St. Vinny and SARA

By DEVIN WEEKS

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — A new St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho employee is shifting the workload for case managers and upping the accountability of clients.

SARA works 24/7, never sleeps and keeps in constant contact with every person staying in the emergency shelters. She never feels overworked and she never complains.

"SARA has been called tenacious," SARA’s developer, K.D. Nyegaard, said Wednesday.

SARA (Socially Aware Robot Assistant) is an artificially intelligent computer program that allows case managers to spend more quality time helping their clients instead of using their precious working hours to check off to-do lists and enter data.

"We surveyed 750 counselors and we asked them, ‘So, what is the main barrier that prevents you from processing more clients from application to successful closure?" Nyegaard said. "It was universal. The No. 1 thing that prevents them from doing a more effective job is data entry and documentation. That eats up between 70 to 80 percent of their time."

Using a two-way communication system, SARA keeps clients on top of their daily and weekly tasks through text messages and email. The communication begins as soon as they walk into the emergency shelters. Their photo is taken and a cloud-based file is created, giving SARA and her human counterparts 24-hour access to clients' needs, goals and accomplishments.

"We consider the emergency shelters to be a launching pad, not a landing pad. There are some people who just want to come spend the next 90 days and just hang out," said St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho executive director Jeff Conroy. "When you go into the emergency shelter, you’re agreeing to have a relationship with SARA. Every day they’ve got to accomplish something, otherwise SARA’s going to hound you. It’s built that accountability piece within the program.

"This is really a game changer," he added.

The communication is unique to each case. For example, if someone is looking for a job, SARA will send a follow-up message that requires feedback from the client about whether a job has been found, what kind of job and other employment-related details.

"When they’re in the emergency shelter, they’ve hit rock bottom. It’s very difficult to get yourself up and get going," Nyegaard said. "SARA gives them something to get up to, that there is something to do today that’s very specific and you know you're going to get reminded about it. It gives them a sliver of hope because there’s actually someone connecting with them and driving them."

SARA has already made quite the impact since her Jan. 1 launch within the nonprofit. By giving case managers more time to focus on clients' needs rather than clerical work, the time guests are staying in the shelters is dramatically less than other areas in the state.

"The state of Idaho’s average for the first quarter of this year was 55 days. St. Vincent de Paul’s first quarter of 2018 was 28 days," Conroy said. "They’re staying in the emergency shelter less than a month, and for the first time in the 10 years I’ve been here, everyone’s employed."

It's also user-friendly. Shelter assistant Amberly Bunch said it really helps with organization, as SARA files every comment, question and complaint.

"I really like it," she said. "We can put a face to a name, as far as clients go, and it keeps all their information so we don’t have everything on paper. It makes it a lot easier."

This is the third-generation version of SARA, which was initially implemented in 2012. Nyegaard, the founder and executive director of Coeur d'Alene-based information technology solutions entity The Career Index, brought SARA to St. Vinny's after contacting United Way to see which nonprofits could most use the help.

Nyegaard offered SARA's services at no charge. The program usually runs $600 to $2,500 a year, pocket change compared to the salary of an employee with full benefits.

"From an efficiency point of view, no capacity limitations, never misses a beat and also follows rules and regulations," he said. "It’s hard to get a staff member to do that, and this can manage for a lot of staff at the same time."

SARA has already been introduced in several U.S. locations and continues to expand into other fields such as adult education, health care, disaster recovery management and more.

"This is the first time somebody thought about using this type of A.I. together with two-way communications to solve this specific problem," Nyegaard said. "We can’t quite understand why nobody else has. It is a little complex, but still. Seeing this happening is really gratifying."