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If you’re still using spreadsheets and separate documents or spending excessive time on crime victim compensation (CVC), it might be time to work with a grant management partner for CVC software.
CVC grant partners can facilitate simple, streamlined processes that give you more time to focus on your mission. Let’s explore how a grant partner can provide CVC help for criminal justice departments and organizations and what signs suggest the need for new software.
Grant management partners excel at helping organizations disperse funds, offering software and resources to make the process more efficient, cost-effective and compliant. Many of these functions carry over into CVC management, so grant management partners are ideal for criminal justice organizations. Here are some of the ways they can help:
Highly configurable software allows grant management partners to tailor workflows precisely to your organization’s needs. For example, you can automate your workflow to validate information and request approvals with minimal manual entry or administrative management. Extra speed and efficiency can also reduce turnaround times, helping you keep funds moving.
A CVC program can compile your data into a single web-based source and import information from disparate sources, increasing the dependability and accuracy of your data. A central source makes CVC drastically easier and can help eliminate accuracy problems or auditing gaps that increase non-compliance risks. As you disperse compensation, centralized data also keeps information standardized across applicants for easier decision-making.
With many government clients, CVC grant partners understand compliance and can establish a system that meets strict security requirements and standards from industry organizations and federal agencies. The right partner will also comply with all best practices for accessibility.
CVC is likely not the only data-management task in your organization. The right grant management partner can also expand its system to non-CVC processes, like taking applications for a program and sending them through a review and approval process.
Staying on top of requirements can be challenging, but a dedicated grant management partner supports your team by regularly updating the system according to changing laws and regulations.
Robust reporting tools allow you to comply with regulations and guidelines by quickly generating accurate reports. They can help improve visibility and transparency and reduce compliance risks for programs like performance management tracking.
Grant management partners can help grantors boost their communications with logged and automated messaging between stakeholders, including staff, survivors, law enforcement partners and providers. Efficient messaging systems can help increase visibility, reduce miscommunications and provide clear audit trails.
A self-service portal for victims allows them to submit applications, enter expenses and monitor submission statuses easily and conveniently. The right partner can help you offer an empathetic, inclusive system that makes a tough situation easier.
Each grant management partner is different, but these are some examples of how a trusted provider can help you support victims quickly and efficiently while maintaining compliance.
Say you’re getting by with your current system. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done. How do you know if a grant management partner for CVC would help you? Consider the following signs — if you struggle with any of them, it’s probably time to upgrade.
If your team spends significant hours entering data, handling submissions and creating reports, a CVC system could reduce the time commitment. Since CVC software can automate your workflows and submission processes, it eliminates many of these time-consuming tasks throughout the entire process. Automation can remove simple delays, like waiting for someone to add a document to a case.
Centralized data also speeds up access to data sources. For instance, tracking down a file you need for an approval might involve emailing a colleague and waiting for them to send it over. With a centralized CVC system, you can simply access the file yourself since everything gets stored in one space.
Other features CVC software can offer to improve efficiency include:
Efficiency is crucial for providing timely turnarounds and allowing you to focus on helping more people.
Errors can come from many places, such as mistyped manual data entry or tasks that fall through the cracks. They take time to fix and may impact your compliance. If errors are slowing you down, a grant partner can help you implement centralized and standardized data, regular updates and strong communication — all of which can help reduce inaccuracies.
Have you already had problems with audits or worry that each report you submit will have something wrong with it? With a CVC system, you can be confident in your submissions, which pull from your central database and are easy to create. Since much of the data is handled automatically, you reduce the chances of manual error. Data verification processes also help ensure the quality of information, while reminders prevent missed deadlines.
A CVC grant partner can offer a system that complies with requirements from different organizations and legislation, such as:
Grant management partners keep track of these requirements and changes to keep the system up-to-date with changing demands. It also provides an audit-ready system that records activities performed and restricts deletion. If requested, you can confidently show your audit trail and access archived data saved according to granular data retention policies.
Turning to data management professionals helps organizations meet compliance demands and address security concerns.
Non-standardized data can be difficult to work with, affecting your transparency and accuracy. It also makes submissions and reports more time-consuming as you parse through inconsistent information.
CVC software standardizes your information so everything follows the same general structure, greatly reducing complexity. Your team can spend less time looking for supporting data since it’s all in one place, and transparency comes easily through robust reporting and access. Document validation also helps by flagging missing information and duplicate data.
Any criminal justice system needs top-notch security, and spreadsheets and emails just don’t cut it. Many grant management partners specialize in working with governments — including state, local and federal organizations — so this level of security is a regular part of the process. Secure CVC software helps you protect the sensitive information of survivors and your organization.
One of the ways grant partners achieve high security is with the compliance guidelines we already mentioned. SOC 2 and FedRAMP High Baseline are two crucial security standards to meet. HIPAA regulations affect sensitive health information, such as medical reports and records. You’ll also need to meet the General Data Protection Regulation if you collect data from people in the European Union.
CVC programs can meet these requirements through a mixture of security methods, such as:
A multi-pronged approach offers CVC help for criminal justice departments by addressing security concerns through varied, overlapping methods. A grant partner should incorporate these features within the CVC system.
Not sure where your money’s going? CVC software can offer robust reporting and visibility features for internal and external use. You can share these reports with stakeholders and the general public, even offering live updates. With detailed reporting options, you can drill down into specifics and learn more about where the money goes. Ideally, your CVC system integrates with grant programs to provide cross-platform reporting features.
Transparency is crucial for meeting compliance demands, streamlining workflows and improving decision-making. Centralized, cloud-based systems help immensely, allowing authorized users to access information from any device and web browser.
A grant partner can also help you increase transparency for various activities, such as:
You might face increased risk if team members lack a clear, standardized procedure for processing data and claims. Grant management partners specialize in streamlining these processes and can help you simplify the process itself and train users appropriately.
For example, your partner might simplify processes by automating workflows, adding project management resources and customizing the system to your state’s needs. Additionally, they’ll offer training — having a well-trained team member to lead your CVC software strategy is essential to making the most of the program and adjusting it via self-service tools. Other staff members involved in the claims process must also understand how to use it effectively.
A user-friendly interface is crucial, especially regarding accessibility for staff and victims. ADA and WCAG 2.0 compliance are essential for a CVC system, with features like screen-reader compatibility, alternative text descriptions for page elements, high-contrast mode and full keyboard navigation.
Criminal justice departments must handle victim communications with sensitivity and empathy. A good grant partner can help you create a CVC system built to offer an emotionally intelligent experience. For example, you might provide local and state resources and supporting information throughout the process. With CVC management help for grantors, you can also eliminate friction during the application process, like a cumbersome interface.
While customer service may not be the primary goal of CVC, small changes can make significant differences for people going through difficult situations.
During CVC processes, you might collect information from various sources, like victims themselves, medical providers, law enforcement agencies and federal programs. Gathering, storing and standardizing this data manually is often time-consuming and error-prone.
Grant partners improve the process through automated workflows and interfacing capabilities. For instance, a CVC system that integrates with SAM.gov and the United States Postal Service can validate identities and addresses. Many state agencies also allow for interfacing to speed up your process. While each of these steps might sound small, they aggregate into the larger process and can lead to an inefficient system.
Many customers seek CVC help when frustrated with slow, disorganized technology. A dedicated CVC program can offer cohesiveness, bringing functionality from emails, texts, file managers, spreadsheets and accounting software into one space. All the data works together and receives the support of speedy infrastructure, simplified logins and high-level security features. It also facilitates automation for an efficient, enjoyable process.
A modern CVC program can transform your process, offering improvements and giving your team more time to focus on victim support and complicated cases.
If any of these situations resonate with you, consider working with a grant management partner for CVC funding. At IGX Solutions, we leverage our grant management platform to deliver Core CVC, a trusted program clients use in 34 states. Core CVC offers all of the features we’ve discussed for a secure, efficient and compliant system.
Since implementation only requires custom configuration, we usually implement Core CVC in under 12 weeks, so you can focus on offering exceptional support. We also offer a predictable annual subscription for easy planning. Learn more about Core CVC by booking a demo below!
