Revolutionizing Homeless Support Services with Digital Transformation
The New South Wales Government, through Homes NSW, is the leading provider of services to people experiencing homelessness in Sydney and beyond.
Industry: Government & Public Sector
Challenge
The New South Wales government was grappling with rising homelessness figures and struggled with an outdated, paper-based system for its Assertive Outreach homeless support services program aimed at assisting homeless individuals into a pathway of stable and secure accommodation. This inefficient system of note-taking and data duplication led to limited communication between staff, requiring the homeless population they served to repeatedly recount their situation to multiple workers at a time when they were already vulnerable.
It was clear that a more streamlined, technologically advanced solution was required to optimize the services being offered to the homeless community.
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Solution
To tackle this problem, Homes NSW partnered with Telstra, Australia’s largest mobile network, and Concentrix embarked on a mission towards digitizing and optimizing their processes. Together, we created the Journey on Home (JoH) mobile app for iOS, a platform designed by and for Assertive Outreach staff.
JoH was developed to provide the necessary safety features for staff while ensuring a continuum of homeless support services. It has the ability to link people to services when and where they need them, reducing duplicate data entries and optimizing administrative operations.
Moreover, the creation of JoH followed the principles of citizen-centered design, placing high importance on deep consultation with key stakeholders across Homes NSW and Telstra. The culmination of this approach was an intuitive, reliable, and fit-for-purpose solution optimally designed for Assertive Outreach staff.
Utilizing the latest technologies and frameworks like Swift UI, the team at Concentrix created this custom iPad application from scratch. It was built with the help of previously developed middleware and AWS services to deliver a robust, scalable, and secure computing environment. This technical overhaul drastically optimized performance and accessibility for front-line Assertive Outreach staff.
“Whilst we can’t solve the housing problem overnight, we can make a real difference by enabling our staff to be able to provide the best help that they can to those who need it, with the right service at the right time.”
– Lance Carden, Director, Customer Service and Business Improvement and Housing Connect
Outcomes
The introduction of the JoH app has allowed for significantly improved homeless support services, ensuring the most vulnerable receive the right service at the right time without repeating their story to different staff members. The digitization of processes and the reduction of manual data entry has significantly freed up time for staff, allowing them to focus on providing support to clients.
The new application proved immensely efficient, reducing time spent on reporting by an impressive 80%, demonstrating the powerful impact of incorporating technology into social services.
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