Skills

Software Development

HZA develops software as products for customers and as data collection instruments to support project evaluations. For example, for the Healthy Families Program evaluation HZA created case management software which helps the home visitors to track their cases but also provides data to the evaluators for standard and ad hoc reports. The software is operating at 15 project sites. For the Co-occurring State Integration Initiative, HZA developed software for four kinds of data collection: person-specific enrollment and follow ups; chart audits; quarterly reports; and numbers served. For the Division of Public Assistance Workload Study in Alaska HZA developed a tool for managers and supervisors to use in tracking workload across a number of public assistance programs.

HZA owns the “run-time” version of various software development tools so that the customers do not have to own the underlying software for them to run the instruments on their computers.

Web-based Applications [return to top]

Many of HZA’s data collection tools are now web-based. These instruments may be housed on an intranet for data collection in short term projects open to specific agency staff or they may be posted on an internet for broader field input.

Complex Statistical Analysis [return to top]

HZA’s staff are proficient in using various statistical software such as SPSS and SAS. They can run descriptive statistics as well as more complex inferential statistics. They perform various types of regression analyses and tests of significance.

Administrative Data Analysis [return to top]

HZA has the capacity to download very large datasets from mainframe computers in public or private agencies for analysis. For example, HZA has analyzed Medicaid data, adult corrections data, child welfare SACWIS data and juvenile corrections data. HZA can also link datasets to track clients across systems such as child welfare and juvenile justice, adult corrections and mental health, or TANF and child welfare, all recent examples.

Focus Groups [return to top]

HZA has broad experience conducting focus groups with consumers, family members and professional staff. Focus groups have been conducted with families in the child protective services system, individuals with co-occurring disorders, hospital chief operating officers and social services agency managers.

Consumer Feedback [return to top]

HZA has extensive experience designing, administering and analyzing tools designed to elicit feedback from the consumers of services. These tools include surveys, focus groups and interviews. Often HZA offers incentives such as monetary payment or drawings to boost consumer response.

Case Reading or Record Audits

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HZA often extracts information for its evaluations from case records. HZA develops objective data collection tools and dispenses staff to the field to collect information from hard copy or computer records.

Help Desk [return to top]

HZA operates a full-time HELP DESK to support all users of its software. It is run by technology specialists who assist callers with both software and hardware issues. They conduct site visits to help with installation and networking issues faced by users.

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