Keystone Human Services
Background
Keystone Human Services (KHS) provides community-based services to children and adults with autism, individuals with intellectual disabilities, and adults experiencing mental illness. With programs spanning four U.S. states and international initiatives advancing inclusion worldwide, KHS’s mission is to help people live meaningful lives in their communities. From supporting families through Head Start to training service dogs, their impact is both local and global.
The Challenge
Behind the scenes, KHS’s IT team inherited a patchwork of security systems that drained time and created gaps. Cameras, access control, intercoms, and alarms had been purchased from different vendors, each with its own console and quirks. Managing them required more time than the team could spare—and still left blind spots across KHS’s wide-ranging footprint: offices and classrooms in four states, the Capital Area Head Start program, and the Susquehanna Service Dogs Training Center.
“We were looking for a best-of-breed system that let us manage everything under one pane of glass,” says Craig Girsch, Chief Technology Officer. “That research brought us to Verkada.”
Photo by Annie Kubiak | Onward State
From patchwork to platform
Migrating to Verkada was more than a technology swap; it was a reset—laying a new foundation for security across KHS’s sites.
KHS deployed cameras across offices and program sites, including inside and outside the kennels at Susquehanna Service Dogs Training Center, where staff now use recorded footage both to monitor animals overnight and to refine training techniques.
Photo by Annie Kubiak | Onward State
Access control was rolled out to offices and classrooms, with mobile credentials replacing fobs—no more provisioning plastic, chasing lost cards, or trying to reclaim them after staff changes.
Intercom systems now welcome guests and deliveries across all locations, a breakthrough after two previous vendors failed to deliver reliable performance.
Alarms were added where needed, rounding out a unified, cloud-managed approach.
“Verkada was our third intercom system,” says Girsch. “But it was the first one that fully worked—and it doubles as a great front-door camera.”
From hours to seconds in investigations
The change has been most visible in moments of urgency. Before Verkada, responding to HR or law enforcement requests could take hours—logging into VPNs, navigating old DVRs, and hoping video exports would complete. Now, the same work takes minutes, often seconds.
“At one site, all we knew was that there had been a red car around the time of an incident,” recalls Project Manager Rob Ramirez. “With our old system, that would have meant scrolling through hours of footage and marking down every car. With Verkada, we typed ‘red car’ and had the clip in seconds, ready for authorities.”
Girsch adds, "With every incident, we’re saving hours. Now it takes seconds.”
Scaling security without adding headcount
KHS’s four-person infrastructure team—already responsible for the data center, servers, network, and phones—now manages security across the entire footprint without additional staff. Girsch credits Verkada’s products, designed to work seamlessly together, for keeping the workload manageable.
“For any event, door, camera, and alarm data show up in one place,” says Girsch. “You’re not piecing together logs from different systems—you’re seeing one story.”
That native integration has been especially valuable for HR and compliance. What once required juggling video from a door camera, logs from an intercom, and records from an access system can now be validated in a single pane of glass—whether it’s confirming an employee’s hours, investigating tailgating, or resolving disputes.
Verkada also removed much of the IT overhead. The legacy access control system required a dedicated server, annual patching, and clunky VPN connections just to pull logs or footage. With Verkada, those pain points disappeared. Even basic tasks like setting door schedules, which once took 20+ minutes, now take only a few clicks.
“Verkada was designed to be simple enough that our existing IT team could absorb it on top of everything else,” says Girsch.
Key Outcomes
For KHS, the results of standardizing security on one platform are clear:
Hours to seconds: Investigations that once took hours with DVRs now take seconds with Verkada’s AI-powered search and unified console.
Security at scale: A four-person team manages 178 devices across 12 locations—without adding headcount.
20 minutes reduced to minutes: Door schedules that once took 20+ minutes to configure now take only a few clicks.
Mobile-first access: Staff unlock doors, view cameras, and manage alarms from the Command and Verkada Pass apps—no fobs, VPNs, or laptops required.
Reliable intercom: After two failed vendors, KHS’s third attempt with Verkada “just works”—and doubles as a front-door camera.
“It’s like buying future systems today. The components know about each other, and you pull everything for an incident in one window—fast,” says Girsch.
Staying ahead with alerts
KHS relies on Verkada alerts to save time and reduce guesswork. If a camera goes offline, the IT team doesn’t have to waste hours manually monitoring it. Instead, system health alerts will immediately notify them—making troubleshooting far more efficient.
“Before, we would have had to sit and watch it,” says Ramirez. “With Verkada, we set an alert on that device and could troubleshoot effectively instead of wasting time babysitting it.”
The team also uses door and camera logs together to investigate incidents like tailgating—whether someone held a door open or an unauthorized person followed behind. With Verkada, those events are pieced together in seconds from a single interface—no more juggling multiple systems.
Looking ahead, KHS is considering expanding alerts beyond device health and door activity. At Head Start schools, they are exploring Person and Vehicle of Interest alerts to strengthen custody and pickup policies. Being proactively notified when an unauthorized individual or vehicle appears could add another layer of safety for children and families.
Beyond security: supporting KHS’s mission
These benefits extend far beyond traditional security use cases, directly supporting KHS’s programs:
Service Dogs: Trainers use camera playback to evaluate how dogs respond to training stimuli, refine techniques, and catch signs of distress in the kennels overnight.
Photo by Annie Kubiak | Onward State
Head Start: The team is exploring Person/Vehicle of Interest alerts to enforce custody and pickup policies in a safe, controlled way.
Office Utilization: During return-to-office planning, KHS generated occupancy reports in minutes, helping leaders make informed space-planning decisions. Requests for the same data at non-Verkada sites took far longer.
The long view on total cost of ownership
By consolidating physical security onto one platform, KHS has eliminated legacy burdens like DVR servers, patching, and fob management. The result: lower costs and more time for IT to focus on higher-value work.
“As KHS grows, each new site or device can be added without extra servers, staffing, or one-off systems,” says Girsch. “That efficiency lowers our total cost of ownership. Don’t just look at the upfront price—consider the administrative effort you’ll save, how much faster you can respond to incidents, and the value of one integrated system. For us, Verkada delivers excellent value with a feature set that used to feel out of reach.”
For KHS, those efficiencies mean IT spends less time wrestling with systems—and more time supporting programs that change lives, from classrooms to kennels.