United Way of Dane County

Health goal: A Dane County absent of racial health disparities. In 2022 our signature school-based behavioral health program, CBITS, screened over 6,000 students for symptoms of traumatic stress and delivered remote services that helped over 200 students connect with services for a variety of behavioral health issues that most reported improved their health outcomes. Updated strategies were developed to address the racial and socioeconomic health disparities that have led to poorer health outcomes for our County's BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) population. Significant time and resources were focused on collaborating with Dane County Health Council partners to develop a Care Coordination system that brings health and community resources together to address the Social Determinants of Health impacting birth outcomes for African American pregnant moms. At United Way of Dane County, we believe cost should not prevent one from getting the health care one needs. That's why we're helping lower income individuals and families who make too much to qualify for BadgerCare purchase insurance through healthcare.gov via our HealthConnect Premium Assistance Program. Health Connect offered premium rate coverage through 20 different local plans for qualified individuals who registered during the 2022 enrollment period. In 2022, $1.05 million was invested into the HealthConnect program by United Way of Dane County and our Partners UW Health and Quartz - allowing us to pay insurance premiums for 583 people through 504 plans. 18% of participants had no previous health coverage, 31% of HealthConnect enrollees identified as BIPOC.

Income Housing Goal: "There is a decrease in family homelessness." Our goals here are 1) # of who maintain housing/avoid evictions, 2) # who move into stable housing 3) # who increased their income, and 4) # who receive quality case management Results for 2022 were - 1,720 families maintained their housing and avoided evictions. 1065 families moved into stable housing. 39 families increased their income and 460 families worked with Case Managers on their housing goals. Building Economic Stability Goal : "Move more people on pathways out of poverty." We have two initiatives in this area" (1) the HIRE Initiative and (2) the Journey Home Initiative. The HIRE initiative is designed to place people experiencing poverty into family-sustaining wage jobs by helping them complete a high school diploma (if needed), and/or improving their employment and life skills, and secure new or improved employment. In 2022, with 334 were hired into a job getting a job earning $15 an hour or more. The HIRE partners prepared 245 individuals achieved a knowledge goal towards earning a diploma. 169 completed the preparation to receive their high school diploma or equivalent with 32 actually earning their High School Diploma/GED/505 or 509 diploma. The Journey Home initiative links ex-offenders who are returning to the community to four research-based strategies: Residency, Employment, Support, Education, and Treatment (RESET) so they can successfully reintegrate back into the community. 200 out of 217 people who received services following their release from incarceration did not return to prison within two years. Since the Journey Home program was launched to serve all returning prisoners to Dane County, the return-to prison rate for Dane County has decreased from 66% (in 2006) to 39% (in 2019). Partners in our Income Initiatives include: Catholic Charities-Diocese of Madison, Centro Hispano, Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Cultural Practices That Are Relevant Professional Development Organization, Habitat for Humanity of Dane County, JustDane, Latino Academy of Workforce Development, Literacy Network, Way Forward, Porchlight, Sankofa Behavioral & Community Health, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, Stoughton Area Resource Team, Sun Prairie Emergency Food Pantry, The Road Home Dane County, The Salvation Army of Dane County, Urban League of Greater Madison and YWCA Madison The United Way Affordable Housing Fund Committee recommended the Fund's fifth and sixth loans to create more affordable units in Dane County. These loans of $275,000 will add 120 low cost housing units in Dane County.

Academic Success goal: "Students succeed academically and graduate high school, prepared for higher education, career, and community." Our major initiatives in this area are tutoring and academic support programs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels to help increase the graduation rate in Dane County to 95% by 2024. Over 350 elementary students were tutored by 11 AmeriCorps members in the 2021-2022 school Urban League of Greater Madison is the lead agency partner on middle school literacy and math tutoring. Dane County is at a 93% six-year graduation rate. In addition, we partner with neighborhood, community, and school-based programs to promote academic achievement, family engagement, and social-emotional skill-building success in and out of school, including 100 Black Men of Madison, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club, Briarpatch Youth Services, Centro Hispano, City of Middleton Youth Center, Dear Diary, Families and Schools Together (FAST, Goodman Community Center, Literacy Network, Lussier Community Education Center, Mount Zion Baptist Church, Operation Fresh Start, Simpson Street Free Press, The Hmong Institute Inc., Urban League of Greater Madison and Vera Court Neighborhood Center.

Corporate & Community Engagement: United Way engages our community, mobilizes volunteers and strengthens local nonprofits to inspire Dane County residents to give, advocate and volunteer. We do this by mobilizing the caring power of our community to create lasting change for multiple generations as The Power of Many. Working for All. United Way understands the importance of engagement across the community. We develop meaningful volunteer opportunities to connect and inspire through year-round engagements and communication. In 2022, 20,000 visitors searched VolunteerYourTime.org to get connected with volunteer opportunities in Dane County that matched their interest, skills and time availability. Over 140,000 ImPack Kits (kits providing essentials to individuals and families in Dane County) were created during corporate and community volunteering opportunities - leading to $198,000 in economic impact. We work to build agency effectiveness and capacity by providing training and developmental opportunities to business volunteer programs, volunteer managers, nonprofit boards and executive directors to help strengthen the leadership, governance and volunteer engagement within our partner agencies. Our work in Community Engagement identifies and trains lived-experience experts who will take on leadership roles in community-change initiatives. Additionally, our trust-building work of the Law Enforcement and Leaders of Color Collaboration strengthens lines of communication between law enforcement and communities of color to drive overall collective impact. 211: In 2022, United Way of Dane County 211 provided 41,176 referrals for service to people in our seven-county area of responsibility. Our 211 Community Information and Referrals Specialists spent over 170,500+ minutes talking with persons in need, guiding them toward solutions and better outcomes. The top five issues addressed in 2022 were Housing, Food, Health Care, Mental Health and Substance Use and Utility Assistance. Additionally, over 4,000 people accessed 211 resources through web page visits, and staff responded to 433 texts and emails requesting assistance. 211 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to the needs of our communities. Anonymous and non-judgmental assistance is the hallmark of 211, which has helped hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors in times of need.

Early Childhood and Family Well Being Goal: "Children are cared for and have fun as they become prepared for school." We use home visiting to help us achieve this goal that 4-year old's are at age-expected development and ready to begin school. Home Visiting is in-home parent education and support to low-income parents of young children facing multiple risk factors to help them nurture their children. Our home visiting programs include the Parent-Child Home Program, Welcome Baby and Beyong and Kinder Ready. In 2022, on average 84% of the children enrolled were reaching developmental milestones on track. Our lead partners on these three Born Learning initiatives included RISE and Children's Hospital - Community Services Division. Goal: Build family well-being by intentionally and simultaneously working with children under five and the adults in their lives together. Research and community input consistently show that coordinated, holistic programs and policies that helpmeet children's and caregivers' goals simultaneously lead to increased family stability and mobility from poverty - leading to greater success across generations. One of the primary ways we provide geographically centered supports is through our work in the Early Childhood Zones (ECZ). This collaboration of local foundations, nine non-profit organizations, the City of Madison, and Dane County has enabled us to reach families in the northside (NECZ) and in Sun Prairie and Leopold. The primary work of these zones is to provide families with home visiting services that help equip parents to be their child's first teacher through literacy and play. The zone also offers wrap around services for families in need of housing case management, rental assistance, job and employment support, and mental health support.. Of the families served through the NECZ, 79% reported improved parent child interaction or increased knowledge about parenting; 81% of families engaged in housing supports moved to safe, adequate housing or maintained stable housing/avoided eviction; 62% of families engaged in employment an education services obtained or maintained employment; 30% of those engaged in employment training services completed the program.