Expanding access while reducing the administrative burden of LIHEAP
How NADC combined expanded access, automation, and direct CAP60 integration to create a better experience for households and staff.
NADC's Executive Director had a clear vision: make it easier for more people across Northern Arkansas to access LIHEAP assistance while creating a process that works better for the team responsible for delivering it.
Working with Fortell, NADC created an application experience that households can access on their schedule while automating much of the administrative work that traditionally follows an application.
One month after launch, the early results are showing impact on both sides of the experience.
of applications are submitted after hours or on weekends
submitted applications with an identified county in the first month
application information and uploaded documents flow into NADC's existing system
Better access for households. Less administrative work for staff.
NADC did not approach this project simply as an opportunity to put another application online. The vision was broader.
For households, NADC wanted to create an application experience that could be accessed when it worked for them—not only during traditional office hours.
For staff, NADC wanted to reduce the amount of repetitive administrative work required to move information from an application into the systems they already use.
The result is an experience designed around both the household seeking assistance and the staff responsible for helping them.
When access is flexible, people use it
A household seeking energy assistance may also be balancing work, childcare, transportation, family responsibilities, and an immediate financial crisis. Requiring someone to navigate that process only during normal office hours creates another barrier.
In NADC's first month using the new experience, approximately 40% of applications have been submitted after hours or on weekends. That means nearly four out of every ten applications are arriving at times when traditional office-based access may not be available.
4 in 10 applications are submitted after hours or on weekends.
The early usage is demonstrating something NADC leadership believed from the beginning: when households have more flexibility in how they access assistance, they use it.
Direct integration with CAP60
Increasing access was only one part of the challenge. A digital application provides limited value if staff still have to take everything a household enters and manually re-enter it into another system.
Through Fortell's partnership with CAP60, the information collected through NADC's application can flow directly into the system the agency already uses. Instead of staff spending hours transferring information field by field, the application data moves into CAP60 as part of the workflow.
This has saved the NADC team countless hours of manual data entry and allows staff to focus more of their time on reviewing applications, resolving issues, and helping households.
How information moves
Household applies
Information is collected
Data flows into CAP60
Staff review and process
No manual re-entry step. There is no separate rekeying between the Fortell application and CAP60.
The goal isn't simply to digitize the application. It's to eliminate the work that happens after it.
Keeping applications and documents connected
LIHEAP applications often require supporting documentation, and managing those documents can create another layer of work for both households and staff.
NADC's Fortell application includes document upload functionality so applicants can provide required documentation as part of the application experience. Those documents can then move into CAP60 alongside the applicant's information, helping keep the application and supporting materials connected.
This creates a simpler experience for households while reducing the need for staff to manually collect, organize, download, and reattach information across separate systems.
Application information
Uploaded documents
CAP60
Connected, together, in the system NADC already uses
Seeing the service area more clearly
Because application information is being captured digitally and consistently, NADC can also see patterns in its service area much more quickly. Instead of manually compiling information from individual applications, the team can begin seeing where applications are coming from, when residents are accessing services, and the financial circumstances of households seeking assistance.
First-month applications by county
Independence and Sharp counties account for 67.3% of county-identified applications.
Independence
$1,428.50
Sharp
$1,334
Izard
$1,014
Fulton
$1,256
Stone
$1,640
Because household size and other eligibility details are not reflected here, these figures are not used to draw conclusions about poverty status or LIHEAP eligibility.
The point is not simply to report statistics. It is that NADC now has information available that can quickly help the agency understand how services are being accessed across its communities.
A complete workflow, not just a digitized form
Available beyond office hours
Households can access the application when it works for them.
Guided application experience
Information is collected consistently through Fortell.
Document upload
Households can provide supporting documentation during the process.
CAP60 integration
Application information and documents flow into NADC's existing system.
Staff review
NADC staff can spend more time processing applications and supporting households instead of re-entering information.
This is the difference between simply digitizing a form and redesigning a workflow.
Fortell is not intended to replace CAP60 or create another disconnected system for NADC staff to manage. Instead, Fortell serves as the accessible front door while CAP60 remains part of the agency's core operational infrastructure.
More capacity for the work that matters
Every application that no longer has to be manually entered into CAP60 represents staff time that can be redirected toward work that requires people. That can mean reviewing documentation, resolving eligibility questions, communicating with households, addressing complicated applications, and moving assistance forward.
The integration between Fortell and CAP60 has already saved the NADC team countless hours that otherwise would have been spent manually transferring application information and supporting documents.
Automation should give staff more time for people—not more systems to manage.
The benefit of automation is not simply speed. It is giving staff more capacity to do the work where their expertise and human judgment matter most.
Reasons to celebrate in month one
These results represent only the first month of implementation. NADC and Fortell will continue reviewing what is working, listening to staff, examining how households are navigating the application, and making adjustments where the process can be improved.
Together, these early indicators show the impact NADC envisioned: broader access for households and a more efficient process behind the scenes.
Making services easier to reach while giving staff more capacity to serve
Human services organizations often face two connected challenges. People seeking help encounter barriers accessing programs. At the same time, staff spend significant portions of their day performing repetitive administrative work required to operate those programs.
NADC's approach addresses both. Households have another way to access LIHEAP when it works for their lives. Staff receive information through an integrated workflow instead of repeatedly transferring it between systems. Supporting documents travel with the application. And NADC gains faster visibility into how people across its communities are accessing assistance.
This is what thoughtful automation can look like in Community Action: making services easier to reach while giving staff more capacity to serve.
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