Case Management and Handling System

The Vendor is required to provide case management system to improve case handler efficiency and case documentation, and to better serve the individual and collective needs of our multiple program units.
- Requirement:
1. User-friendly system:
•    Flexibility in design - easily adapted to reflect new grantor requirements or topics for focus. 
•    Uses conditional and logic rules to populate fields for user data entry (i.e., fields that appear dependent on role of user, user’s PLS practice area, answer in prior field, etc.) and mirror natural intake flow of each practice area. 
•    Common fields must be fully searchable and used across practice areas.
2. Client and case information:
•    Client searchable by name, din1, a number 2, case number, or other fields in client profile. 
•    Ability to link prior client data (such as a prior din or contact with client pre-incarceration) to current profile and din. 
•    Client contact information and current location, release status and date, readily viewable in case overview. 
•    Tracking for adverse parties or other involved parties (e.g., hearing officers, judges, officers). 
•    Alert user to prevent creation of potential duplicate client profile and an easy way to resolve duplicates, when necessary. 
•    Past client location entries retrievable from client profile for case handler reference.
3. Simplify and streamline case handling processes:
•    Reminder alerts for intake applications that have not been processed for response or assigned to a case handler. 
•    Customizable user dashboard that shows total number and list of open cases number for user. 
•    Customizable settings to allow case handlers to: sort and prioritize within case list; create temporary custom views based on case codes, intake date, client, etc., with a reminder function visible on entering the program. 
•    Case note entry field with auto save feature (to avoid needing to retype notes if exit without saving). 
•    Text formatting capabilities in case notes. 
•    Overall case note chronology in initial view, associated timekeeping, and type of communication (e.g., phone, letter). 
•    Ability to assign case to a case handler at creation. 
•    Ability to add multiple case handlers, such that case is easily accessible by all assigned case handlers and pinned to each case handler’s home page. 
•    Ability to create client groups (e.g., plaintiffs in a class action; special projects) or other function to link client cases for discrete issues impacting multiple clients. 
•    Ability for users to create subcategories to case codes to track and create reports on issues and trends without creating new top-level case codes. 
•    In-system referrals between offices and case handlers, with emailed and in-system alerts. 
•    Supervisor view of all cases, sortable by handler or other temporary filtered views. 
•    Ability to modify and add case outcome fields for different practice areas and program units. 
•    Ability to track time saved.
4. Correspondence and document templates:
•    Easy for users with appropriate administrative privileges to update, add, and format document templates. 
•    Ability to populate correspondence templates with the logged-in user’s information or with the case handler’s information, as selected by user. 
•    Ability to automatically populate client’s information in templates.
5. Document management:
•    Secure remote accessibility. 
•    Automatic storage of email correspondence to client case file via outlook and Microsoft product integration or case-specific email address. 
•    Notification for uploads to case files or processes on documents 
•    Storage capacity for large files – including video, audio, etc. – indexed to case. 
•    File and portal sharing with others outside the organization with appropriate cybersecurity protections (e.g., to pro bono and co-counsel).
6. Calendaring, reminders, timekeeping, and costs and fee info:
•    Ability to calendar important dates and meetings, viewable by program unit and office and by supervisors. 
•    Case handlers able to create multiple important deadlines within each case, with reminders viewable on case management system homepage. 
•    Ideally, this function would be automatically integrated into outlook. 
•    Timekeeping entry generated directly from a case note, email, calendar entry, motion, etc., within case file with capability to edit recorded time, manually add time of other involved users, etc. 
•    Timekeeping entries that display in case notes, but filterable as time keeping records. 
•    Ability to input case costs, expenses, and document attorneys’ fees and base rates. 
•    Ability to generate reports of timekeeping, costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees.
7. Searchable:
•    Easy for staff to find cases with similar patterns (e.g., recurring issues or adverse parties). 
•    Ability to keyword search within case handler notes and uploaded documents (including pdfs). 
•    Search requests can be saved by the user. 
•    Search results must be exportable and printable in a variety of formats (e.g., excel spreadsheet, pdf, etc.) with automatic hyperlink to the associated client’s profile and case file.