CIL Data 2 Details

CIL Data 2: Southern Tier Independence Center’s
multi-purpose software package for Centers for Independent Living

CIL Data 2 can be self-contained on one workstation or set up for use by multiple users across a network.

If you want to use it with a network, you must install the shared data on a separate, always-on computer running a true server operating system such as Windows 2019 Server or CentOS Linux (with Samba). We strongly recommend that the server have a battery backup system. We will not support peer-to-peer “networking” installations.

CIL Data 2 will run noticeably slower when more than one person is using the system at the same time, but we haven’t seen it get progressively slower as the number of users increases. For best results, of course, use fast hardware (see the System Requirements for more information).

Remote Access

CIL Data 2 works very well by remote access from anywhere on the internet, using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) system. To use it, you need a Microsoft Windows server capable of running RDP, on which to install the software, and a suitable number of Client Access Licenses (CALs). (The shared data can still be on a separate server, whether Windows or Linux, for RDP access; it makes no difference as long as the location drive for the data is mapped on the RDP server.) You will need to install CIL Data 2 to a separate folder for each RDP user who will be running it (because CIL Data 2 uses the program installation folder as its “temp” folder for generating reports and other purposes). This is easy to do; when you’ve installed it once on the server, you can just create additional folders and copy the installed files and folders to them. Then configure a shortcut on each RDP user’s desktop to point to the correct CIL Data 2 folder for that user. We tested CIL Data 2 over RDP using a typical cable-internet connection, and it was very fast for data entry and retrieval. Printing to your local printer is automatic, but can be a bit slow over RDP.

CIL Data 2 theoretically can work on a local computer connected to a shared data location over a VPN, but it is likely to be quite slow and unreliable unless you have a dedicated “fat pipe” and fast hardware. We don’t recommend it. Instead, use the VPN to connect to an RDP server on which CIL Data 2 is installed, and run it there as described above.

If RDP is not an option, you can install CIL Data 2 at different locations (there’s no extra charge for “seats”), and either generate paper reports from which data can be entered at the “main” location, or simply generate reports at the various locations and combine the totals.

NYS ACCES-VR and RSA 704 Report Compliance

CIL Data 2 generates all the individual service and consumer demographic data you need to produce your NY ACCES-VR reports as of Fiscal Year 2023-24 (excluding Deinstitutionalization and CDPA cost savings). The federal 704 report features were last updated several years ago and may need to be changed.

The software can easily be configured by your System Administrator to add or remove Demographic, Disability, and Service categories. If and when other changes are necessary to meet ACCES-VR requirements, we will make them and provide free updates.

Although the system does not print reports on ACCES-VR’s or RSA’s forms, it presents all of the information on those forms in both printed and on-screen versions so you can easily transfer the data to the forms, or to ACCES-VR’s reporting website.

CIL Data 2 also prints Intake Forms that show RSA- and/or ACCES-VR-required data, and quarterly individual staff-consumer contact sheets that show service dates and quantities provided to individual consumers by individual staff members.

All federally-allowed CIL services are available in the system and can easily be enabled for data entry and reporting. Note, however, that the New York State Independent Living Council and ACCES-VR jointly determine what services CILs can offer, including federally-funded CILs. Some federal services are not allowable in New York State.

All ACCES-VR-required disability categories are enabled for data entry and reporting. When you generate 704 report data, those services are properly counted under the broader federal categories.

The system can be set up to allow data entry and reporting of demographic data required by RSA, ACCES-VR, or both authorities.

Independent Living Plans

For federal CILS, CIL Data 2 offers an Independent Living Plan tracking module that tracks individualized goals and progress, and generates 704 data on goal categories and “Improved Access” items.

HIPAA-Responsive Features

CIL Data 2 has a comprehensive security system that lets you exercise fine control over who can see, edit and print different types of data. Ability to view and enter specific service or disability data is controlled at the individual user level. Ability to see “confidential health information” (as defined by HIPAA) is controlled by worker grade. Ability to edit or delete data is controlled at the individual user, supervisory, and departmental levels.

The system requires a login and password for access. It stamps each record in the database with the date and time, and user ID, at initial creation and last edit, and tracks both successful and failed login attempts and log-offs.

CIL Data 2 also has an Unattended Shutdown feature. If the application is left running without user activity for a pre-set time (the default is 15 minutes but you can change it to whatever you want), it automatically shuts down. This keeps your data safe from “prying eyes” at an unattended workstation.

Easy Reconfiguration for Changing Requirements

Both RSA and ACCES-VR data collection and reporting requirements change from time to time, and other funders, or your CIL itself, may have requirements of their own.

In CIL Data 2, new disability, service, and demographic data categories can be added, modified, or removed with ease by your System Administrator. Services can also be defined as applicable only to specific departments.

We think we’ve anticipated most possible types of changes funders may want, but they may come up with something that doesn’t fit into CIL Data 2’s customization scheme. We currently make such changes for no additional charge, and will continue to do so at least as long as CIL Data 2 continues to operate on its current platform (see the Development Roadmap).

Summary Reports

Did you ever want a count of people under the age of 21 with autism, living in a particular county, to whom you provided Peer Counseling services during a 3-month period? With CIL Data 2’s “Categories Wizard” you can get this kind of report in seconds. The reports can cover almost every type of data that the system holds.

And, CIL Data 2’s contact-filtering, search, and mailing list features also use the Categories Wizard to handle very specific queries.

Mailing Lists

CIL Data 2 provides a complete mailing list system. People and organizations can be added to custom-defined lists (like “Agency Newsletter” or “Board Members”), and ad-hoc lists can be generated on virtually any combination of data items using CIL Data 2’s “Categories Wizard” query system. Want to send a birthday card to every consumer who was born this month? You can do it!

CIL Data 2 can generate a Microsoft Word-like “catalog” of names and addresses, or mailing labels, right in the program. Mailing labels are limited to the “Avery 5160” standard of 3-across laser printer label sheets. However, you can export your generated lists to common formats like Excel and CSV, so you can import them into other programs that generate labels, form letters, and more.

Email mailing lists can also be generated for any defined mailing list or “Categories Wizard” query. The results can be exported in Excel or CSV format so you can easily pull them into your email software.

Contact Manager Features

CIL Data 2 is not a complete calendar-style contact manager, but it does sport some contact manager features.

It stores multiple mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses for both people and organizations. Individuals can be linked to specific organizations, and to specific mailing/departmental addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses within those organizations.

You can also link people to other people in the system to show relationships such as parent-child or caseworker-client. When viewing one person in the relationship, the other person’s complete data is just a couple of mouse-clicks away.

You can filter displays and lists of people or organizations based on such things as the department(s) that serve them or the people who work with them. For example, it’s easy to filter the People Window to show only people whose original intake was done by a specific staff person, or who received a specific service during a specific date range.

A Shared Calendar Module is available separately.

Case Notes

CIL Data 2 includes the ability to enter, search, and print “case notes” linked to consumers. Notes can be up to 1000 characters long (including spaces), and can be configured to be readable by any user who has access to the consumer’s record, or only by the person who creates the note (if the person has a designated supervisor or department head, those people will see the note also).

Staff Productivity Monitoring

CIL Data 2 provides a very rich set of reports (viewable on screen or printed) that show which staff members have provided what quantities of which services to which consumers. CIL management, department heads, and supervisors can easily track what their staff are doing day by day.

Accessibility

CIL Data 2 is designed with accessibility in mind, especially for people with visual disabilities.

Extensive hotkeys are provided to simplify navigation.

All windows in the software are designed to fit within the screen on a computer running at 640 x 480 resolution or better. All windows are resizable, and not only do controls resize, but text will become somewhat larger as well when windows are maximized.

CIL Data 2 has been heavily tested with the Window-Eyes screenreader software. It is also known to work with JAWS.

In addition, there are user preferences that can be set to make things work better for blind users, including turning on the availability of extra speech to ensure that important items that screenreaders may not speak can be heard. The extra speech uses the MS SAPI speech system. It works “out of the box” on Windows XP or newer operating systems.

Maintenance Utilities

CIL Data 2 provides a separate Maintenance Utilities program for System Administrators. This program simplifies and automates tasks such as forcing all users to log out of the system when maintenance is required, offsite backups of shared data, and periodic purging of “dead” records.

Add-In Modules

Several additional modules are available for separate purchase (by existing customers only). It may be necessary to run an update utility to bring your installation up to the current version before you can install a module. Detailed instructions are provided. In-person training is no longer available for non-STIC customers.

Currently the following modules are available:

Fundraising Module

The Fundraising Module lets you link one or more people in the system into “Donor Entities”, about whom you can record and track various types of cash and in-kind donations and payments to your CIL. Newsletter subscriptions, membership dues, and “pledge”-type gifts can also be tracked. A variety of reports are available, including total income for various solicitation efforts, donor profiles, and donor/amount/date reports. All of these reports can be configured using a comprehensive query system. That system can be used to generate mailing lists as well. Finally, there is an automated “annual campaign” mailing-list generation feature that produces six separate mutually-exclusive mailing lists based on the characteristics of both previous donors and non-donors in your CIL Data 2 database.

The CIL Data 2 Fundraising Module provides most of the power of popular dedicated fundraising database systems at a tiny fraction of their cost both in cash and maintenance time.

Shared Calendar Module

Calendars can be shared across all members of a department or all people supervised by a person. Options include monthly and weekly calendars for individuals, and combined calendar displays that show appointments of selected people on selected dates, or appointments of selected staff in selected cities or counties on a single date.

Appointments can easily be initially set up and then moved or copied to other dates/times.

Tasks & Reminders Module

Tasks are things that need to be completed and a permanent record of their completion maintained. Reminders are “pop-up” notifications.

Tasks can be tied to consumers (or to Donor Entities or RRDC consumers if you have those modules). Task templates (lists of standard required tasks) can be defined for departments or specific purposes and automatically applied to new records when they are created, so all you need to do is fill in due- and completion-dates. Reminders can be tied to tasks so that when the pop-up reminder window appears, you can generate mailing lists for the people to whom the tasks are applied.

A variety of reports can be run on task data.

A separate pop-up reminder program can be set to run when your computer boots up, or as called by the Windows Scheduler. Reminder pop-ups can also be configured to appear when you start the CIL Data 2 software, or when you view the record of a particular person in the system.

A number of options for when and how reminders appear can be configured.

RRDC Module

The RRDC Module lets users fill out the Intake and Referral forms required by the New York State Department of Health’s Traumatic Brain Injury and Nursing Home Transition and Diversion Medicaid Waiver Regional Resource Development Centers (RRDCs). The two forms are integrated so that data that appear on both forms only need to be entered once, saving a great deal of time. RRDC consumers are also ordinary CIL consumers, so that they are included in required reports to ACCES-VR and RSA, saving even more time.

Several reports and a spreadsheet are also available for RRDC data.

CDPA Module

The CDPA Module provides a very complete system for tracking consumer participation in a CIL’s personal-attendant services program. It was designed to meet the needs of Consumer Directed Personal Assistance programs as defined by the New York State Department of Health, but it also meets the needs of personal assistance programs defined by the NYS Office for Aging.

The module tracks important information about CDPA consumers and workers, including workers assigned to or hired by consumers. Receipt of required documentation, including service-hours approvals, spend-down and cost-share requirements, and items required for enrollment or provision of non-medical transportation, can be recorded and tracked, and reminder mailing lists generated. Required home visits and trainings can also be recorded and tracked.