In my ongoing investigations as a newcomer to the free software movement I’ve been digging around looking for case management application frameworks that would work for social services organizations… not law firms. I have begun to look at the plethora of software available and the number of free software projects under development. The numbers are staggering.

I still haven’t found a free software case management framework for non-profits emerging on the horizon. If you search SourceForge or Freshmeat, you find legal case management systems, but nothing oriented to the general non-profit market for client management. There are electronic health records, CRMs and ERPs… all of which have elements that would be useful, but none alone can do the trick.

Today, I sat down with the executive director of a counseling service for child sexual abuse to have a chat about developing a case management application for them. These organizations need to be able to track their activities with the people they deal with, write notes about their interactions, produce assessments, demographic analysis and activities reports and manage documents. Good case management software is pivotal for them. I realized that it’s ridiculous how these types of organizations struggle with their technology needs.