United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties

LONG-TERM FOLLOW-ALONG PROJECT – Key Points

August 2017

The Case:

1.Low income families are faced with overwhelming issues and need assistance and support.

2.Communities need to focus on helping these families become more self-sufficient, and therefore reduce intergenerational poverty.

The Challenge:

1.United Way has identified service providers to provide long-term follow-along services to their clients for four years for the purpose of learning the long-term impact and benefit of services provided.

2.Service providers will maintain contact with clients and obtain data on the effectiveness of services in reducing intergenerational poverty.

United Way’s Commitment:

1.Consistent with United Way’s philosophy of engaging the community to address issues, United Way is committed to mobilizing additional resources through local not-for-profit organizations that provide servicesaligning with United Way’s focus areas; Education, Health and Financial Stability.

2.This will insure that donor contributions are maximized to the fullest in addressing local health and human service needs in the most effective manner possible.

Long-Term Follow-Along Goals:

1.Service providers will collect and evaluate outcome data on persons served and report the results of their follow-along efforts and the individuals’ progress towards achieving long-term outcomesas follows:

  • Grace Clinic – “Preventing Complications in the Uninsured Diabetic”

Managing health related issues and maintaining good health to the extent possible;

  • IGNITE Youth Mentoring – “Match Supervision and Recruitment Project”

Helping youth to learn to make better life choices;

  • Senior Life Resources – “Meals on Wheels” and “Meals on Wheels Under 60” –

Helping people remain in their own homes as long as their health allows;

2.Address the immediate needs of families, especially those that are lower income;

3.Increase organizational capacities of local not-for-profit organizations by engaging the four service providers along with United Way in a “learning community,”to share best practices and learn strategies to increase service delivery effectiveness;

4.Continue to facilitate a community-wide process forexamining local needs, setting priorities, and

creating solutions that will improve lives and alleviate intergenerational poverty.

The Impact (examples of how lives were improved last year):

The measure of United Way is not in the fundraising campaign, but in the ways lives are improved and positively impacted. The following has been accomplished to-date:

1.Service providers were selected to participate in the project serving a variety of target groups and providing an array of different services.

2.Outcome Plans were developed with each provider.

3.Written status reports are submitted periodically by each provider.

4.“Learning Community” sessions have been held semi-annually so providers can share their successes and challenges and learn from one another.

5.Several providers have decided to track long-term benefit information on all people served, not just those slotted for the project.

6.All providers are making adjustments in all of their programs, not just those associated with the Long-Term Follow-Along Project, as their data-tracking efforts are showing greater benefits being achieved with specific program operational tactics.

7.Several providers are sharing their successes with their colleagues providing similar services around the state and nation. For instance:

  • One organization that provides home-delivered meals to home-bound seniors has developed a partnership with the nursing program at WSU Tri-Cities. This is being replicated in Spokane.
  • Another organization is providing training and staff development to other similar organizations around the state on tactics they have discovered to be extremely effective.

How You Can Help:

1.Learn about United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties’ work in bringing the community together to improve lives by visiting United Way’s website.

2.Contact the United Way office to make a donation.

3.Use 2-1-1 to locate needed health and human services in our community.

4.Advocate for people who are less fortunate and assist them in connecting with needed resources.

5.Contact the United Way office to volunteer.

401 N. Young St. | Kennewick, WA 99336 | 509-783-4102 |