A year ago, we embarked on a journey to reduce reliance on the Equalizer spreadsheet, beginning with fully utilizing Appointment Scheduling in CalSAWS. The pilot launched with the eager Lompoc office, moving into Santa Barbara, then Betteravia and completing the implementation at WRC.
It is with profound pride that we share the Economic Assistance and Employment Services Intake District Offices have all embraced appointment scheduling solely through CalSAWS reducing reliance on external tools. This milestone sunsets this section of the Equalizer that had been utilized for Appointment Scheduling which often suffered from slowness and errors.
Over the last year, there has been so much collaboration and support from supervisors, line staff, DBS staff, and management to aid in implementation. Along with the enthusiastic and flexible CORE AOPs to embrace the unique needs from the various units. A special shout out to Blanca Diaz and Dalet Alvarado for their passion for innovation, stamina, and supporting staff through the various training, creation of resources and patience to lead everyone to the goal.
Phase II will encompass functionality improvement in CalSAWS that we are expecting this summer, and our talented Enterprise Data Unit is working on a new tool to equalize work that will interface with CalSAWS and streamline the process further. The job of continuously pursuing innovation is in no way done. However, this just goes to show that by working together and supporting one another we can achieve so much!