From Data Entry to Better Decisions: How The Child Center of NY Uses GoEngage
For The Child Center of NY, the value of GoEngage isn't simply having a place to store data. It's having a system that helps staff improve how they work, gives leadership greater visibility, and creates opportunities to act on information sooner.
For Head Start programs, collecting data is rarely the problem. The harder question is: What happens after the data is entered?
Can leadership see where attention is needed? Can staff identify what's coming due before it becomes overdue? Can the agency spot patterns, strengthen accountability, and use its information to make better decisions?
During that time, Tanya has also watched the technology evolve, working with multiple generations of the Cleverex platform before today's GoEngage.
Today, The Child Center of NY is funded for 543 children through its Head Start and Early Head Start programs. And for Tanya, the goal is increasingly clear:
Move beyond entering data because it's required—and use it to help the agency make better decisions.
It Starts With Better Habits
Tanya is the first to acknowledge that improving data quality doesn't happen because an agency purchases software.
It happens because staff develop strong, consistent habits. At The Child Center of NY, that work has taken time.
But Tanya says the difference is noticeable.
“Our data entry is definitely at a much cleaner place, and every year we get cleaner than the year before.”
As those practices improve, she sees another benefit: new employees are learning the stronger processes the agency has already established rather than inheriting old habits.
That creates momentum. Instead of constantly correcting the same problems, the agency can begin asking more advanced questions about the data it already has.
A Weekly Meeting Just for GoEngage
One way Tanya keeps that momentum going is surprisingly simple. She holds a weekly GoEngage meeting.
Staff bring questions. They discuss what's due. They talk about what's working and what isn't. They troubleshoot together. And they review reports and explore features they may not have used before.
“Bring your agenda items, and let's work on it together.”
What started largely as troubleshooting has evolved over time based on the needs and experience of the team. The meeting also gives Tanya an opportunity to share knowledge across the agency. That's important to her because she doesn't want GoEngage expertise to live with one person. The goal is to build confidence throughout the team.
Seeing What Needs Attention—Without Running Another Report
For Tanya, one of the most valuable features in GoEngage is POP, the Program Outcomes Portal. As a leader, she appreciates being able to open one screen and quickly understand where things stand.
“I love seeing the big picture. As an administrator... I can go to one screen. I don't have to run a report. I don't have to worry about how I'm filtering it... I can see everything at a high level.”
POP's visual flags allow Tanya to quickly identify areas that may need attention without first digging through rows of data.
That visibility supports a larger goal for the agency: moving beyond simply collecting information and increasingly using data to drive decisions. And sometimes leadership needs the data they already have presented in a way that makes the next action obvious.
Making the Data Come to You
GoEngage's scheduled reporting has also helped The Child Center of NY improve its data processes.
Tanya uses scheduled reports to identify missing information and bring it to the right person's attention. Rather than remembering to manually check the same data every month, the report arrives automatically.
And over time, something interesting happened.
The problems became less frequent.
“I no longer really have to look at that report anymore, because I kind of know that it's already fixed.”
In other words, the report didn't simply identify missing data. It helped create accountability until those recurring gaps became far less common.
Tanya also uses automated reporting around 45-day screenings, helping her see what's upcoming and what's already past due.
Instead of relying entirely on someone to remember to go looking for a problem, GoEngage can help bring potential concerns forward.
When the Work Is Happening, the Data Should Prove It
That lesson became especially clear as The Child Center of NY prepared for a recent federal review.
During the preparation process, the team discovered opportunities to strengthen documentation, particularly around health follow-up.
The issue wasn't necessarily that staff weren't contacting families or helping them obtain required documentation. The issue was that those efforts weren't always recorded in a way that clearly showed what had happened.
Tanya summed it up simply:
“I'm convinced it was happening. It was not written down that it was happening.”
A staff member might have talked with a parent, reminded them that a physical was due, provided a resource, or followed up another way. But if that activity isn't documented, the record doesn't tell the full story.
The review ultimately went well, but the preparation process helped Tanya and her team identify areas they wanted to strengthen. Rather than viewing those opportunities simply as monitoring preparation, the team used what they learned to provide additional training and strengthen how follow-up activities are documented in GoEngage.
It's a lesson that applies to Head Start programs everywhere: Doing the work matters. Being able to demonstrate the work matters too.
The Goal Isn't More Reports. It's Better Decisions.
Flexibility Matters When Programs Work Differently
The Child Center of NY operates both center-based and home-based services. And those programs don't always work the same way.
Their staffing models are different. Their workflows are different. Their operational needs are different.
Tanya appreciates that GoEngage often gives staff more than one way to accomplish the same task.
“You can complete the same task three or four different ways, depending on the way that you either want to see it, or how you feel more comfortable with how you see it.”
That flexibility gives teams room to find workflows that fit how they actually operate rather than forcing every staff member into exactly the same path.
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See requests come to fuition
“I love the idea that I can call up customer service. I love the idea that I can submit a feature request. I love the idea that I actually see the feature request come to fruition.”
Choosing More Than Software
“I love the idea that I can call up customer service. I love the idea that I can submit a feature request. I love the idea that I actually see the feature request come to fruition.”
Still Finding New Ways to Use GoEngage
After years of working with Cleverex and GoEngage, The Child Center of NY isn't treating the system as something that has already been fully implemented. The agency continues exploring functionality it hasn't used before and looking for new opportunities to bring more of its processes and information together.
For Tanya, implementation wasn't a one-time event. It has been an ongoing process of learning what the system can do and finding new ways to apply it as the agency's needs evolve.
That's part of her approach. Once the team strengthens one area, they can move on to the next. Once the data becomes cleaner, they can begin using it differently. Once staff become comfortable with one workflow, they can explore another. And once leadership has better visibility, they can begin asking better questions.
That's what meaningful software adoption looks like.
It's not simply implementing a system, training staff, and checking a box that says you're done. It's continuing to learn, improve, and optimize how technology supports the work.
Because as an agency grows and evolves, its use of technology should grow and evolve with it.
Better Data Is Only the Beginning
After 18 years with The Child Center of NY, Tanya has seen programs change, staff change, requirements change, and technology change.
And her team's use of GoEngage continues to change too.
They're improving the quality of their data. They're building stronger habits across staff. They're using automation to surface information sooner. They're giving leadership greater visibility. And increasingly, they're asking not simply whether the data is there—but what the data can tell them.
That may be the most important lesson from The Child Center of NY's experience. The value of a data system isn't measured by how much information an agency can put into it. It's measured by what the agency can do with that information once it's there.
For Tanya and her team, that journey continues. Because ultimately, better data isn't the destination. Better decisions are.
About The Child Center of NY
The Child Center of NY is funded to serve 543 children through Head Start and Early Head Start programming. Tanya Krien has been with the agency for 18 years and currently serves as Vice President, bringing experience as a teacher, home-based coordinator, and an Early Head Start Director.
What Could Better Data Help Your Program Do?
For Head Start and Early Head Start programs looking to get more from their data, GoEngage brings enrollment, health, family services, monitoring, reporting, and program operations together—giving staff tools to manage the work and leadership greater visibility into what's happening across the program.
See how GoEngage can help your agency turn data into action.
