Thank you for looking into
Policy Manager Two
for your Head Start program
Teresa K. Wickstrom
Senior Associate
Center for Community Futures
www.cencomfut.com
teresa@cencomfut.com
Phone & Fax: 909-790-0670
Policy Manager Two
This software is designed to help your Head Start program
manage program policies, operational procedures, plans,
review results, and relationships with the numerous
regulations and performance standards issued by the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the
Association for Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF), plus
requirements from the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) circulars, and other regulations as appropriate.
Policy Manager Two
Use Policy Manager Two to create, edit, add, delete, find, link,
keep track of, and print program area plans, local policies and
procedures, regulations, and the results of your Federal onsite
review.
What is The Policy Manager?
The Policy Manager (PM2) is a database software system that
makes the management of regulations, policies/procedures,
program plans, and tracking of the findings of your program's
Federal review as simple as possible. It is based on these
principles:
1. Policies, procedures, program area plans, and review findings are
based on Federal regulations, Performance Standards, and local
requirements.
2. To successfully manage their relationships, associations must be
made between them.
3. This centralized system lets you find, view, edit, add, delete,
track the status of, print reports, and otherwise manage your
program's policies, procedures, area plans, regulations, and
review findings -- all in one place.
Policy Manager Two helps you answer
questions like:
• “Do we have a policy on
Kits)
“If so, where is it?”
?” (Example: First Aid
• “Which regulation(s) does this policy cover?”
• “Was the policy approved? When? By whom?”
• “Who is responsible for implementation of this requirement?”
• “What is the text of the regulations that this Review question
relates to?”
Answering these sorts of questions is not always easy. With
PM2, it will just take a few mouse clicks to get the answers.
In addition to helping you keep policies and regulations, PM2
also helps you track them. For example, getting a policy from
its first draft to its final approval stage can be a long process,
involving several steps.
PM2 helps you keep track of the status of a policy and will record
the approval dates. With 3,485 performance standards, 5,552
Federal regulations that relate to Head Start, and 209 review
questions, many policies are involved! With this software, you
can quickly print a report, for example, that lists all the
policies that have yet to be approved by the Policy Council by
a specific date.
Main Window
When you start Policy Manager Two, you will see the Main Window:
PM2 Main Window
Clicking on a tab switches you from Documents, Regulations, and
Review questions. The tab that is selected determines what is
displayed in Policy Manager.
Main tab:
Documents Tab
Types available in drop-down list:
Program Policies
Program Area Plans
Regulations Tab
Performance Standards
Reference Library
Monitoring Protocol Review Questions
Review Tab
• Each of the three main tabs – Documents, Regulations, and
Review – work in conjunction with the Type(s) available in their
drop-down lists. You must click on the appropriate tab to access
the Types.
• The tab you click will show its contents in the tree view and in the
other fields. Once you’ve clicked a tab, you can edit, copy, paste,
etc. into the fields on the right.
Tutorial 1: Find a Regulation by Key Word
1. From the Main Window, Click on the
Regulations tab.
2. In the Type: field, select Performance Standards
from the drop-down list.
3. To search for a key word or phrase in the Performance
Standards, type in the search term in the Search box, then
press the Enter key.
Example: Let's say you need to find all of the Performance
Standards with the word "bus" in them. Type bus in the
Search field, and press the Enter key. You should see results
like this:
Occurrences of search term “bus” in
performance standards:
4. Click on
the clear
results
button
to clear
the
results
and to
return to
the full
listing.
Tutorial 2: Find a Regulation by CFR number
1. Click on the Regulations tab.
2. In the Type: field, select Performance
Standards from the drop-down list.
3. To search for a CFR number in the Performance Standards,
type it in the Search box without parenthesis, then press the
Enter key.
Example 1: Search Performance Standards
Let’s say you need to find all of the Performance Standards
relating to 45 CFR Part 74. In the search field, type 74 and
then press the Enter key. The Policy Manager will bring up
results like this:
b) Notice that the search results will list all of the performance
standards with occurrences of 74 in the text.
c) Click on the CFR numbers (on the left) to view the content of
the regulations (on the right).
d) To refresh the whole list of Performance Standards click the
“Clear all search results button.” Or you can delete the
search term entered until it is blank, and then press the Enter
key to refresh the list.
e) To return to where you were before you started the search,
click the red left arrow button
over the Search field.
f) To search in the other Federal regulations (Reference
Library): click on the Regulations tab and select Reference
Library from the drop-down list, then follow the steps above.
See also Example 2 below.
d) Click on the Clear search results button
before moving on.
Example 2: Search other Federal Regulations in the Reference
Library
a) Select “Reference Library” from the Regulations type drop-down
list.
b) Type in a search term (for this example, 74) in the search field
then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
c) Notice that all regulations in the Reference Library that relate to
45 CFR Part 74 are listed, as well as the regulations at Part 74.
Occurrences of 74 appear in bold text.
d) Note: The screenshot on the next slide shows the first 26
matching records, out of 464 total. In Policy Manager Two, use
the scroll bar to view the rest.
Note:
Within the regulations in the Reference Library
are some occurrences of *All appearing in the
list. This convention refers to regulations that
have been merged into an additional record
which includes all of the regulatory text under
that section. These are in addition to the
individual regulations already entered.
For example, scroll down to Uniform
Administrative Requirements, then click on the
first search result 74.24 (*All). The record
under *All includes all of the items under
74.24, altogether in one record. These are not
linked to other records.
Tutorial 3: Edit a Policy (Insert an existing
policy into PM Two)
Policy Manager Two comes with 356 draft policies and
procedures, ready for your program’s editing/modifying, finetuning and approval. To edit a policy:
1. Click on the Documents tab.
2. In the Type field, select Program
Policies from the drop-down list.
This is the listing of policies
already entered in Policy Manager
Two.
3. To view the policies under an area, click on the plus button to
the left of the area’s name. You could also right-click the area
name to select Expand Sub-Items to view the list of policies
under that area.
4. To edit a policy, select one from the list by clicking on it once.
a) Let’s look at the first policy under Family and Community
Services, called CPO2: Health Services Advisory Committee.
Click on that policy now.
b) When the policy is selected, its content appears in the window to
the right.
c) To edit, modify, make changes to the content, type your text in
the policy content window. Alternatively, you could paste text
from your word processing software by right-clicking in this
field and selecting Paste.
5. In the sample policy above, notice that there is a set of carrots with
three underlines in between <___> under operational policy #1c.
This convention is used throughout the text in Policy Manager for
your Head Start program to use to fill-in-the-blank. In the example
above, the carrots are followed by a suggestion in brackets to type
in the job title of the person responsible for this item.
a) To enter the job title of the responsible person here, delete
<___> [job title] and replace that with your text (HSAC
Secretary, for example).
b) To save the changes you make, click on the check-mark button
in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
c) If this edit was directed by your Head Start program, the Policy
Manager Two user should also fill in Who did what Type of
action Completed when, in the History tab mid-screen.
d) To save the changes you make, click on this check-mark button.
Tutorial 4: Print a Policy Worksheet
This tutorial shows you how to print a report in Policy Manager
Two. You will print a Policy Worksheet and preview the
report.
1. Click on the Documents tab and select Program Policies as the
Type.
2. Then click the Reports menu and choose Policy Worksheet.
3. After processing, the Policy Manager will bring up a preview
of the report that looks like this:
(Use the scroll bar on the right to view the pages.)
Tutorial 5: Make a New Report
(i.e., print policies, regulations, plans)
This tutorial shows you how you can make a new report in Policy
Manager Two. You will make a new report that is added to the
Reports menu.
Policy Manager Two includes a Policy Manual in the Reports
menu. It may be close to the format you would like for your
official policies and procedures reference manual - but perhaps
not exactly how you want it. You may want to have your
agency name and logo in the title of the report. In this
example, we’ll make a new report that is just like the ‘Policy
Manual’ report, but is customized for your program.
First, have a look at the Policy Manual report that comes with
Policy Manager Two.
1. Select the Documents tab on the left hand side of the screen and
select Program Policies from the Type drop-down list.
2. From the Reports menu, choose ‘Policy Manual’.
3. After processing, Policy Manager will bring up a print
preview window like this:
4. After looking at the format, close the print preview window by
clicking either one of the X buttons.
5. To make the new policy report, we’ll start by using the above
report as a template and copy it. This is much easier than
making a new report from scratch. Also, we don’t want to make
any changes to the original report.
6. On the Reports menu, choose Edit Reports. You will see a
window like this one:
7. On the left hand side, click Policy Manual in the list to select it.
8. Click the Copy… button.
9. Enter a name for your new report. For example, “XYZ Head
Start Policy Manual”.
10. Click OK and your new report will be opened in the report
editor.
The Report Editor
This is where Reports can be re-designed.
Objective: Change the report title.
a) Double-click the ‘Head Start Policies and Procedures’ text at
the top of the report page (in the Page header).
b) In the Text editor window (like below), enter the new header
text.
c) Click the check mark button (far right) to set the new text and
close the window.
Objective: Add the Program Logo (.bmp)
To add a logo (bitmap image) to the top of the report:
1.In the upper-right of the report, make a little room by
selecting and resizing the two text boxes.
2.Select the Insert Picture tool on the left.
3. Click the report in the upper right to place the image.
4. When you click the report, a window like below will show.
Click the Load... button and choose a .bmp file (your logo).
Click OK to close the window.
5. Use your mouse to resize or reposition the image as needed.
6. When done with editing the report, press the Save Report button
to save your changes.
7. Close the report (File|Exit).
8. Close the Edit Reports window (click the Close button).
9. Click the Reports menu and you should see your new report in
the menu.
In this tutorial you learned the basic steps for editing reports. Feel
free to edit the report further. You can easily change fonts,
reposition the text, etc. While you could start a new report from
scratch, that will be more difficult. If Policy Manager Two does not
include a report similar to one you would like, please let us know
so we can improve it for you. (E-mail Teresa Wickstrom at
teresa@cencomfut.com or call her at 909-790-0670).
See the section on Reports for more details and information.
Tutorial 6: Program Area Plan(s)
1.
From the main menu, click on the Documents tab and select
Program Area Plans from the drop-down list.
2.
The Policy Manager comes with three program area plan
categories, as required by regulation. Each of these area plan
categories includes sub-categories, such as Prevention &
Early Intervention, for Early Childhood Development and
Health Services. You should add your program’s area plans
to these sub-categories.
• Under the Early Childhood Development and Health Services
program area plan, click on Prevention & Early Intervention.
 Add text to the text field (underneath “Objective”). You can paste
from word-processing applications by pressing <Shift><Insert>
or <Ctrl><v> or right-click the mouse to select Paste.
 Click the check mark to save edits.
 After the area plan has been saved, then you can add Notes,
History, Details, Related Regulations, etc. in the record tabs.
Main Window Record Tabs
On the lower right-hand side of the screen are the record tabs. For
each record, you can access:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Notes
History
Details
Related Regulations
Related Reviews
Related Documents (Policies and Plans).
Within each record tab, you can go from one field to the next by
using the TAB key on your keyboard, or by clicking the mouse in
a white space.
Notes record tab
Use the Notes record tab to keep notes about that record. It is a
text field for typing in comments, communications, etc. A few
of the records have Notes from us in them.
Notes will appear in Policy Worksheet reports.
History record tab
The History tab is useful for keeping track of changes, approvals,
proposed effective dates, etc. – especially for policies and
procedures.
Use the History tab to indicate who (Who) performed the action
(Type) and When (Completed). On the right side is another text
area where you can enter notes about each history item.
History record tab and Who
PM2 comes with these Who choices already built in:
Head Start Director
Governing Body
Area Manager
Policy Council
Other
Volunteers
Executive Director
Coordinator
Program Staff
Consultant
Nutritionist
The drop-down list of Who can be edited through Edit/Types/People.
History record tab and Type
The Type drop-down list can be edited through Edit/Types/History.
PM2 comes with these type choices already built in:
Approval
Edited/Modified
Deficiency/Corrective Action
Proposed Effective
Effective
Disapproval
History record tab and When
Use the Completed field to indicate the date which
the action for that record happened.
Details record tab
Create a
unique
ID by
typing in
unique
numbers
here
The Details tab lets you to keep more details about any document in
PM2. It is designed to allow you to create program plans. You enter
individual "line items" including What, Where, When and How.
When you are entering details, you will notice that only one detail
item is displayed at a time. It will say, for example, "(of 2)" to help
you see how many detail items have been entered. When you print a
Program Plan report you will be able to see all of the details in a nice
format on the printed page.
Related Regulations record tab
The Related Regulations record tab shows which regulation(s) the
record (policy, plan, or review item) applies to.
To go to the related regulation, right-click the CFR number and
click Open (or press <Ctrl> <O>.
When data-entering related regulations in the Regulation ID fields:
o Type in the regulation number without parentheses. For
example, if this regulation is related to something else in PM2,
you would type in 1304.20 a 1 instead of 1304.20 (a) (1).
o You can also use the built-in drop down list to select regulation
references by clicking on the down arrow.
Related Review Items record tab
Related Reviews
The Related Reviews record tab shows which review question
the record (policy, plan, or regulation) applies to, if any.
See also linking records.
To go to the related regulation, right-click the Review ID
number and click Open (or press <Ctrl> <O>.
Related Documents record tab
In some cases, a record relates to other documents (policies or plans).
The Related Documents tab shows you which policies or plans relate
to the record shown.
To enter a related document for a policy or plan, type in the
Document ID and tab over and save it by clicking on the check mark.
Linking
With Policy Manager Two, you can link:
• Policies to Regulations
• Policies to Review Questions
• Policies to Plans
• Regulations to Policies
• Regulations to Plans
• Regulations to Review Questions
• Review Questions to Regulations
• Review Questions to Policies
• Review Questions to Plans
• Policy to Policy
• Plan to Plan
• Regulation to Regulation
Link a Policy to a Regulation
• Click the Documents tab and select Program
Policies from the Type drop-down list.
• Locate or create the policy to be linked to a
regulation.
• Click on the policy to be linked.
• From the record tabs, click on Related Regulations.
• Click the plus button under the
Related Regulations tab and type
in the CFR number that the
policy relates to (example:
1304.41 a).
• TAB over or click the check
mark to save.
• If the policy applies to more than one regulation, repeat the process
until all related regulations appear in the Related Regulations tab for
that policy.
Link a Policy to a Review Question
• Click the Review tab (and PRISM 2006 should appear in the
Type drop-down list).
• Locate the Review question to be linked to a policy.
• Click on the Review question to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Documents.
• Click the plus button under the Related Documents tab and
type in the Policy ID that the review question relates to
(example: CP01).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the review question applies to more than one policy, repeat
the process until all related policies appear in the Related
Documents tab for that review question.
Link a Policy to a Plan or Sub-Plan
• Click the Documents tab and select Program Area Plans from
the Type drop-down list.
• Locate or create the plan or sub-plan to be linked to a policy.
• Click on the plan or sub-plan to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Documents.
• Click the plus button under the Related Documents tab and
type in the Policy ID of the policy the plan relates to.
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the plan applies to more than one policy, repeat the process
until all related policies appear in the Related Documents tab
for that plan.
Link a Regulation to a Policy
• Click the Documents tab and select Program Policies from the
Type drop-down list.
• Locate or create the policy to be linked to a regulation.
• Click on the policy to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Regulations.
• Click the plus button under the Related Regulations tab and
type in the CFR number that the policy relates to (example:
1304.41 a).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the policy applies to more than one regulation, repeat the
process until all related regulations appear in the Related
Regulations tab for that policy.
Link a Regulation to a Plan
• Click the Documents tab and select Program Area Plans from
the Type drop-down list.
• Locate or create a new plan or sub-plan to be linked to a
regulation.
• Click on the plan or sub-plan to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Regulations.
• Click the plus button under the Related Regulations tab and
type in the CFR number that the plan or sub-plan relates to
(example: 1304.41 a).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the plan or sub-plan applies to more than one regulation,
repeat the process until all related regulations appear in the
Related Regulations tab for that plan or sub-plan.
Link a Regulation to a Review
Question
• Click the Review tab (and PRISM 2006 should appear in the
Type drop-down list).
• Locate the Review question to be linked to a regulation.
• Click on the Review question to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Regulations.
• Click the plus button under the Related Regulations tab and
type in the CFR number that the review question relates to
(example: 1304.41 a).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the review question applies to more than one regulation,
repeat the process until all related regulations appear in the
Related Regulations tab for that review question.
Link a Review Question to a Policy
• Click the Review tab (and PRISM 2006 should appear in the
Type drop-down list).
• Locate the Review question to be linked to a policy.
• Click on the Review question to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Documents.
• Click the plus button under the Related Documents tab and
type in the Policy ID that the review question relates to
(example: CP01).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the review question applies to more than one policy, repeat
the process until all related policies appear in the Related
Documents tab for that review question.
Link a Review Question to a Plan or
Portion of a Plan (Sub-Plan).
• Click the Review tab (and PRISM 2002 should appear in the
Type drop-down list).
• Locate the Review question to be linked to the plan or subplan.
• Click on the Review question to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Documents.
• Click the plus button under the Related Documents tab and
type in the Plan ID that the review question relates to
(example: ECD1).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the review question applies to more than one plan, repeat the
process until all related plans or sub-plans appear in the
Related Documents tab for that review question.
Link One Policy to Another
• Click the Documents tab and select Program Policies from the
Type drop-down list.
• Locate or create the policy to be linked to another policy.
• Click on the policy to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Documents.
• Click the plus button under the Related Documents tab and
type in the Policy ID that the policy relates to (example:
EC01).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the policy applies to more than one other policy, repeat the
process until all related policies appear in the Related
Documents tab for that policy.
Linking Plans, Sub-Plans
• Click the Documents tab and select Program Area Plans from
the Type drop-down list.
• Locate or create the plan or sub-plan to be linked to another
plan or sub-plan.
• Click on the plan to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Documents.
• Click the plus button under the Related Documents tab and
type in the Plan ID that the plan relates to (example: ECD1).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the plan applies to more than one other plan or sub-plan,
repeat the process until all related plans appear in the Related
Documents tab for that plan. Click the Documents tab and
select Program Area Plans from the Type drop-down list.
Linking Regulations
• Click the Regulations tab and select Performance Standards or
the Reference Library from the Type drop-down list.
• Locate the regulation to be linked to another regulation.
• Click on the regulation to be linked.
• From the record tabs (lower right-hand side), click on Related
Regulations.
• Click the plus button under the Related Regulations tab and
type in the CFR number that the first regulation relates to
(example: 1304.41 a).
• Press the tab button on your keyboard and/or click the check
mark to save.
• If the regulation applies to more than one other regulation,
repeat the process until all related regulations appear in the
Related Regulations tab for that regulation.
Working with Reports
With Policy Manager Two, you can modify your reports,
customizing them for your program. As you make new reports, they
will automatically appear in your Reports menu, ready to run.
Installing a new report that you copy or receive via e-mail is as simple
as putting this file in a particular folder (e.g. C:\Program
Files\PolicyManager2\Reports).
We expect that you will be able to change fonts and move text
around using the Report Designer. Usually you will want to start with a
copy of an existing report. This way you leave the original intact and
can freely experiment.
The reports included with Policy Manager are a good starting point.
Hopefully the structure of these are similar enough for you to use them
as templates for all your new reports. If there is a report style, layout,
structure, etc. that we don’t include, please let us know what you want
your report to look like so we can include it in the next version.
It is possible to make a new report from scratch, but we
expect this to be too difficult for most users. The report writer is
a third-part component that is plugged into Policy Manager.
The component, Fast Reports, comes with a User Guide that we
include with Policy Manager. You may find it useful, but it is
also very technical and confusing! Over time we’ll expand the
number of reports included with Policy Manager Two.
To edit or add reports, select Edit
Reports... on the Reports menu.
The Edit Reports Window allows
you to open the report designer to
add or edit existing reports.
Edit Reports Window
This window allows you to browse and edit your Policy Manager
reports. All of your reports are listed on the left hand side. When you
select one, you see a preview of the report on the right. Use the
buttons below the report list to Edit, Copy, Rename, Delete, etc.
Changing the items in the reports list will change which reports are
shown in the Reports... menu.
If you are not finding your report in this list, you may need to copy
the file to your \PolicyManager2\Reports directory.
It’s easy to add, create new, and modify anything that’s in Policy
Manager Two.
Working with Reports
• With PM2, you can modify your reports, customizing them for your
program. As you make new reports, they will automatically appear in your
Reports menu, ready to run. Installing a new report that you copy or
receive via e-mail is as simple as putting this file in a particular folder (e.g.
C:\Program Files\PolicyManager2\Reports).
• We expect that you will be able to change fonts and move text around using
the Report Designer. Usually you will want to start with a copy of an
existing report. This way you leave the original intact and can freely
experiment.
• The reports included with Policy Manager are a starting point. Hopefully
the structure of these are similar enough for you to use them as templates
for all your new reports. If there is a report style, layout, structure, etc. that
we don't include, please let us know what you want your report to look like
so we can include it in the next version.
• It is possible to make a new report from scratch, but we expect this to be
too difficult for most folks. We are getting used to using this report writer
ourselves. It is a third-part component that is plugged into Policy Manager.
The component, Fast Reports, comes with a User Guide that we include
with Policy Manager. You may find it useful, but it is also very technical
and confusing!
• To edit or add reports, select Edit Reports... on the Reports menu. The
Edit Reports Window allows you to open the report designer to add or edit
existing reports.
You’ve learned the basic steps for editing reports. Feel free to
edit the report further. You can easily change fonts, reposition
the text, etc. While you could start a new report from scratch,
that will be more difficult. If Policy Manager Two does not
include a report similar to one you would like, please let us
know so we can improve it for you.
Those are the basics of using Policy Manager Two to create, edit,
add, delete, find, link, keep track of, and print program area
plans, local policies and procedures, regulations, and the
results of your Federal onsite review, and the relationships
between them. We hope you find this useful.
If you ever have any difficulties with Policy Manager Two,
contact Teresa at teresa@cencomfut.com or call her at 909790-0670.