South Africa: Premier of Western Cape – Alan Winde announced the official launch of the Social Work Integrated Management System (SWIMS) App. The application helps in easing the admin burden of the hard-working and dedicated social workers.
According to Winde, the application has freed them up, to focus more on therapeutic interventions to help the most vulnerable residents, as the innovation is considered in action.
Reportedly, the Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) has launched the application to help the social workers and cut down the time spent on paperwork.
The application allows the social workers to upload clients’ documents to a database and fill in forms digitally. It is already being used by 1,054 DS social workers, supervisors and managers across the province and will be offered to other departments and to the welfare organisations.
As per the sources, in the month of June, 5,698 forms were loaded on the app and 2,157 cases were opened, the department said at the launch in Langa on Thursday.
MEC for Social Development – Jaco Londt said at the launch in Langa on Thursday that on average it takes about 15 mins for a social worker to fill in the relevant paper forms for a case of child protection. SWIMS has cut down the time to 8 mins.
Moreover, it is a 7 minute per case saving and if it multiplies by an average of 60 cases per social worker in a month, that 420 minutes are being saved per month social worker.
Elarna Siljeur, has been in the field for 17-years and is working in the Atlantic Seaboard, Gugulethu, Heideveld, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain and Mowbray. A social worker sometimes can manage upto 300 clients. She said that it fills in multiple forms and complete process notes, clients’ bank forms and consent forms.
Siljeur added further that the SWIMS app will make the process easier, as the application allows them to scan documents like IDs, birth certificates, consent forms and banking forms.
She stated that all they need to do is pick up a phone, log into the case and get background on it. At the touch of a button, they have access to receive all the information and don’t have to wait for the registry staff to go and find a file on a particular case.
Now, they can do so much more early intervention and prevention work if we can save more time. The app is a win for them all, said Siljeur.