Department of Children Services has partnered with Health IT to assist them boost their Child Protection Information Management System (CPIMS) for efficiency in their service delivery.
Speaking Tuesday during an engagement forum between children officers and Health IT officials from Rongo University, the County coordinator for Children Services Sammy Korir said the partnership will assist them securely store and conveniently share their County data on numerous cases handled in their offices.
“CPIMS needs to be embraced by all officers for it’s the way to go when handling children matters because it is the only way proper and consistent follow up can be done when handling children matters right from the time they are reported showing sequential progress on various interventions that have been made to inform conclusion of these matters,” Mr Korir stated.
The Coordinator further observed that officers implementing CPIMS down from the grassroots up to the national level need regular review and capacity building forums on the advancement in software improvement and new technology applications that make use of CPIMS convenient and enjoyable thus be empowered to provide quality data.
Dr Maureen Adoyo, the team leader from Rongo University officials implementing Health IT said they were very grateful for the partnership saying Nyamira County is one of the 4 Counties Rongo University is giving technical support to enable children officers in those counties to provide reliable and quality data.
“Quality and reliable data is key in crafting relevant policies for various institutions intending to progress and thus assist in preparing realistic step by step strategies to be implemented for sustainable development,” Dr Moureen said.
She further revealed that Health IT is funded by USAID and whose main implementing institution is University of Nairobi which has further delegated various public Universities spread across the country to assist children officers in various counties conduct data quality audits to ensure that data provided at CPIMS is of correct quality for use by those formulating policies at the national level.
Mr Richard Osaga, the Health IT software developer explained that beauty with technology is that it can always be modified to suit the needs of the user and promised to work closely with children officers in the county to include all the relevant applications which will make CPIMS dependable on data storage.
“As Health IT we shall ensure to strengthen capacity for Rongo University Information Technology (IT) students who will in turn provide continuous technical assistance to all County children officers and other relevant stakeholders on CPIMS use and will help develop relevant software to provide solutions for challenges and gaps identified which to hinder smooth operation of CPIMS,” Dr Maureen assured.
By Deborah Bochere
