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Technology for Service Delivery: Blueprints for Transforming your Service Delivery Program N-TEN Conference March 27, 2004 Philadelphia, PA. United Way of New York City’s Food Card Access Project. Presented by Stephanie Copelin, Director of Workforce Development. This Session.
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Technology for Service Delivery: Blueprints for Transforming your Service Delivery ProgramN-TEN ConferenceMarch 27, 2004Philadelphia, PA N-TEN Conference, March 27, 2004
United Way of New York City’s Food Card Access Project Presented by Stephanie Copelin, Director of Workforce Development
This Session • Overview of the UWNYC Food Card Access Project (FCAP) • Successes - Results • Challenges • Development, rollout, training, updating and continued growth • Lessons Learned
FCAP • UWNYC’s 1st Community Action Initiative • Collaboration among many partners • Leveraging experience and dollars • Building on a known successful model • CFRC’s Food Force Program • Created a technology tool that allows us to track results
FCAP Outcomes • Increase Food Stamp enrollment in each targeted community. • Bring additional federal dollars and jobs to low-income communities/households • Improve access to the FS program for working families.
FCAP Operations • Outreach in target neighborhoods • Prescreening of potentially eligible clients - using technology tool • Application assistance • Follow-up • Client advocacy
Results to Date • Five CBOs operational • Names submitted to HRA • Activity totals (as of 03/05) • 39,000 people received information and materials • 8,000 people have been prescreened • 5,500 people referred to HRA • 1,400 have received food stamps
Challenges • Development • Technology development is not a consensus-building project • Many partners = Many agendas • Rollout and Training • Understanding different organizations have different tech capacities • Updating and continued growth • Cost and on-going understanding
Lessons Learned • Plan, plan, plan and get things in writing • Know your partners capacities - technological and staff • Designate one person to review and make final decisions on pieces • Have a back-up plan - eg, Phase 1, Phase 2 • Understand how to work with a consultant and make sure they understand how to work with nonprofits • Be prepared for things to go wrong • timing, training, feature-creep