FootNotes Newsletter

April 17, 2025 15:03

These FootNotes newsletters provide an overview of upcoming events, future development, new features and functionality, and much, much more. Check out the current issue of FootNotes below, or browse through past content in our FootNotes Archive.

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What's New in AWARDS

Over the past several months, we've released new AWARDS features and functionality. We've shared those details with you via email, on the new Home Screen Announcement Center, and here in the AWARDS Resource Center. You can always view new features in the What's new in AWARDS? section of the Resource Center, but below you'll find a list of the top items we've released over Q3 and Q4 of 2023.

We Redesigned the AWARDS Login Page

The login screen was updated to look more clean and modern. While the user experience for logging in did not change, the design updates were part of the work being done to prepare for enhanced authentication capabilities when logging in.

We Introduced Global Navigation

As part of the AWARDS Redesign project, we improved the way you navigate through AWARDS by introducing a fixed sidebar navigation menu that stays put wherever you are in AWARDS. This allows you to move to all the different places within AWARDS without having to jump back to the home page. We created this page in the Resource Center to showcase these changes. We will continue to improve user navigation within AWARDS with future enhancements.

We Moved FootholdConnect to the AWARDS Home Screen as a New Announcement Center

We transformed the previous Home screen into an Announcement Center, replacing FootholdConnect. It is a central place for Foothold announcements, events resources and for your agency announcements and useful links. The AWARDS Home page will continue to evolve with the upcoming stages of our AWARDS Redesign project. We created this page in the Resource Center to showcase these changes. Also, check out the “Tip of the Quarter” below to read some tips and ideas for taking advantage of this tool!

We Developed Processes to Ensure System Stability

We release bug fixes nearly every day via our hotfix pipeline. To increase our system stability and reduce recurring bugs, we’ve added more than 50 automated tests to our hotfix pipeline. These new tests will help prevent bugs from escaping when new features are released.

We Introduced Medicaid # on Contact Date on the Service Contacts ReportBuilder

The Service Contacts ReportBuilder and all the contributing Services ReportBuilders– Progress Notes ReportBuilder, Contacts Log ReportBuilder, Supportive Services Checklist ReportBuilder, Group Notes (Group Attendees) ReportBuilder, and Reception Desk ReportBuilder– now have a new field “Medicaid # on Service Contact Date.” This field displays the client’s Medicaid number effective on the contact date, on each row.

We Made Numerous Updates to the Staff Information Data Fields

We added more flexibility for data collection for Staff Workers. We added fields for “Preferred Name” and “Pronouns” and extended the “Gender Identity” and “Marital Status” fields to allow for the same options collected for clients. Read more here.

Additionally, as part of our ongoing work to introduce new multi-factor authentication methods, streamline our password reset functionality, and enhance the security of your database, we deployed some minor but important changes for Email Address fields for all employee and consumer logins. The “Primary Email” field was set as a required field, and validation checks were added to ensure all “Primary Email” addresses are unique across all employee and consumer logins within a database. Meaning, that no user can have the same “Primary Email” address. You can read more about this here.

We Updated the Housing Report to Allow for Better Analysis

We added a new column for the Client ID (using whatever label your agency uses for client or participant) when the report is run for Location = Other Location or All. In the Excel report, each row has the client name and client ID (and all other data) so the information can be sorted. The report can also be configured so that a column displays with Current Programs. Read more about the Housing Report here.

We Released Several DataStudio Updates, Including:

We made I/DD-focused updates to the Daily Checklist, Reception Desk, Nightly Absences, and Billing.
We updated the Program Stay and Referral Tables, enabling you to track how consumers are moving between programs and settings of care. We also added Outreach data so you can track how consumers are being referred into programs.
We released updates to our primary tables, including FACT_PROGRAM_STAYS and DIM_CONSUMERS so they contain even more fields throughout the AWARDS database.

A Look at What's Ahead...

Client-Centric Navigation

As you know, we had planned to release the Client Chart Navigation feature in December, but the project was delayed due to some issues that would have caused challenges for our customers. Our teams have been working hard to resolve the issues and prepare this project for its official release. You can expect the Client Chart Navigation feature to be available in AWARDS very soon in Q1. Read more here.

Connect With Us!

Learn more about AWARDS and connect with others in the Foothold community by attending an AWARDS training event. Be sure to watch the Foothold Customer Events Calendar, or the Upcoming Events section of the Home screen Announcement Center to see what we have planned.

News You Can Use!

Letter from the CEO

As we approach the end of the year, I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity we have at Foothold to partner with valuable organizations like yours, and support your teams as they use AWARDS to enable your services. Like all of you, 2023 has been a very busy year for us at Foothold, as the team and I have focused our efforts on building the products, services, and infrastructure that can support our valued customers more efficiently and smoothly in the future.

This year, teams have poured their efforts into refining AWARDS and transforming it into a modern platform that grows alongside your organization. We've concentrated on four main areas:

Building out our AWARDS Redesign work, with an initial focus on enhancing navigation and workflow, alongside foundational work to develop an enhanced BIlling tool
Further strengthening our security measures to safeguard your data, including preparing for upcoming enhancements to the AWARDS authentication processes
Continuing to build out our Data offerings to meet your ongoing data-sharing needs
Deeply evaluating our technical infrastructure and implementing enhancements - work that will continue into 2024

I also want to be transparent with you all: we have more work to do with modernizing our platform! When tackling an older platform to modernize it, accelerate time-to-value for our customers, and strengthen security, we will run into some speed bumps, some of which you may have experienced. We’ve been doing meaningful work to address those speedbumps, not only in terms of the way we build and deliver our software, but also how we monitor its performance. Making AWARDS a platform of choice that enables your work and drives efficiency is and will remain our top priority.

For all of us at Foothold, seeing the impact that our customers have in their communities is our own North Star. Knowing that our tools can play a small role in supporting that valuable work is what motivates us. I am so grateful to so many of you for sharing your stories, showing me your organizations, and allowing me to understand how we can better improve AWARDS for you. Your transparency, candor, and willingness to partner with us inspire me to continue working to make Foothold the best it can be to support all of you.

As we step into the new year, I'm excited about creating more spaces and forums where we can deepen our collaboration and explore how Foothold can help you fulfill your mission. In the coming year, we'll be setting up initiatives - like open office hours, customer community roundtables, and local community get-togethers - where you will have the opportunity to further connect within our communities of organizations, as AWARDS users and as our partners, to share your feedback directly with our leadership team.

Thank you once again for your trust in us, your partnership, and for all that you and your teams do every day. We are lucky to work with each of you and look forward to another year of collaborating in new ways!

Best regards,

Alyza Tarmohamed, CEO
alyza@footholdtechnology.com

Tip of the Quarter - Harnessing the AWARDS Announcement Center

Have you used the AWARDS Announcements Center yet? Check out these creative ideas!

With the first release of AWARDS Redesign, the Announcements Center was updated and enhanced to make it easier for you to quickly and noticeably share information with your teams. Over the past few months, we have seen many of you creatively use the Announcements Center to keep your teams updated and informed. This Tip of the Quarter is focused on highlighting some of the cool uses we’ve seen implemented, hoping that others are inspired to make the most of it at their agencies!

The Agency Announcements and Useful Links sections of the Home Screen are where your agency can post helpful and important information for your teams. From workflow and documentation reminders and guidance to community building and employee recognition - the ways you can harness this feature are endless. Some of our favorites we have seen so far include:

Highlighting employees of the month
Sharing staff birthdays
Announcing staffing additions/promotions
Providing information on company events like picnics, parties, spirit week, food drives, etc.
Sharing custom “how to” guides and documentation resources for agency-specific AWARDS workflows, data entry and reporting
Detailing updates to documentation and forms - both for AWARDS-specific work as well as internal agency paperwork
Reminders about end-of-month documentation and reporting requirements (like mileage and reimbursement forms), including quick links to the actual paperwork and/or url links
Sharing gratitude for your staff and all the work they do

Hopefully, you’re inspired by some of these ideas, and you can always start small with a simple “Happy Holidays” message this time of year. We can’t wait to see how you all start to use this feature! To learn more about how to work in the Announcements Center, check out this Resource Center page.

Help Spread the Word About AWARDS!

If you know anyone at a similar agency that would benefit from using AWARDS, we would appreciate your referral to a colleague at that agency. As a thank you for any referrals you pass along, we are happy to offer some additional benefits to your agency. Upon making a referral, you’ll receive a free half-day of training for the agency. And, if we ultimately sign a contract with the organization you refer to us, we have even more benefits you can choose from. These include but are not limited to, multiple days of free training, free access to the AWARDS certification program, a deep dive conversation with members from our executive and product teams, and a free month of AWARDS for your agency. Contact your Foothold representative for more details about our referral program. Or, click here to submit your referral.