Data Cascading

This article explains when and how to enable data cascading within Clarity Human Services.

Overview

Data cascading is a feature that reduces the data-entry burden for users by allowing the values saved for a field in one screen of a client record to automatically populate the same field in another screen for that client.

When To Use Data Cascading

Because the purpose of data cascading is to reduce the time that users spend entering the same data over and over, data cascading is ideal for fields with values that don't tend to change over time, such as these examples:

• 3.08 Disabling Condition and 4.05 – 4.10 Disabling Condition Types
• 4.02 Income and Sources
• 4.03 Non-Cash benefits
• 4.04 Health Insurance
• Demographic information

When Not To Use Data Cascading

Data cascading is not helpful for fields that typically need to be updated for each new assessment/enrollment, because users might overlook auto-populated fields instead of updating them as needed. The Disable Data Cascade toggle should be turned ON for these fields.

Examples of these fields include:

• Project Information
  • Project Name
  • Project Type
• Assessment Name
• 3.917 Prior Living Situation
• 3.20 Housing Move-In Date
• 4.13 Date of Engagement
• 3.12 Destination
• Any fields with the Read Only toggle enabled 
• Any fields that include calculations that occur on the screen

• Any fields that are read-only and have display constraints enabled

Cascading That Always Happens in Clarity Human Services

Data will automatically cascade to new status update screens (Status, Annual, Follow Up, Exit) from the most recent screen belonging to the current client program. This type of cascading cannot be turned off.

Current Living Situation (CLS) Data Cascading for Programs

Current Living Situation (CLS) data will cascade to new Current Living Situation (CLS) screens from the most recently completed Current Living Situation (CLS) screen that belongs to the current client program if Cascade Enrollment Data is enabled in that program's setup.

Cascading That Can Be Enabled in Clarity Human Services

The following additional types of data cascading are also available and can be turned on or turned off as appropriate:

• Cascading from one assessment screen to another assessment screen for the same client
• Cascading from one enrollment screen to another enrollment screen for the same client
• Cascading from assessment screens to an enrollment screen for the same client
• Cascading from enrollment screens to an assessment screen for the same client

 Instructions for enabling each of these cascading options are provided below.

Cascading from Assessment to Assessment

What does it do?

Allows field data saved in an assessment for a client to cascade to a new assessment of the same type for that client, as long as the current date is within a designated number of days from the previous assessment date.

• Data cascading is subject to the assessment sharing settings between agencies.
• If multiple assessments exist, data will cascade from the most recent assessment.
  
  

How is it enabled?  

Make sure you are switched to the correct agency. Navigate to MANAGE > ASSESSMENTS, turn on the toggle for the desired assessment, and click SETUP  for that assessment.

Turn on Cascade Assessment Data. The Threshold of picklist will appear; select the length of time for which cascading will be allowed. Click SAVE CHANGES.

Repeat this process for each agency for which cascading should be enabled for this assessment.

Cascading from Enrollment to Enrollment

What does it do?

Allows field data saved in an enrollment to cascade to new enrollments for the client, as long as the enrollment start date for the first Program is within a designated number of days from today's date.

• Data cascading for program enrollments at other agencies is subject to sharing settings between agencies.
• If multiple program enrollments exist, data will cascade from the most recent.

How is it enabled?

Navigate to MANAGE > PROGRAMS, select the desired Program, and turn on Cascade Enrollment Data. 

The Threshold of picklist will appear. Select the length of time for which cascading will be allowed. Click SAVE CHANGES.

Cascading from Assessment to Enrollment

What does it do?

Allows field data saved in assessments to cascade to a new enrollment for the client as long as the assessment date is within a designated number of days from the current date. 

How is it enabled?  

Navigate to MANAGE > PROGRAMS, select the desired program, and turn on Cascade Assessment Data. 

The Threshold of picklist will appear. Select the length of time for which cascading will be allowed. Click SAVE CHANGES.

Click Cascade Assessment in the Program Resources sidebar, then click ADD ASSESSMENT. Select the assessment from the ADD ASSESSMENT drop-down menu, then click ADD.

The selected assessment now appears in the CASCADE ASSESSMENT section for the Program.

How does it work?

When a user initiates an enrollment to a Program, the system looks at the client's assessments to find the ones in MANAGE > PROGRAMS > CASCADE ASSESSMENT for that Program that have an assessment date within the threshold.

The system cascades the most recent data from those assessment screens (sorted by assessment date) to the enrollment.

Additional Logic

 If the field doesn't exist or is empty on the latest assessment, the system tries to find it on the previous assessment; if the field doesn't exist or is empty on that assessment, the system tries to find it on the assessment before that; and so on.

Refer to the example below for an illustration of this logic.

Example: Cascading from Assessment to Enrollment

A user is enrolling a client into Program A.

Program A has Cascade Assessment Data turned on, with a Threshold of  = 90 days.

There are four assessments in the client record: Assessment 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Cascading from Enrollment to Assessment

What does it do?

Allows field data saved in enrollments to cascade to a new assessment for the client as long as the enrollment start date is within a designated number of days from the current date. 

How is it enabled? 

Navigate to MANAGE > PROGRAMS, select the desired program, and turn on Cascade Assessment Data. 

The Threshold of picklist will appear. Select the length of time for which cascading will be allowed. Click SAVE CHANGES.

Click Cascade Assessment in the Program Resources sidebar, then click ADD ASSESSMENT. Select the assessment from the ADD ASSESSMENT drop-down menu, then click ADD.

The selected assessment now appears in the CASCADE ASSESSMENT section for the Program.

How does it work?

When the user initiates an assessment, the system looks for programs in which the client is enrolled (with an enrollment date within the threshold) that have this assessment in the MANAGE > PROGRAMS > CASCADE ASSESSMENT section. 

The system cascades the most recent data from those programs' enrollment screens (sorted by program date) to the assessment screen.

Additional Logic

If the field doesn't exist or is empty on the latest enrollment, the system tries to find it on the previous enrollment; if the field doesn't exist or is empty on that enrollment, the system tries to find it on the enrollment before that; and so on. Refer to the example below for an illustration of this logic.

Example: Cascading from Enrollment to Assessment

A user is starting Assessment 1 for a client.

There are five program enrollments in the client record: Program A, B, C, D, and E.

In cases where the following three conditions are all true, the system will cascade the most recent data regardless of whether it is from an assessment or enrollment screen.

• Cascade Enrollment Data = On
• Cascade Assessment Data = On 
• Enrollment and assessment data are both eligible to cascade

Updated: 10/08/2024