June 21, 2022 | VOLUME 2

United Way of Greater Houston's Data Collaboration Newsletter

Welcome to the UWGH Data Collaboration Newsletter. We’ll use this forum every other month to keep all funded partners updated on our data collaboration efforts for the Integrated Client Journey (ICJ) as well as for sharing resources and announcements. Please feel free to share the newsletter with any of your staff that would benefit from the content.

Table of Contents

• ICJ Data Governance Guiding Principles and Key Takeaways
• Update on ICJ Tech Tool 
• Recap from June’s Governing Body Meeting
• Reminders for 1st Cohort onboarding?
• Call to action / Contact Us

ICJ Data Governance Guiding Principles and Key Takeaways

Guiding Principles

The Guiding Principles below were developed collaboratively with funded partners. They underpin the work of developing and maintaining the ICJ tech tool and all of the decisions made through the ICJ Data Governance Framework. The UWGH and all funded partners commit to adhering to these principles as they participate in the collaborative decision-making process for the Integrated Client Journey collaboration.

• Protect client confidentiality and privacy while providing greater access to data in order to make services more accessible to ALICE and those living below the federal poverty line;
• Ensure clients participating in the Integrated Client Journey remain in the driver’s seat of their own journey;
• Establish and maintain accountability for protecting client privacy at every point of the client journey;
• Limit the legal impacts of sharing information for individual agency staff by ensuring they receive appropriate and frequent training;
• Prioritize data protection, security, and privacy;
• Guide information management and transparent decision-making around the ICJ tech tool and the data associated with it;
• Ensure data is consistently defined and well understood;
• Establish a collaborative data culture across all agencies;
• Provide all relevant data stakeholders, including agencies and those they serve, a voice in the decision-making process.

Key Takeaways

The following key takeaways surfaced during early interviews with ICJ funded partners. They represent the values, challenges, opportunities, and limitations of the service providing agencies that need to be incorporated into an ICJ tech tool.

• Maintaining trust with clients and protecting their privacy and confidentiality is priority across all agencies;
• All funded partners follow-up with clients to learn which referrals were acted upon by clients & the resulting outcomes;
• Data collected on clients varies by program/service area within agencies;
• Different populations have different limitations and needs for data sharing and coordinated services (e.g. undocumented individuals, survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, &/or trauma);
• Program data documentation and storage varies widely across systems and agencies;
• Additional data entry into a new system is a barrier to participation;
• Current processes for referrals are mostly manual and vary from paper printouts that are handed to clients, warm hand-offs via call, text or email, and less commonly to electronic referrals to agencies which have built a system for referrals that their service partners must use.

ICJ Tech Tool Update

United Way of Greater Houston is excited to announce the selection of the technical vendor for the ICJ Tech Tool as Patient Care Intervention Center PCIC.  The technology solution will play a vital role in successfully supporting individuals along a holistic journey of services.  This pioneering tool will connect the network of navigators and funded partners to enhance service coordination and identify gaps.  We look forward to working with the PCIC team to build upon the prototype, generously developed in partnership with BCG Consulting.

Recap from June's Governing Body Meeting

The first ICJ Governing Body meeting on June 8th, 2022, kicked off with exciting news that the contract with the ICJ technology vendor was signed!

This first Governing Body meeting revisited the group’s purpose and composition and started to engage members with some operational decisions. Procedures for Voting and Member & Proxy Turnover were presented to the members as interim practices to guide the Governing Body's operations. If the members approve their use in the next meeting, those interim procedures shall be piloted for six months before being revisited by the Body to determine if they should be edited or approved as permanent processes.

Members also received an update on the status of workgroups that have happened to date. One completed workgroup focused on looking into what data should be collected/shared on vulnerable populations (e.g. immigrants and refugees). This workgroup will present its recommendation for approval at the next Governing Body meeting in July. Four other workgroups are paused, awaiting technical review of potential recommendations. The great news is that we have two upcoming workgroups (see below):

• What are key inclusion criteria the Governing Body should incorporate for stakeholder representation into the succession plan for the Governing Body?
• What is the difference between the global intake form and a global assessment of clients?

The next meeting of the Governing Body will take place on July 20.

Special thank you to the funded partners that serve on the Governing Body for their time and participation!

AccessHealth, BakerRipley, Catholic Charities, Easter Seals, ECHOS, Hope Disaster Recovery, HAWC, HAAM, MAM, NAM, Tagert Hunger, The Alliance, The Council on Recovery, The Montrose Center, The Salvation Army, The Women’s Resource, VOA, Welsey and YMCA.

Reminders for 1st Cohort onboarding (UWGH)

We are staggering onboarding for the Data Collaboration into three cohorts over April 2022 to March 2023.

Cohort 1
Onboarding: July – September 2022
• Angel Reach
• AVANCE-Houston, Inc.
• AVDA
• Avondale House
• Bread Of Life Inc
• Capital IDEA
• Career And Recovery Resources, Inc.
• Center For Pursuit
• Chinese Community Center (CCC)
• Christian Community Service Center (CCSC)
• Covenant Community Capital
• Family Houston
• Family Ties, Family Resource Services
• Goodwill Industries Of Houston
• Houston Area Urban League (HAUL)
• Jewish Family Service (JFS)
• LISC
• My Brothers Keeper Outreach Center
• New Caney New Horizons
• On The Road Lending
• Prison Entrepreneurship Program
• Santa Maria Hostel
• SER-Jobs
• Star of Hope Mission
• The Capital Good Fund
• The Landing
• The Workfaith Connection
• United Against Human Trafficking
• Upskill Houston(GHP)
• West Houston Assistance Ministries (WHAM)

The CEO and Primary Contact have received an onboarding packet to review along with a calendar invite to the Cohort 1 Kick Off meeting on July 19, 2022 at 9:00AM via Zoom. As we work together to onboard all funded partners into the Data Collaboration, please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions, concerns, or opportunities you would like to discuss. Please email Jessica Davison at jdavison@unitedwayhouston.org.

Call to Action

Check out the Op Ed (Too many Houston area families are struggling financially. United Way is stepping up.) in the Houston Chronicle on the work of Second Century Vision for the Integrated Client Journey.

If you missed the first issue of our Data Collaboration Newsletter, want to join United Way of Greater Houston’s Partner Microsoft Team’s Channel, or would like to share with us any links to interesting things happening in the Houston area and beyond related to data sharing, feel free to contact us and let us know.