A
Assessment (Legacy Feature) – One of the major data collection tools which are only used by legacy systems. Assessments can capture data about Participants, families, Entities, general, and staff. To capture a score on an assessment, elements should be numeric or include weights.
Assessments are most typically used in one of two ways:
As a continuation of demographic data, like in an extensive intake form
Questionnaires that track knowledge, belief, attitude, and/or behavior that are completed more than one time (at the beginning and end of service, for example) and allow for comparative analysis to determine the impact of services
Attribute – Attributes are like demographics for Entities. Entity phone number and address are considered attributes. Attributes are governed by the same “golden rules” as demographics; they do not change as a result of services, nor do they change very often.
ETO comes with Standard Attributes. Additional Attributes are created with the Attribute Wizard.
Attributes appear on the Add New Entity and View/Edit Entity screens.
Active – This is a term used to define a Participant's status in a Program. An "active" Participant within a date range is someone who has a Program start date before or within the selected date range and either no end date in the Program OR an end date between the date range selected.
B
Boolean – Refers to any Yes/No field in ETO software, including: demographics, Assessment elements, Points of Service, and attributes. The term Boolean is seen on several screens throughout the software, but especially in the Query Wizard.
C
Certified ETO Administrator – An ETO Administrator who has successfully completed the certification exam. To prepare for the exam, you can watch the training videos found in the Interactive Training Library. The certification is a great resume builder.
Collections – Groups of subjects (Participants or Entities) that have a set roster and meet on a regular basis over time. Creating a collection allow users to complete TouchPoint data for the group over time.
Collection Types – Used to identify and distinguish between different types of collections on the Site. When administrators create collection types, they determine the questions they want to ask and attributes they want to gather for each collection of that type.
Example in the context of ETO:
Collection Type (ex. After School Activities)
Collections (ex. Ballet, Soccer, Basketball, Chess)
Custom Report – Typically a query that is saved and shared on the Manage Queries screen so that it appears on the Custom Reports page, accessed below Reports on the Navigation Bar. A small percentage of customers purchase custom reports from Social Solutions to meet their specific reporting requirements.
D
Demographics – Census-like questions such as race, gender, and zip code that are captured for Participants. These characteristics are not expected to change as a result of service.
Entering demographics is considered the most basic function for a staff using ETO. Additional data cannot be entered about a Participant until the standard demographic fields for first and last name have been entered.
ETO comes with standard demographics, which can be disabled if they do not meet an organization’s needs. Administrators can also create custom demographics using the Demographics Wizard.
Demographic fields can be found on the Add New Participant, Add New Family, and View/Edit Participant screens, among others.
E
Effort – The "E" in ETO. Efforts are tracked by TouchPoints and can be measured by the amount of time spend working with a Participant and a count of the number of contacts with the Participant. Time spent on contact and number of contacts both track effort on behalf of staff entering their work. ETO has the capacity for many efforts to be recorded for a given Participant on the same day; effort data is typically entered with more frequency than any other type of data.
Effort Qualifiers – Fields that are created and attached to Point of Service elements to capture additional information about efforts or contacts. Also known as EQs, Effort Qualifiers are best used for counting, or to prompt staff to provide specific details about the contact. EQs are unique because they are built and edited with one feature – Manage Effort Qualifiers, and can be attached to efforts with the Point of Service Wizard or Manage Point of Service feature.
Enroll – To pull a Participant record that exists in one Program in ETO into another Program. It can also make a dismissed Participant active again. The Enroll feature creates a Program History record for the Participant. For more information, please see Enrolled, Dismissed, and Active in ETO software.
Enterprise – In ETO, the enterprise is the organization you work for. It is the web address that you navigate to when you go to use ETO. An example of an enterprise is Goodwill Industries. Their Sites are organized by locations and each Site has Programs which may or may not be the same. For more information, please see Enterprise, Site, and Program Structure.
Entity – A third party that impacts the lives of Participants, such as employers, education institutions, or other community based organizations where Participants are referred. Like Participants, Entities can be tracked with assessments, efforts, and processes.
ETO – Stands for "Efforts to Outcomes."
ETO Report – Reports populated by recorded efforts. Most ETO Reports come in two formats: Crystal (the best option for reports containing large data sets, also easy to export into other formats) and non-Crystal (which appear within the frames of ETO). The most effective ETO Report is the non-Crystal version for Point of Service elements set to measure an increase or decrease.
ETO Results – An incredibly robust tool used to create custom reports utilizing Web Intelligence. All customers with SaaS contracts have ETO Results; other customers have the option to buy the tool as an add-on.
F
Family – Participants that are in some way related or share a home; families are recognized as a unit of linked Participants. Family functionality allows for the number of families served to be captured in addition to the number of individuals.
Feeder Table – Drop-boxes found throughout features in ETO. The names of feeder tables are hard coded, but options are populated by the ETO Administrator.
G
General – A subject that does not fit into the Participant or Entity category; both General Assessments and General Points of Service can be built into ETO.
H
Home Page – The link in the upper right corner of the ETO interface that takes users to the page that is seen by default when they first log in. Important information, including links to functionality, can be incorporated onto the home page.
L
Legacy Feature – A feature from an older version of the ETO software. These features are not used by newly implemented organizations.
M
Manage – Features in the software used by Site Administrators to make additions and modifications to ETO. The majority of these features are found below the "Site Administration" component, and several are directly related to the Wizard features.
N
Navigation Bar – The green bar on the left side of the ETO interface. ETO Administrators have the option to add or remove features and dictate whether the bar is expanded or collapsed by default from the "Manage Site Navigation" page.
O
Outcome – The “O” in ETO, outcomes can be tracked in Point of Service elements that are built to measure and increase or decrease in attitude, performance, knowledge, etc. Also, assessments that include weighted elements that are completed more than once allow for comparative analysis, and outcome tracking.
Output – Point of Service elements that are tracking neither an increase or decrease, and are used for counting.
P
Participant – Member of the target population, recipient of service.
Point of Service (Legacy Feature) – Also referred to as "Efforts." This is where time and energy spent is tracked within ETO. Whenever possible, it is best to set up a Point of Service so that time spent can be related to progress (such as going from unemployed to under employed to gainfully employed). Points of Service are entered by recording efforts, and are reported with ETO Reports (as well as several Standard Reports). The Manage for Point of Service is below Program Administration on the Navigation Bar rather than Site Administration.
Program – Programs are usually based on the location in the organization's process that the Participant is. For example, a Site might have an Intake Program and an Alumni Program. In another example, an After School Programs Site might have an Art program and a Soccer Program. For more information, please see Enterprise, Site, and Program Structure.
Program Group – A group of Programs that fit into the same category. Demographics and Assessments can be secured to a Program Group, and there are several Program Group reports for several types of data.
Q
Quality Indicator – Point of Service elements that are tracking an increase or decrease or neither, and are used for counting efforts that are mission related.
Query – A request of information for ETO that can only be completed by a user who has been assigned a Department Head or above. Queries appear in a grid that can easily be copied and pasted into Excel. Queries can be built and saved, and shared to be accessible to lower user roles.
R
Referral – To “push” a Participant to another Program within ETO (versus enroll, which is a pull), or to an Entity Employer, Education Institution, or Service Provider.
Review Participant Efforts – This report contains detailed data about a selected Participant within a date range, including efforts, employment, referrals, assessments, etc. The original view shows summary statistics, there is the option to drill down to see more details, such as case notes.
S
Site – Sites are typically broken down based on geographic location or Program area. Some organizations will only have a need for one Site while others will have many. In reference to the Goodwill Industries example, their Sites are organized by locations. They might have a Maryland Site, a Florida Site, and a Colorado Site. For more information, please see Enterprise, Site, and Program Structure.
Standard Report – A “canned” report that came with ETO. While there is a feature on the Navigation Bar named Standard Reports, the Demographic Reports, ETO Reports, Assessment Reports, etc., are also considered standard.
Survey – Like an assessment, but anonymous. Managed from the Manage Survey/Assessment screen, but created with the Survey Wizard. ETO does have the capability for Participants or Entities to log into ETO to enter survey data directly into the system to eliminate staff data entry.
T
TouchPoint – This is a data collection tool that captures all details of any direct and/or indirect interaction, activity, etc.
For example, a TouchPoint can be used to record case notes; progress towards a goal; service plans; attendance; pre and post assessments and other types of assessments or forms; survey results; employment, education or criminal history/information; and anything else that your organization needs to track in ETO software.
U
User Account – A unique logon that is provided with access to specific features and Programs in ETO. It is recommended that users who enter data each have a user account so that staff are accountable for their data and Program Managers can supervise them through ETO.
V
Value – The data field that appears on Record Efforts pages where users provide a response to the Point of Service name. Values may be presented as a drop-down of choices (which can be edited by the ETO Administrator), a Yes/No selection, or a blank box, which indicates that Numeric data be entered.
W
Wizard – A building tool in ETO that is used to create a new field or set of fields (in the case of an assessment, for example) from scratch.