Teaching incarcerated and at-risk juveniles is the job of the Alternative Education division of the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Shuttling between courthouses, treatment facilities, juvenile halls and foster care, these teens and pre-teens often got lost in the system in the past.

Thanks to the instantaneous electronic transfer of their educational files as they move, made possible by Laserfiche Document Imaging’s WebLink developed in Long Beach ,these juveniles now are keeping up with schoolwork and counseling opportunities. This increases the likelihood of their eventual rehabilitation.

“Laserfiche provided a timely solution to counselors, psychologists and teachers to plan coursework for students in court and to provide report cards which can be emailed to their new schools”, said Robert Sciortino, program administrator of school records “It enables us to comply with state Special Education requirements by making Individual Education Plans available within 24 hours to any site a juvenile may be transferred.”

Sciortino said the use of Laserfiche at the Los Angeles County Office of Education has made a fundamental change in operations. Personnel time previously used to search for paper files, copy them, refile them and fax or mail them is dramatically reduced. Lost files are no longer a problem, since all records are saved electronically and instantly retrieved with Laserfiche’s full-text search feature.

The software is mission-critical to the Alternative Education division now, but Sciortino envisions the day that it will deployed to every one of the two-million student records of those enrolled in Los Angeles County Schools. The highly mobile population of the County would be served much more efficiently if records were maintained electronically, with no lag time when families move during the school year.

As the nation’s largest regional education agency, the LACOE coordinates the programs of 81 separate school districts with over 1,700 individual schools. Established in 1852, the office assists in teacher placement, curriculum development and records management for the districts.

“We save money and time with Laserfiche, but most importantly we can serve students and their families better with it,” Sciortino said. “The name of the game is making sure students get the best educational opportunities, no matter where they are. With Laserfiche, students records are always available to any facility they are assigned.”

Laserfiche (www.Laserfiche.com) is a division of Compulink Management Center, Inc., headquartered in Long Beach , Calif. Since 1987, Laserfiche has been helping manage documents in more than 21,000 government agencies, schools, law offices, financial services companies and other businesses worldwide.

Posted on Monday, April 19th, 2004 at 1:54 pm under Press Releases. You can comment on this article. trackback from your own site.