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How Kingston Council managed to grow caseloads without increasing workload
Facing a 14% rise in referrals for adult human services, Kingston County implemented Notes to manage growing caseloads without compromising care quality.
Across the US, human services agencies are facing rising demand driven by an aging population and increasingly complex needs.
In Kingston, a UK local authority, new case demand was increasing by 14% each year, a rate that reflects the growing pressure many US county human services departments are experiencing while operating within tight budgets.
Social workers were managing increasing caseloads alongside a backlog of care plan reviews. Teams were under pressure, often working overtime to keep up with paperwork.
Kingston recognized that the solution wasn’t asking caseworkers to work longer hours or expanding teams when budgets were already stretched. Instead, they chose to pilot Notes.
As the first public sector agency to implement Notes, Kingston worked closely with Beam to test and refine the tool in real frontline conditions. The results now offer a practical blueprint for US county and state agencies exploring AI-supported documentation.
The challenge
Demand rising faster than capacity
A large proportion of Kingston’s budget was already allocated to adult services, leaving little flexibility to expand teams as referrals increased.
In practice, this meant frontline workers were managing higher caseloads and falling further behind on care plan reviews.
Documentation vs. direct care
During home visits, caseworkers were splitting their attention between the conversation and their notes. Afterwards, they often spent hours writing up meetings and assessments.
The approach
Kingston partnered with Beam to run a pilot with the adult services team. The aim was to reduce time spent on administration by at least 50%, while maintaining high standards of documentation and care.
As Kingston were the first local agency to pilot Notes, Beam worked closely with staff to understand their workflows, shadowing caseworkers, tailoring templates to match structured assessment forms and compliance requirements, and providing training.
Frontline workers used Notes to record and summarize conversations during visits and meetings, then reviewed and edited notes before uploading them to their CMS.
The impact
68% reduction in documentation time
The time savings were huge. Write-ups that used to take caseworkers 2 hours were reduced to just 30 minutes.
One frontline worker shared:
“It took 1 minute to edit my report when it usually takes up to an hour to write it up”
Accurate records
Accuracy was crucial to meet strict regulation standards. Notes exceeded expectations with a 96% accuracy score, providing a reliable audit trail.
“Having more time meant I could focus on the person in front of me.”
As caseworkers weren’t focused on typing or writing notes, they were able to give more attention to their clients.
Supporting professional development
“Looking at the transcript gave me a chance to reflect on how I say things.”
Reviewing the transcripts also gave caseworkers a chance to reflect on how they communicated in meetings and appointments, supporting their professional development.
Help your teams do more with less
Book a demo to see what 68% less documentation time could mean for your agency.
