Organization Description: Nonprofit organization’s mission statement and methods of accomplishing their goals First Step Staffing is a (nonprofit) organization that connects people seeking work with local companies for part-time jobs. This extends to many individuals who, without this work, would otherwise be homeless. They give preference to military veterans, previously incarcerated individuals, and those who have suffered from recent homelessness. Their service helps many people break their cycle of homelessness, get back on their feet and better support themselves and their families.
Problem Overview: Briefly describes the issue that the nonprofit is experiencing and needs assistance with Every day, FSS dispatches workers to various locations in Atlanta. Workers come to dispatch in the morning, are assigned work based on a list of work needed generated at the beginning of each week, are assigned transportation, and are given the necessary equipment. The current process involves printing the work list spreadsheet and filling it out manually. Deductions from the paycheck for transportation and equipment are also made manually. The populated list of workers and deductions are manually entered into the electronic TempWorks system by an administrator. This system leads to long queues during dispatch and potential for human error during transcription.
Vision/Goal: Please describe what the project is about overall and the final goal you have in mind. Please provide quantitative results, ex. “Increase volunteer engagement by 50%” FSS would like to have a new administrative tool that can entirely replace the paper check-in and worker management system currently in place. The administrators would have the app up on a device and easily be able to assign workers quickly on the morning of. The workers would be able to sign in using the app as well, leading to quicker dispatch times.
Proposal: More in-depth description of how Bits of Good can approach the problem and potential issues and benefits associated with each approach
A web app will be delivered that has 2 types of users: administrators and employees. The administrators will use the app to assign work to employees and return all of the assignment details to TempWorks so that deductions and payments can be made appropriately. The employees would either use a FSS device such as a tablet or computer at dispatch or their own devices if they own them to sign in.
The sign in process needs to uniquely identify each worker. Previously, this was done with the last 4 digits of their SSN. However, this greatly complicates the security measures needed for the app. Either a more secure method of using the SSN data or a different unique identifier will be needed. In addition, the workers should be able to digitally sign to authorize equipment and transportation deductions.
The administrative portion of the app will allow administrators to easily assign jobs, transportation, and equipment to workers. The jobs list will be populated by reading in the spreadsheet generated at the beginning of every week. The transportation list will be likewise populated and should be flexible enough to account for alternative transportation methods. The equipment list should be populated based on the equipment that FSS currently has, and should reflect an accurate inventory of what they have at each given moment. For each worker, there should also be a way to check if they have authorized deductions digitally, and if not, a way to remedy that from the administrator side.
Finally, after all jobs, equipment, and transportation have been assigned to each worker, the app should be able to output a spreadsheet to be entered into the TempWorks system for their payroll company.