One tool, three very different frontline teams in Clark County

Beam's work in child welfare has been proven again and again across the country. Clark County, Nevada shows something else: that the same platform can drive results across radically different parts of county government at once. Not just family services. 

Three teams piloted Beam Notes together for seven weeks, with 68 focus users across the county. 

• The Public Guardian office, supporting adults who require guardianship.
• The Southern Nevada Children’s Assessment Center (SNCAC), investigating child abuse and conducts forensic interviews
• Permanency and NIA specialists, supporting children and families through longer-term cases and placements

Three different caseloads, three different legal standards, three different kinds of documentation: parent and child interview notes, forensic case notes bound for court, visit reports, and guardianship records.

The challenge 

Backlog that only grew 

Before the pilot, the Public Guardian office had 1,226 open visit note tasks and no additional headcount to work through them. New referrals kept arriving every week, so the backlog wasn't just large,  it was impossible to shrink.

Documentation that ate the week 

Family Services caseworkers were spending an average of 13 hours a week on written documentation, much of it outside their control: parent and child interview notes, caregiver contacts, collateral notes, and, for SNCAC's forensic interview team, detailed, court-ready case notes that could take over an hour to write per interview.

Standardizing documentation across large teams

With large teams operating across different regions of the county, Clark County was also working to create greater consistency in how documentation was structured. Different teams had different workflows and requirements, and some,  including permanency specialists across the South and Central units, did not yet have a dedicated template. This made standardizing documentation across teams, and making notes easier for supervisors to review, an ongoing challenge.

The approach 

Over seven weeks, 68 frontline staff across three distinct service areas piloted Beam Notes.

The Public Guardian team used it to document evaluations and visits to day programs, group homes and nursing homes, as well as medical notes. Within Clark County Family Services, teams used it across parent, child, caregiver and forensic interviews, including work within SNCAC and the South and Central Permanency/NIA units.

Over the seven weeks, staff used Beam Notes 3,818 times, including 2,829 recordings spanning 623 hours of frontline work and 989 completed reports.

The impact 

Backlog finally moving in the right direction 

The Public Guardian office reduced its backlog of open visit notes by 33% in just eight weeks, from 1,226 outstanding tasks before training to 822, even as new referrals continued to come in and with no additional staff.

Hours back in the week 

Family Services staff nearly halved the time they spent on documentation, from 13 hours a week to 7 among 22 staff who responded both before and after the pilot. Eighteen of those 22 also reported working less evenings, weekends or holidays.

Up to 75% less time on documentation

The time savings held across very different types of documentation. Child contact forms fell from 41 minutes to 11, while Public Guardian nursing home visit notes dropped from 40 minutes to 11.

The biggest improvement came in some of the county’s most demanding documentation. At SNCAC, forensic interview case notes fell from 68 minutes to 17, a 75% reduction.

For one investigator, that meant more than getting notes done faster: “Beam is heaven sent. I've been able to work more efficiently and not have to do OT all the time.”

But the impact wasn’t only about speed. For one Public Guardian practitioner, Beam helped surface conflicting information across medical records, one listing a resident as full code and another recording a DNR. She was able to flag the discrepancy and confirm the correct status directly with the facility.

Quality supervisors could see 

Speed wasn’t the only thing that changed. All nine supervisors surveyed said their teams were completing documentation much faster, while seven saw a clear or noticeable improvement in its quality. Notes were coming back to staff for corrections less often, and across the county, workers rated their Beam-generated notes an average of 4.2 out of 5.

One Public Guardian supervisor saw the difference in the basics: ‍

“Less corrections needed. Grammar is correct. No misspelled words. The notes are more polished and professional... Beam alleviates that issue so we can all produce professional written work.”

But in one case, better documentation helped surface something much more important. A Public Guardian case manager noticed that Beam’s summary showed a discrepancy in a client’s medical record: the same person was listed as both full code and DNR. She flagged it, went back to the facility and had the record corrected.

More present with clients, less stressed by paperwork

Staff weren’t just getting their notes done faster. They felt more able to focus on the person in front of them. Self-reported presence during client conversations rose from 6.9 to 9.0 out of 10, with staff reporting that Beam helped them focus on the conversation rather than the documentation waiting for them afterwards.

One Public Guardian supervisor described why that mattered: “It is the most impactful experiment we have had in the office that doesn't just benefit the county or higher management. It actually puts into consideration the employees who are struggling because of the insurmountable notes they have to worry about.”

A tool staff didn’t want to give up

By the end of the pilot, every practitioner surveyed wanted to keep using Beam Notes.

For some, that feeling was particularly strong. One SNCAC supervisor shared that a worker who had improved her case note documentation “said she would quit if we were unable to keep Beam.”

And as one Central NIA specialist put it:

‍“This is going to change case management and it may even cut down overtime countywide. I have seen a significant change in time management for myself.”

What's next 

Clark County is now extending its use of Beam Notes, building on the results of the initial seven-week pilot. The next phase will focus on two major documentation challenges identified during the pilot,  Nevada Initial Assessments (NIA) and Protective Capacity Family Assessments (PCFA), with dedicated cohorts testing new templates and providing feedback.

The goal is to deepen adoption and understand where Beam can have the greatest impact across the county’s services.

A smarter way to manage county documentation 

Book a demo to see what Beam could look like for your county.

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