This article is an Appendix to the Statewide Technology Planning Manual, but can also be used as a guide for program-wide technology planning. Written by Gabrielle Hammond and Steve Gray.

Components of Your Tech Plan
The tech plan is really a product of your committee’s work. We have provided some possible plan components based on those we reviewed. You can mix and match to meet the needs of your state. Also, remember that you’ll need to prioritize and likely implement in phases.

 

Components At-A-Glance

Staffing State Technology Support

• State Support Entity or Outsourced Help
• CRPs in every office
• OnGoing Technology Steering Committee

Technology Equity: Minimum Hardware and Software Standards for all Offices.

• Communication Infrastructure
• Internet access for all employees from desktop
• Email accounts for all
• Statewide website for advocates

Improved Case Handling and Maintenance on Advocacy Software:

• Standard Case Management System for Programs in State
• Statewide website for advocates (see above)

Training

• CRPs
• Users
• Staffing for Training

Group Purchasing

Program Technology Planning, Policy, and Budgeting

• Plans for disaster, security
• Policies for computer use, maintenance, upgrades, and help
• Budgeting, inventories, and future planning

Improved Services to Clients

• Statewide website for clients
• Self-help technologies or assisted self help services using technology

State Technology Support Structure

 

Statewide Technology Support Staff

There are several options for this position: in-house or outsource. See Develop an Action Plan for sidebar notes and comments on staffing this position. If you have some sort of state support entity in your state consider housing your statewide tech support staff here or at a field program. You want the person to be as connected to the field as possible.

Some states have chosen a more centralized support model that delivers a full range of tech support (i.e. system administration, help desk, tech purchasing, etc.) from an in-house centralized entity. Consider consulting with Legal Services of New Jersey or reviewing their plan if you favor this option. Others, like Nebraska, have chosen to outsource most of the tech support function and found this cost effective. See sidebar on Develop an Action Plan .

2. CRP in Every Office Because you cannot hope to meet all the technology support needs centrally, your plan should call for the establishment of a network of local Computer Responsible Persons (CRPs). A CRP is the staff person, designated by the program, who serves as the front-line of support on statewide technology initiatives and attends technology taskforce meetings and trainings on behalf of the office. This may be an advocate, support staff, or real tech support person (if an office has the luxury of having one on staff), but should be someone that isn’t afraid of computers.

3. Periodic CRP Meeting Gathering the CRPs for training, updates, and feedback on initiatives at least quarterly will be often necessary in meeting the goals of the technology plan.

4. On-going Technology Steering Committee Consider having an oversight entity to provide accountability and provide input on the progress of your plan to keep it fresh. The composition should be similar the initial planning group if not a little smaller. This group meets regularly to track progress of, and provide input on, tech initiatives. This group will also report to the field and do future planning.

Minimum Hardware and Software Standards for all Programs

In your tech action plan, you’ll need to agree on a minimum set of hardware and software necessary to carry out your objectives. The action plan would then outline a phased approach to ensure that all programs meet that standard. This doesn’t necessarily mean buying programs a lot of hardware and software. Meeting the minimum standards could be required for their participation (receipt of funding) in other funded projects. As part of this process, each program will likely need to do, or already have done, their own individual technology inventory. (See Assess What You Have. )

Communication Infrastructure

1. Internet Access for all Employees at their Desktop Almost all offices now have some form of Internet access, but depending on the needs of the office not all access is meaningful. Some still depend on dial-up access and this may be too slow to encourage communication or information exchange. Most action plans devise an approach to bring meaningful internet to every office.

For more information on broadband, Wide Area Networks, Virtual Private Networks, Application Service Providers, and other networking issues that may affect these discussions, you can elect to bring in a consultant, call or email NTAP for help, or consult online resources at LStech.org ( http://lstech.org ). Some of these options also provide an avenue for case management data sharing among offices within a program.

2. Email Accounts for All The value of email as communication tool hardly needs to be explained. For email use to be meaningful, it must be available at the desktop, and each staff must have their own account. Statewide email accounts for all staff is easily and cheaply attainable once Internet access is in place in every office. Options here include hosting your own statewide email/web server or renting the service from a web hosting company.

3. Statewide Website A statewide website is tool to improve inter-program resource sharing. It is the perfect way to provide general statewide support because you make information available via everyone’s desktop 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Statewide websites also centralize information for advocates on brief banks, processes, advocacy strategies, information on other programs and services, and notices of trainings and other professional development opportunities. LSC TIG grants have been awarded to at least 47 states and territories to help kickstart statewide websites that are built on one of two templates. Every statewide tech plan should include a component to get all programs involved in these sites and plan for future sustainability and sufficient staffing of this initiative to deliver meaningful content. See http: //lstech.org/resource_lib/web_ dev/statewide_templates for contact information on the web site coordinator in your state.

Statewide Case Management Software (CMS) Standard

All legal services programs have a need for an effective case management system to assist staff and pro bono attorneys in collecting, managing, utilizing, and reporting on client and case information. The theory is that by agreeing to use one version of a CMS package in a state, you gain by improving the economies of scale. For example, if a statewide funder requires a new statistical report, it only needs to be written once in order for it to be shared by all programs using the software. You could also develop the substantive features of case management (like substantive intake questions or form pleadings) once, and share costs among the programs.

The theory makes sense, but getting all programs in your state to agree on a preferred case management package could be as challenging as herding cats. A few tips:

1. Although a clear preference has emerged among legal services providers across the country (Kemp’s), you may need to put as much effort into picking the software as you do in implementing and supporting it. You may need to pilot a few choices for a few months and then make a recommendation. Do not forget factors such as training staff on a new system, reporting features and capability, and software costs and changes. (A report is about to be released through the Legal Aid Society of East Tennessee that reviews existing CMS programs. Look for it on LStech.org when considering a change.)

2. Think long and hard before trying to develop your own CMS for the state. None of the current options are perfect, but developing software takes many, many hours and much money. Many have tried this option over the years. Few of these versions still remain. One program who is one of the lone survivors simply states that if they knew now what they didn’t know then, they would not have chosen that option. .

For more information on deciding what system is right for you, please see materials on LStech.Org at http://lstech.org/ resource_lib/software/case_manage, and http://lstech.org/ntap/trainings .

Training

A successful technology plan must consider some degree of training for both CRPs and users. Tech support that is housed at a state support entity can help provide logistical support for the training because they are staffed to do it in other areas.

1. CRPs If you want local CRPs to be the first line of support for your plan (and you do want this desperately), you have to train them. They are easy to train because you can work a training component into your periodic statewide CRP meeting or hold an annual statewide tech conference as some states do.

2. Users Most end users are harder to get to tech trainings. You can try tacking tech training on to the beginning or end of other substantive training events that advocates usually attend. Another more costly (for trainers) approach that is more likely to succeed is to go to the advocates and users themselves. Try to schedule on-site training for staff when you are out in the field doing an installation or support.

3. Staffing Presumably statewide tech support can handle a large part of either conducting the training or arranging for outside trainers. However, don’t assume that just because someone knows the technology, they can train it. Techies are notoriously bad trainers. Especially for training staff and users of technology, we recommend choosing an advocate who has a basic understanding of the technology over a techie eight times out of ten.

Group Purchasing

From computer assisted legal research (Westlaw or Lexis) to communications infrastructure to desktop computers, a number of states have found there is purchasing power in numbers. However, this just doesn’t happen on its own. It takes considerable effort to organize programs and then negotiate with vendors. This effort needs to be adequately staffed and could be included as part of the job description of a statewide tech coordinator. Be sure and start with something easy like desktops before you tackle something like communications infrastructure. Check LStech.Org for recent news on any discounts that may have been negotiated nationally (e.g. Citrix).

Program Technology Planning, Budgeting and Policy

You can only move along at the lowest common denominator. In order to meaningfully participate in your plan, programs need to get their own ducks in a row locally. This means, they should adopt their own tech plan and budget, which ensures integration of the statewide plan at a program level. Most programs don’t have these and could use some help getting there first one in place. There are a number of planning and budgeting tools out there, but training and assistance will go along way to making this happen. See TechSoup, NPower, LStech.Org, and NTAP for help on individual tech plans for offices and programs.

In addition, at a statewide level and local level, you’ll need to develop strategies to have secure relay of information, ease of operation post-disaster, and protocols for how to maintain and upgrade equipment. Involving staff at the local level on these types of protocol developments will also enable your state support to identify technical areas that need to be planned for in the future.

Self-help Technologies / Client-Focused Technologies

While many programs do not invest in client focused technologies in the early phases of state technology planning, it is a critical piece to a statewide technology plan. Trends from the 2000 U.S. Census suggest that 25% of our client community already uses the Internet and that low-income persons are the fastest-growing users on the Internet. As more and more government applications, services, and economic opportunities are available online, legal services has a responsibility to offer its services easily to clients over the Internet; to ensure that material created for the Internet is usable by our client community; and advocate for our clients to be given access to the Internet and the economic opportunities it more and more affords.

There are several approaches to using technology to provide help to clients with their legal needs.

Statewide Websites As explained above, statewide websites act as a portal for clients, and can provide them with a repository for legal information, referral, and general assistance online. There is a myriad of material available for statewide website coordinators on content development for clients. For more information on these websites, visit http://lstech.org and http://lstech.org/ntap/trainings.

Self Help Systems Document assembly systems, like I-CAN!™ or those being created using Hotdocs©, allow users to answer simple questions and complete court proceedings. For more information on these systems, visit LStech.Org (http://lstech.org) and Legal Aid Society of Orange County’s I-CAN!™ site ( http:// www.legal-aid.com ).

LiveJustice and Internet Chat Massachusetts has piloted a legal chat for clients online, where after completing an online application users can get legal help on their problem through chatting with an advocate.

These are some starters. Other programs have developed other types of plans to improve or expand self help services through technology. Contact NTAP for more assistance or referral to other pioneers in this effort.