"With the new administration, lobbyists are out in force to get their issues in front of their representatives,” said Deakin. “Child and Family Services agencies need to be at the table, not just pulling at heart strings by highlighting the staggering plight of children in care, but making a solid case for how appropriate investment and use of private agencies can save the taxpayers money in both the long and short term. KaleidaCare is fortunate to have the perspective from serving a large number of agencies in different states, so we can speak about best practices and the effectiveness of our customers to make a difference and do it cost effectively."

CWLA is a powerful coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies serving vulnerable children and families since 1920. Our expertise, leadership and innovation on policies, programs, and practices help improve the lives of millions of children in all 50 states. Its impact is felt worldwide.

When Texas authorities raided a polygamous religious sect's ranch last month, it spotlighted a complex tangle of issues, including finding foster care for 463 kids removed from the compound.

However, the processes involved in placing and tracking these children -- as well as the tens of thousands of kids nationally each year that are placed in foster care -- are also very complicated, and for the most part, are still typically handled through burdensome and error-prone paper-based procedures.

But in Texas, at least 20 private social services agencies -- including some that are offering to provide foster care to the children removed from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Yearning for Zion ranch -- are using Web-based software that can help facilitate better child care matches and keep case workers up to date on individual children's situations and needs.

The software, which is offered via software-as-a-services model from KaleidaCare Management Solutions, addresses some major problems that social services organizations face when handling child care cases, said Michael Radden, acting president of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services, an association of private child and family welfare agencies in Texas, and executive director of New Horizons, one of those private agencies.

"As a provider, it's hard to get critical information about a kid, such as information about education, medical information," said Radden. "The information doesn't always follow them, especially when these kids bounce around" from one foster-care situation to another, he said.

New Horizon's use of KaleidaCare software allows case workers -- as well as key individuals like therapists and others involved with a child's case -- to add information about a child's progress to help ensure that individual treatment plans are being followed, as well as more easily complete reports.

Electronic alerts can also be added to notify a case supervisor, for instance, if a child misses school, medical appointments, or other key visits or milestones.

Although details vary from state to state, in general, when child welfare officials from a state like Texas takes custody of an abused or neglected child, the state then turns to private foster care agencies that help place those children in homes, including group centers and private homes.

And although most states have computerized systems to help manage some of the processes involved in child custody situations, once kids are placed in foster care, information isn't easily shared between the foster care agency workers and state case workers. That's because a lot of the information needed to successfully track the child while in foster care -- including medical information such as vaccinations, behavioral progress reports and school attendance -- isn't easily accessible.

The agencies that use KaleidaCare can also provide state case workers with electronic access to the tracking information via web.

"The challenge in foster care is that homes are located in different towns, communities, and staff document the reports and information using pens and papers in three-ring binders, that have to be passed along or faxed," said Wayne Carson, CEO of All Church Home For Children, a private, nonprofit family-services organization that provides foster care services in Texas.

Carson's organization, like New Horizons', is one of the many private agencies that have offered to provide foster care to the children removed from the FLDS ranch. However, because of privacy and confidentiality rules, agencies such as Carson's, cannot disclose if they are actually providing foster care to specific children.

Still, Carson said the software, which is currently being implemented at All Church Home for Children, can help ensure that any children in foster care are getting care that better meets their needs. "It makes sure the entire treatment team is up to date on a child by making information easily accessible, so that everyone is working together for the child's best interest," he said.

In addition to the 20 Texas agencies, approximately 50 other social services agencies in 15 states are also using KaleidaCare Web-based applications, said company CEO Alistair Deakin. Currently, foster care for approximately 30,000 children in the United States including 12,000 in Texas, is being tracked via KaleidaCare software, he said.

"States take kids out of homes and then outsource the care to others," Deakin said. "This system provides transparency in how these kids are being cared for," he said.

Pricing for the software subscription starts from about $500 a month, he said.

Creative Connections, Inc in Bakersfield, California provides services to adults and teens in two social service programs: Adult Family Home Agency (AFHA) and Sunny Homes Foster Homes for Teens (FFA). AFHA provides residential services to developmentally delayed adults. Creative Connections recruits, trains and monitors Family Home Providers who receive initial and ongoing training as well as competitive compensation. FFA provides foster homes to teenagers referred in Kern County. Sunny Homes recruits, trains and monitors the foster parents providing this service. For more information contact Creative Connections, Inc. at (661) 323-4050.

Executive Director Andretta Stokes states, "Creative Connections/Sunny Homes is excited to begin using the KaleidaCare system. The KaleidaCare system will assist our social service programs with accurate and efficient tracking of the clients we serve, the homes we recruit and mentor, as well as offer a diverse set of training materials and opportunities that we look forward to utilizing."

About KaleidaCare:

Founded in Austin, Texas in 1995 as Compu-Care Management & Information Sytems, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management and financial billing system for child welfare agencies. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, meet regulatory requirements and improve administrative efficiency. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States. Over 20,000 children are served annually by the system.  Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883. info@kaleidacare.com

Since taking over the leadership of the company in September 2006, Alistair Deakin’s team has added eleven (11) new agencies, including Austin based Lutheran Social Services.

“A major factor in our decision to commit our child tracking system to KaleidaCare was the experience and professionalism of the new management team,” said Charlene Hoobler, Senior VP of Child & Family Services for Lutheran.

The investment raising process was made easier by Deakin’s success in social service software companies.  Deakin previously served as CEO of three other software companies, including CMHC Systems, the largest provider of software to community mental health providers.  CMHC was purchased by Netsmart Technologies (NASDAQ: NTST) in 2005.

“KaleidaCare has a bright future and we are delighted to have the capital to execute our mission.  I have an experienced team, the best product in the market, and we have a mission we are passionate about: using technology to help kids,” Deakin noted.

The new investment will target adding increased capabilities to the product, as well as expanding the implementation and development teams.

About KaleidaCare:

Founded in Austin, Texas in 1995 as Compu-Care Management & Information Sytems, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management and financial billing system for child welfare agencies. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, meet regulatory requirements and improve administrative efficiency. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States. Over 20,000 children are served annually by the system.  Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883. info@kaleidacare.com

KaleidaCare is pleased to welcome back For Children’s Sake of Virginia.  For Children’s Sake provides Foster Care services and outpatient counseling in several Virginia offices; Chantilly, Woodbridge, and Hayes.  For Children’s Sake also operates an Emergency Diagnostic Center, which is a residential center located in Fairfax, Virginia.  For Children’s Sake is currently serving over 100 clients and is looking to expand their adoption and out-patient services.

Lutheran Social Services of the South is excited to return to KaleidaCare.  Our solution will aid in managing their 1,650 clients in several locations.  They are eager to reduce their time and money by having records in a centralized, all-access location, KaleidaCare.  LSSS provides services children services including Foster Care, Adoption, and Residential Services, as well as services for the elderly, poor, and disaster responses.  We are thrilled at their return and will be looking for their assistance in continuing to share and develop the best CPA software for Texas.

In line with KaleidaCare’s interests in research and best practice for child welfare, the Attachment and Trauma Institute (ATI) in Richmond Virginia began using KaleidaCare to track clients and research measures.  This Institute provides a Family Center and In-Home Counseling to follow the treatment modality of Family Centered Regulatory Therapy.  Dr. Bryan Post, of the Post Institute, leads this research facility and treatment that was shown in a previous publishing to increase positive behaviors in children 68% over a 12 week time.  KaleidaCare is excited to support this cutting edge research and to share the findings with our community in the future.

We would also like to note our current customers that have implemented the Revenue Maximization Module in Georgia in order to adapt to state funding changes.  These agencies are Creative Community Services, Georgia Parent Support Network (GPSN), CHRIS Kids, and The Bridge.  We are proud to support them as their state changes regulations.  We plan to continue building their community of knowledge and support.

About KaleidaCare:

Based in Austin, Texas, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management system for social service organizations. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, protect funding and safeguard licensing. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States and Canada. Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883 ext. 1, info@kaleidacare.com.

Many providers of home- and community-based services serve an essential role in their communities – delivering much-needed high-quality clinical and support services to vulnerable populations. From infants to the elderly, the need for services delivered in the community and in home is increasing. In an environment with increasing regulatory costs, rising human services expenses, and challenging competition, agencies need to be prepared and have tools that allow them to manage their finances and prevent lost revenue.

With this in mind, KaleidaCare has launched a companion module to its acclaimed Smart Service Management Pack – a state-of-the-art Revenue Maximization Module. In the health and human service field, most organizations ‘leak’ or ‘lose’ 10% (or more) of their potential revenue due to poorly designed financial management systems. KaleidaCare is offering a high-value tool to improve financial management – with the same great user interface, configurable inputs, and pay-as-you-go purchasing system.

The Revenue Maximization Module with the Resource Scheduling Appointment Book is seamlessly integrated into the Smart Service Management Packe to help ensure that services delivered are processed efficiently and promptly for payment reimbursements. KaleidaCare Solutions is a powerful system created to allow social service agencies to focus the majority of their time on what matters most - their clients.

About KaleidaCare:

Based in Austin, Texas, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management system for social service organizations. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, protect funding and safeguard licensing. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States and Canada. Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883 ext. 1, info@kaleidacare.com.

“The agencies that we serve will more effectively serve underprivileged children and families with improved resource management via the Journyx solution,” said Jerri Paul, president and CEO, KaleidaCare Management Solutions. “Journyx Timesheet’s ability to track employee’s and volunteer’s time, as well as manage their many projects, will provide the agencies with increased organization and efficiency.”

KaleidaCare’s product offering, KaleidaCare Solutions, is a comprehensive case management and outcomes reporting system for social service agencies. Journyx operates on a similar technology platform and business model as KaleidaCare, so the technology will be familiar to the agencies. KaleidaCare will put to use Journyx’s broad experience of configuring the product to meet their customers’ specific needs. Full integration with Journyx Timesheet is planned for a future version of the KaleidaCare system.

By partnering with KaleidaCare, Journyx will increase their visibility and raise their product awareness throughout the social service industry. In addition, Journyx gains a smart software-service provider partner to help drive improvements in its offering.

“By partnering with KaleidaCare, Journyx gains a deeper knowledge of the needs of social services organizations,” said Curt Finch, CEO of Journyx. “We will continue to drive improvements in our internal company processes; namely, becoming even better at having our software- service integrate and share data with other software-services. This will help us provide more complete solutions to our customer’s operational problems.”

About KaleidaCare:

Based in Austin, Texas, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management system for social service organizations. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, protect funding and safeguard licensing. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States and Canada. Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883 ext. 1, info@kaleidacare.com.

About Journyx Timesheet

Journyx Timesheet is a timesheet and expense management solution for the entire enterprise. Organizations can automate management of employee timesheets and expenses for project control, customer invoicing, and payroll processing with Journyx Timesheet. They can also easily integrate Timesheet into their existing systems, leveraging its patented technologies, open architecture and support for standards like XML and SOAP.

About Journyx, Inc.

Journyx is fundamentally transforming how people do their daily jobs by automating labor-intensive, paper-based processes with a superior, Web-based solution. Founded in 1996, Journyx Timesheet automates billing, payroll and project accounting by tracking time, expenses and mileage. Journyx has thousands of customers worldwide, including American Airlines, Bayer, BlueCross BlueShield, AC Nielsen, L'Oreal, Symantec, The Discovery Channel, Schlumberger, Capstone Turbine and many others. Journyx solutions are available both on an application service provider (ASP) and a standard license basis. For more information, go to http://pr.journyx.com or contact the Journyx marketing department at (512) 834-8888 or info@journyx.com.

“The evolving landscape in the children’s services field makes timely management information critical to success,” said Jerri Paul, KaleidaCare’s chief executive officer. “Payers want lower rates and documentation of positive performance. To participate in the payer/provider dialogue in the months ahead, executives of children’s services programs need to know their performance metrics – and how they compare to their competitors. Our team at KaleidaCare created the benchmarking program to provide meet this emerging need.”

The KaleidaCare National Children’s Services Performance Benchmarking Program will launch in April 2006, with the first quarterly performance reports being issued in the third quarter of 2006. For more information about these new services, contact Jerri Paul, chief executive officer, at KaleidaCare at 1-800-913-9883, or jpaul@kaleidacare.com.

About KaleidaCare:

Based in Austin, Texas, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management system for social service organizations. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, protect funding and safeguard licensing. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States and Canada. Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883 ext. 1, e-mail: info@kaleidacare.com.

KaleidaCare Solutions is a web-based care management and reporting software solution that is focused on the needs of social service organizations by empowering agencies to enhance care, protect funding, and safeguard licensing. Many social service providers currently utilize this service across the United States, tracking over 15,000 clients annually. KaleidaCare Solutions provides a complete picture of the type of care received by individual clients on a real-time snapshot or a historical period basis. KaleidaCare Solutions offers both behavioral assessment and outcomes reporting functionality, as well as an add-on module for an integrated financial tracking capability including resource scheduling, payer validation, and invoice tracking features. In specific, KaleidaCare Solutions is a specialty system that supports home and community-based services such as home-based behavioral healthcare, foster care, in-home children’s services, and home and community-based disability support services. Using our solution, field-based staff can collect and upload data directly into their behavioral health organization’s electronic health record system.

KaleidaCare Solutions allows agencies that are looking to expand from office-based services to a home-based or community based treatment program to achieve this transition with minimal overhead costs and a fluid transition period. KaleidaCare Solutions is a robust case management system that guarantees high quality assurance and billing documentation. KaleidaCare Solutions has low start up fees and is a ‘pay-as-you-use-it solution’ that enables community mental health centers to expand and diversify into new markets. Ultimately, KaleidaCare Solutions provides social service agencies with a flexible and accessible system that facilitates growth and expansion into other service areas.

About KaleidaCare:

Based in Austin, Texas, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management system for social service organizations. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, protect funding and safeguard licensing. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States and Canada. Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883 ext. 1, e-mail: info@kaleidacare.com.

Family & Community Partners, a CARF accredited organization, was founded by Natasha Akins to provide outpatient mental health services to children and adolescents. Through their Intensive Family Intervention Program, they work to restore hope and a sense of competency by providing a family-and-community-based treatment approach. Family and Community Partners ensures quality services which assist children and families to lead a more fulfilled and successful life in their community. One of the organization’s main goals is to reduce behavioral problems and stress in children and families in the shortest time possible with the least amount of interruption in their lives. Family and Community Partners believe it takes a Family and a Community to raise our children.

New Beginnings Family Services is a private, non-profit agency with a mission to enrich the life of a child by providing therapeutic foster care services in Christian homes throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky. New Beginnings Family Services was founded in 2000 and has offices located in Louisville, Richmond, and Columbia Kentucky. While they are currently a provider of therapeutic foster care services, the organization is planning to expand into other service areas in the future. The organization is a member of the Kentucky Children’s Alliance and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation.

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children is a nationally recognized and fiscally responsible community focused on the individual needs of abused, abandoned and neglected children of all races and faiths. St. Jude’s Ranch for Children has a 35-year history of healing and caring for these kids and is dedicated to breaking the vicious cycles of child abuse and welfare dependency. St. Jude’s Ranch provides a broad continuum of care with safe, home-like environments built upon love, respect and dignity. The children at St. Jude’s Ranch receive help. Just as importantly, they leave with hope and a real chance at success.

About KaleidaCare:

Based in Austin, Texas, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management system for social service organizations. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, protect funding and safeguard licensing. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States and Canada. Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883 ext. 1, e-mail: info@kaleidacare.com.

Clinical Alterative Resource Associates offers guidance toward healthy well-being supplying individuals with building blocks for healthier lives. To learn more about Clinical Alternative Resource Associates, LLC visit them on the web at www.carallc.com.

About KaleidaCare:

Based in Austin, Texas, KaleidaCare Management Solutions provides the most comprehensive on-line client management system for social service organizations. By giving everyone involved the information when they need it and how they need it, the solution empowers agencies to enhance care decisions, protect funding and safeguard licensing. KaleidaCare has customers throughout the United States and Canada. Contact: KaleidaCare Management Solutions at 1-800-913-9883 ext. 1, e-mail: info@kaleidacare.com.