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The challenge
Case managers at Centre's Female Residential Reentry Center in Fargo, North Dakota, where the Atlas pilot took place, often oversee 20 or more clients at a time. Each client comes with unique risk and need profiles, identified through the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R). Leadership recognized a need to supplement the work being done in treatment and group programming with other risk-need-responsive resources.
At the same time, Centre leadership recognized the importance of sustaining staff well-being. Documentation and group facilitation often pulled staff away from direct client engagement, creating risks of burnout and turnover. As Program Director Heather Grandstrand shared, "Nobody wants to sit behind the computer all day long. We want to be person centered… We want to be downstairs with our population and talking to people. We want the person-to-person contact, because it helps."
The Atlas approach
In 2024, Centre Inc. piloted Atlas, The Change Companies' digital behavioral health platform, at the Fargo women's facility. The pilot was primarily implemented with Department of Corrections referrals.
Atlas allowed staff to:
- Target specific risk areas: Participants completed Interactive Journaling® modules matched to the needs indicated in their LSI-R scores - including content on improving mental health, seeking employment, financial literacy and building healthy relationships.
- Supplement programming: Self-directed work in Atlas filled in program gaps, complementing substance use treatment or risk reduction groups.
- Streamline documentation: Case managers used the AI-generated progress summaries in Atlas to enhance documentation, saving significant administrative time.
According to Heather, participant feedback has been positive. "Residents like the prompts," she said. "Here you have something that's very specific to your risks, to your needs. And it's giving you these questions that you have to get pretty insightful for. And so the feedback I've gotten from those on my caseload specifically is that it's kind of an eye-opener for them."
Outcomes and impact
The 11-month pilot yielded encouraging results:
- Participant engagement: 89 total residents used Atlas, with over 500 sessions and 98% engagement.
- Time savings: Case managers estimated saving 20 minutes per client per week, freeing time for more direct service.
- Stronger client insight: Journaling prompts led to more "aha" moments and intrinsic motivation.
- Survey results:
- 100% of respondents said Atlas helped them work toward their treatment goals.
- 85% said Atlas helped them learn more about themselves.
- 100% said Atlas helped them share their thoughts and feelings.
Atlas also provided tangible benefits for participants. Certificates of completion for modules on parenting, finances, life skills, or substance use recovery could be shared with CPS officers, probation officers, or the Department of Corrections as evidence of progress and self-motivation. As Heather described, "This is something that shows, 'Hey, I've completed this. This is what I've worked on'… It shows they're internally motivated because they don't have to do this."
The future of programming at Centre
As the pilot concludes, Centre Inc. is expanding implementation of Atlas to additional sites across the state, using it as part of formal group programming, and implementing it with male populations. "Now that we're getting to the end of our pilot period, I feel like there are so many other ways we could be using this," said Heather. "I'm wholeheartedly into it. I believe in it, and I would definitely recommend it, 10 out of 10."
