ILACP establishes strong partnership with PowerDMS for ILEAP

September 1, 2021

[Internal announcement to members]

Contact: Ed Wojcicki, Executive Director
[email protected] 

The ILACP Executive Board on August 18, 2021, approved the establishment of a new partnership with PowerDMS. This will require all Illinois agencies seeking ILEAP accreditation to utilize the PowerDMS accreditation tools, and it will provide a future discount in the annual fee of up to 35% for ILEAP agencies currently using PowerDMS.

To improve program consistency and efficiency, we worked closely with PowerDMS to negotiate discounted pricing on the PowerDMS accreditation tool. We will be requiring all agencies to utilize PowerDMS for their accreditation files as follows:

  • All agencies that apply for ILEAP accreditation after September 1, 2021, must also sign up for PowerDMS before they begin the process with the ILEAP Coordinator to formally pursue ILEAP accreditation.
  • Agencies that have applied for ILEAP but not yet received accreditation should utilize PowerDMS as soon as possible, but no later than January 1, 2022. They must be fully using PowerDMS in order to achieve ILEAP accreditation.
  • Agencies that are already accredited by ILEAP but not yet utilizing PowerDMS must make the transition to PowerDMS no later than January 1, 2023. The ILACP executive director will give some consideration to agencies claiming a hardship and unable to make the transition by that date.

Why is it being required?

Having everyone use the same software system will help create consistency and reduce costs for the program and for agencies. PowerDMS will eliminate the need for paper and printing costs and will allow for remote file review, cutting down on onsite days.

Additionally, the use of PowerDMS has been shown to reduce the time it takes an agency to build and maintain files by 50% or more. Ultimately, we see this as an opportunity to make achieving and maintaining accreditation easier and less cost prohibitive for every agency.

What will it cost my agency?

  • Agencies with fewer than 50 employees will pay PowerDMS $550 per year.
  • Agencies with more than 50 employees will pay PowerDMS $650 per year.

Next Steps

We understand this may come as a surprise to some agencies, so we want to make this transition as smooth as possible. Here are a few things that are important to know:

  1. If you are already using PowerDMS for your accreditation, you will see a price decrease at your next renewal.
  2. If you aren’t yet using PowerDMS, and to gain access to PowerDMS, you will need to do the following:
    1. Visit https://simplify.powerdms.com/accred-custom-quote and complete the form
    2. Receive a quote from PowerDMS
    3. Sign the quote and send it back
    4. Receive access to PowerDMS within 48 hours of sending back the signed quote
    5. Pay your invoice within 30 days of the signed quote
  3. PowerDMS is going to offer a FREE virtual training on Wednesday September 8th, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. CDT.  This will be a virtual learning environment to explore your PowerDMS site features, learn how to set up your agency’s site, subscribe to your standards manual, and start your first PowerDMS ILEAP Assessment. To participate, you must let us know you will be attending, CLICK HERE to register

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Ed Wojcicki.