Why the return on investment in human services technology is so much bigger than dollars.
When leaders talk about ROI, the conversation often goes straight to cost savings, operational efficiencies, or revenue protection. All important — but in human services, those metrics only tell part of the story.
Because the real return on investment isn’t just in budgets. It’s in people:
- Workers who stay in the field longer.
- Families who receive faster support.
- Children who experience fewer disruptions.
- Agencies that feel confident, stable, and aligned around their mission.
In 2025, agencies across the country used Traverse and Case Aide Services (CAS) to lighten workloads, strengthen documentation accuracy, stabilize the workforce, and create clearer pathways to safety and permanency. The ripple effects were measurable — and meaningful.
Here’s what the real ROI looked like.
ROI That Reduces Burnout and Stabilizes the Workforce
If there’s one crisis universally felt across human services in 2025, it was workforce strain.
Turnover remains one of the highest costs agencies face — often 70%–200% of an employee’s annual salary, with some states estimating more than $54,000 per departing worker (Texas DFPS; NCWWI; OSU EPIC).
Workers are leaving because they’re overwhelmed by:
- High caseloads
- Administrative burden
- Limited time with families
- Emotional fatigue
- Paperwork backlogs
Traverse and CAS directly address these root causes.
Case Aide Services: Giving Time Back Where It Matters Most
2025 utilization metrics show real relief for frontline staff:
- 18,570 tasks completed as of mid-November
- 240 unique staff supported
- 43.2% of tasks completed within 2 business days
- Each request “touched” an average of 2.20 times, meaning it’s not just completed — it’s completed thoroughly
Behind every completed task is something workers always need more of:
More time to think, engage, investigate, plan, document safely, or simply breathe.
Traverse: Reducing Administrative Load at Scale
From states like North Carolina, Ohio, and California, to counties like Yolo, Wilson, and Clinton, Traverse continues to show measurable impact:
- Faster access to information
- Less duplication in documentation
- Fewer errors that lead to compliance findings
- More clarity in case history, patterns, and decision-making
- Fewer hours on paperwork, more hours with people
Haley Diser from Carver County explained Traverse like this:
“Traverse allows us to be more efficient and transparent. When supervisors or attorneys need something, it’s already there—we don’t waste hours searching.”
ROI takeaways:
Less burnout → Higher staff retention → Lower replacement cost → More consistent services → Better outcomes for families and children.
ROI in Accuracy, Compliance, and Program Integrity
Accuracy is no longer optional.
States are under pressure to reduce SNAP, Medicaid, and IV-E error rates.
Research shows:
- Most Medicaid and CHIP errors come from missing or incomplete documentation (CMS, 2024).
- Over half of improper payments result from paperwork delays or errors (Policy & Practice, R.G. Bell).
- Aging systems, high caseloads, and turnover contribute significantly to errors (National Governors Association).
Traverse and CAS help close these gaps by improving documentation consistency, completeness, and timeliness — which directly impacts eligibility accuracy and reimbursement stability.
Technology That Supports Accuracy
- Traverse ensures documents are captured, organized, searchable, and connected to the right people and actions.
- Case Aide Services ensures no task — no referral, record, or required document — falls through the cracks.
- AI-powered tools within Traverse reduce human error in high-volume, high-risk work.
Accuracy doesn’t just protect funding. It protects decision-making.
ROI takeaways:
Better documentation → Fewer findings → Protected federal revenue → Increased trust in decisions impacting safety and permanency.
ROI in Permanency, Placement Stability, and Child Safety
This year showed a rising urgency around permanency outcomes. States face:
- Increasing length of stay (national average ~20 months)
- High placement instability
- Shortage of kinship placements
- Rising foster care costs ($450–$1,200/month, depending on the state)
Traverse and CAS play a meaningful role here, even if indirectly.
CAS: Supporting the Work Behind Every Permanency Decision
When workers spend less time on documentation and more time with families, they can:
- Make timelier referrals
- Follow up with relatives sooner
- Maintain placement paperwork
- Prepare court summaries
- Prioritize high-risk decisions
Sarah Downing, from Clinton County, shared the impact that CAS has had on their agency:
“Over the last three months, we’ve decreased our kids in custody by 10. There are always many factors that go into reunification, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Case Aide Services has been a major factor in making that possible.”
Traverse: Making Family Information Clearer and Faster to Use
Traverse supports permanency by:
- Surfacing family connections
- Making history easy to review and organize
- Reducing time spent searching for critical documents
- Ensuring medical, placement, and visitation documentation are complete
Research consistently links accurate documentation and consistent worker involvement to safer, quicker, more stable permanency outcomes.
ROI takeaways:
Better documentation + More worker time = More stability, fewer disruptions, stronger permanency outcomes.
ROI in Community Impact (The Hidden Value That Really Matters)
There are costs and consequences to child welfare involvement that extend beyond agency budgets:
- Youth with 5+ placements have a 90% chance of becoming involved in the criminal legal system (CrimLawPractitioner).
- In some states, youth not placed in care were 3–5x more likely to face arrest or incarceration than those who were supported (Michigan study).
- States like Wisconsin, California, and Ohio show direct correlations between stability, permanency, and future well-being.
When agencies have the tools and capacity to make better decisions faster, children experience fewer moves, faster permanency, and better long-term life outcomes.
This is ROI you can’t put a price tag on.
ROI in Operational Visibility and Leadership Confidence
When data is clearer, leaders can:
- Balance caseloads
- Track documentation delays
- Identify high-risk cases
- Reduce backlogs
- Improve supervision practices
Both Traverse and CAS create clear, measurable workflow transparency.
With Case Aide Services: Leaders can see volume, turnaround time, request types, bottlenecks, and staffing patterns.
With Traverse: Supervisors have visibility into case activity, task completion, and documentation quality — without extra work.
ROI takeaway:
More clarity → Faster decisions → Better risk mitigation → Greater confidence from state oversight bodies and federal reviewers.
In Summary: The Real ROI of Traverse + CAS
Yes — agencies see cost savings, hours back, fewer compliance findings, and improved operational control.
But the real return?
- Workers stay longer.
- Children experience more stability.
- Families get faster help.
- Documentation supports—not stalls—critical decisions.
- Supervisors have clarity, not chaos.
- Agencies feel confident and supported, not overwhelmed and reactive.
Traverse and CAS don’t just reduce administrative burden.
They restore the human capacity of human services.
And that is ROI worth investing in.
