Special Programs

General Information

Special Programs is a feature in Prime that allows you to add custom intake sheets that link with a Client Intake or Eligibility Slip. The uses of the Special Program are only limited by the imagination of the user. Some of its uses are to:

1) Gather additional information for funders such as Title III and VOCA. This information can be additional demographic information, information using different coding (such as racial classifications), actions taken, or even narratives about particular aspects of a case.

2) Provide client satisfaction surveys. For example, you might list a set of goals the client wants to achieve and whether they were achieved.

3) Track information you want about all clients such as, do they receive food stamps, have they had their children checked for lead poisoning, or do they own a truck?

4) Arrange for specific interviews on topics where you need to report, and thus need to control the answer type and codes, for example an interview for public housing eligibility. (This can supplement or replace the interview system or canned questions.)

5) Display a list of documents to print for a specific type of case. For example, you might want to have a set of immigration documents available to print by checking a box next to the ones you need.

6) Store multiple people involved in a case such as law students, advocates, etc. to supplement the limited list on the intake sheet.

7) Add a special program for the Eligibility Slip. An applicant not eligible under your normal funding might fit under another program, such as a Veteran’s Program. The special program could check to see if the client satisfied that program’s requirements.

Unlimited Special Programs

Any number of Special Programs can be added to Prime. Some offices have developed over thirty for their internal use.

Using Special Programs

1) Special Programs are selected from a pull down on the Special Programs Tab.

2) They are associated with the main case by a case number.

3) You can have Special Programs that have a one to one relationship with the case or a one to many.

i) An example one-to-one relationship might be where you have a single Title III Special Program that matches a case.

ii) An example one-to-many relationship is a list of Litigation Expenses associated with a case. There might be one expense or a hundred.

4) Two important Special Programs are Court Cases and Meetings.

i) Court Cases allows you to:

(a) Set a Court Case

(b) Add multiple Hearings associated with the court case

(c) Associate multiple clients with the same Court Case by joining them

(d) Enter different outcomes for each client for the:

(i) Court Case and

(ii) Hearings

(e) Add information about a Court Case, any number of Court cases can be added or joined on a case

(f) Then Hearings can be scheduled. Any number of Hearings can be set for a Court Case.

(g) Here we join a court case by pushing the Join button and selecting from a list of Court Cases.

(h) Once the Court Case is assigned to the client, you can see all the hearings associated with it.

(i) A Court Case can have different closure reasons for each client associated with it.

(j) A Hearing can have different results for each client associated with it.

ii) Meetings allow you to:

(a) Set up Meetings

(b) Schedule multiple clients to attend a single meeting by joining them.

iii) Thus if you have multiple children you are representing, this a great way to track the Meetings and Court Cases they participate in.

5) Disabilities Special Program is another Special Program included with Prime. Using the system is easy.

i) Adding Disabilities occurs from the Client’s Intake.

ii) Go to Special Programs and choose Disabilities

iii) This opens up the Disabilities input sheet

iv) Enter as many disabilities as you like for a particular client.

v) A note and date field are both available so that you can explain the disability and even note when the diagnosis for the disability occurred.

Building a Special Program

We can build the special program for you, you can do it yourself, or we can do it together. No matter which method you chose, understanding the process helps you to assist in the design and construction. Design is often the longest portion of the process. You need to know what information must be gathered and what format it should be in. If you are doing this in response to a funder, look at what reports they want. No matter how long you spend, advocates will probably find a need to make changes, so be prepared to modify the design a time or two before the Special Program is ready for data input. For example, you might need to record whether a client is left handed. Should you make it a Yes/No field, a letter field or store the whole word? Should your field also store right handed and ambidextrous? If a code is used, should it be a letter (L, R, A) or the numbers used in a needed report (1, 2, 3)?

1) Build a table in SQL Server – It is necessary to build a table to store the needed information. You must name the table with a z, e.g., zUnitedWay

2) Attach the table to the front end of Prime. This requires you to go to External Data on the Ribbon Bar and choose ODBC database. The password to get in is normally primeuser. Link to the SQL server and choose the table, in our example zUnitedWay. Be sure to check Save Password before pressing OK. Once it is attached you must rename it in the front end. Example: dbo_zUnitedWay should be renamed to zUnitedWay.

3) Build a form in Microsoft Access – The form allows staff to input data and you can control validation. You must name the form after the table, with no z and beginning with inp. Example: inpUnitedWay

4) Go into the subSpecialProgram table and add the name of the table, without the z, and give it a number like the other entries. The letter abbreviation controls where the SP can show up, B – Both Eligibility and Clients, E – Eligibility Only, I – Clients Only. Example:

11 United Way B -1

Note: The beginning number is unimportant except to control the order in which the Special Programs appear. You can renumber the list with no ill effects. Set the CurrentR field to 0 if you don’t use certain Special Programs and don’t want to see them on the list.

5) Test the Special Program. Open up a Client Intake, go to Special Programs, choose your new one and put in data. Close the Client and then reopen. Go to Special Programs and make sure your data is there.

6) Build any queries or reports you need to get information out of the SP. Save them and add them to the list of Reports as explained in the Reports section.