrench, to loosen a bolt. Part 2 is all about keeping caseworkers engaged with new technology and making sure they have [...]

Before You Start, Know Your Workforce What does a socket wrench have to do with effectively rolling out technology to caseworkers? Let me tell you a little story. When confronted with a bolt that needs to be loosened, my intelligent, resourceful wife always uses pliers. On the other hand, I always use a socket wrench. [...]

In celebration of Social Work Month 2013, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has created a great list, 100 Ways to Promote Social Work Month. It got us thinking, how can Northwoods help recognize social workers? One of NASW’s ideas really caught our attention: “Blog about your best experiences as a social worker.” Too [...]

Editor’s Note, March 26, 2013: This Webinar has already been presented. Please visit our Events page to learn about upcoming opportunities. With all my heart, I believe that human services agencies help make people’s lives better. I also believe that by embracing innovation, agencies can help more families even faster. That’s why I’m so excited [...]

Northwoods strives to be excellent in everything we do. We aim to provide phenomenal document management systems, stellar customer service and world-class productivity for human services agencies. To reach our goals, we have created a new Business Advisory Board to advise Northwoods on a variety of business-related issues. The Board will evaluate strategic ideas and [...]

A new law giving child welfare workers better access to school records for foster children is an absolute win for kids. This provides a great opportunity for human services agencies to consider how the law might change the document management process for child welfare workers. The Uninterrupted Scholars Act, signed last week by President Barack [...]