Acorn Training Environment Going Live May 1

Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families sent this bulletin at 04/30/2024 01:05 PM PDT

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ESIT HEADER

Acorn Training Environment Going Live May 1

ACORN logo that says: “ESIT ACORN, approved by EI Hub”. A half purple, half white background featuring the words ESIT and a giant acorn, both in teal.

ACORN Migration Update

ACORN Phase 1 Design and Customization has been completed as of April 1. We have implemented 12 change requests that were submitted after the initial training roll-out in 2023. The updates that were made to the ACORN system reflect feedback from our Users on process flow and Washington state specific practices. At this time, we are ready to transition to a 90-day training phase during which Users will be able to access the ACORN training environment, and leverage self-guided training modules, topic specific live webinars, as well as role specific training content. This means that there will not be any substantial changes to the ACORN system prior to the launch of the ACORN Production Environment Go Live targeted for August 1.

We are Going Live in the ACORN Training Environment

The ACORN Training Environment is going live on Wednesday, May 1. On this day, all current ESIT DMS Users will be able to create an account through Secure Access Washington (SAW), log into the ACORN training environment to explore the ACORN system and complete self-guided training modules available in the DCYF Learning Center.

  • Step 1: Please use this guide to create or validate your SAW account and log into ACORN.
  • Step 2: Access the Self-Guided Training Modules and complete these at your convenience. These modules are going live on Wednesday, May 1, at 8am.
  • Step 3: Participate in ACORN Office Hours every Friday from 9-10am beginning May 3 through July 26.
  • Step 4: Training Webinars will be available in May. Make sure to subscribe to our GovDelivery to receive an updated webinar schedule.

ACORN Training Materials are also available on the ESIT ACORN webpage.

Exploring ACORN

The requirements that were gathered during the initial ACORN development continue to serve as a foundation for the new ACORN platform. The Data Systems & Analysis Team has spent several weeks customizing the EI Hub to meet specific Washington State criteria. This customization includes the implementation of language used in ESIT Practice Guides, the development of a state specific IFSP document, the implementation of the new Qualifying Diagnosis list, as well as an updated list of tools, evaluations, and assessments.

As Users explore the ACORN system, they may find bugs (things that don’t work as intended), glitches (things that don’t appear to work at all) and see opportunities for improvements. These are normal, to-be-expected observations and we welcome User findings. We will resolve any bugs or glitches within the 90-day training period and add user suggestions for improvements to our production schedule for Phase II release(s).

How do Users report a bug or a glitch?

Please use this form and fill out all fields. The more details that can be provided, the easier it will be for our developers to reconstruct the issue and find a solution. It’s always a great idea to take screenshots and submit those.

How do Users share ideas for improvements?

Please use this form to share ideas with us. We love to hear User feedback and suggestions and will add them to our backlog. Our team meets during regular business requirements meetings where we review this backlog, decide on ideas to implement, and prioritize the items for development.

Data Exchanges

We are partnering with our current data exchange holders to replicate the existing data exchanges in the new system. This work is currently in the testing phase, and we expect all current data exchanges to be active and working prior to the ACORN Production Go-Live date targeted for August 1.

Work has also begun to gather requirements to make data exchanges available to all of our contractors that wish to enter into an agreement with DCYF. Data exchanges will be available to any contractor that wishes to utilize them prior to the implementation of our ACORN service logging module planned for the Phase II release.

ESIT Help Desk

Our Help Desk will remain the primary point of contact for User questions. During the next 90 days, ESIT Help Desk staff will continue to prioritize supporting Users who submit Help Desk tickets for the current ESIT DMS. Requests for assistance with the ACORN training environment will be answered in the order they are received. We may need to reach out to our vendor to answer those questions and ask users to allow 48 business hours for a response to questions pertaining to ACORN.

Questions?

As we receive questions about ACORN, we will put together an FAQ document that will be linked in the Help Desk Auto-Response and will also be available on our website.

If you have any questions please contact Kim Hopkins, ESIT Data Systems and Analysis Manager, at kim.hopkins@dcyf.wa.gov.