Case Management and Improved Client Communications
The Client
LifeMoves is the largest provider of shelter and supportive services in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. With seventeen locations from Daly City to San Jose, LifeMoves provides interim housing and supportive services for homeless families and individuals to rapidly return to stable housing and achieve self-sufficiency. Last year, LifeMoves served 10,045 clients and provided 244,000 total nights of shelter.
Challenges
While 75-85% of LifeMoves clients achieved stable housing upon exiting their programs, LifeMoves did not know how their clients fared once they left the shelters. There was no consistent way for LifeMoves staff to stay in touch with former clients to learn what had worked for them, what hadn’t, and what LifeMoves might do differently in their case management approaches. In addition, LifeMoves wanted to continue providing support and assistance to clients who experienced difficulty maintaining their self-sufficiency and who might be at risk of falling back into homelessness. LifeMoves needed a way to stay connected with clients after they completed the LifeMoves program and a way to collect and analyze the data those connections provided.
Solution
LifeMoves partnered with Cloud for Good to implement Salesforce and the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) to create the CONNECT Communications (digital communication) platform to manage client cases while they participated in LifeMoves programs and to communicate with clients once they were in their own housing again. “We evaluated multiple solutions: some were on the Salesforce platform, and some were not. After a lengthy due diligence phase, LifeMoves chose to work with Cloud for Good and implement Salesforce. The Cloud for Good team was knowledgeable about Salesforce and had extensive experience with custom integrations and case management solutions like the one LifeMoves envisioned. Cloud for Good helped us formulate a solution that would help us collect the data we needed to develop effective action plans,” said Craig Garber, Chief Financial Officer of LifeMoves.
The LifeMoves custom NPSP solution includes an integration with the federally-mandated Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), using a middle-ware solution, and connects their Salesforce instance with HMIS, allowing LifeMoves to track housing options, clients, historical information, and communications with their clients.
Leveraging AppExchange Apps for SMS text messaging and surveys, LifeMoves is collecting data on the journeys of former clients to better analyze the LifeMoves program and its impact on their clients’ lives. The communications enabled through the text messaging solution allows LifeMoves to keep in touch with clients as they seek to sustain their self-sufficiency. This communication provides both a “closed loop” on the impact of the LifeMoves program and the means by which to continue connecting clients with resources and providing on-going case management to help guide their journey.
Results
LifeMoves now collects data from former clients through the CONNECT platform, which provides powerful data analytics – on both outcomes and program impact. “Few, if any, other organizations that serve homeless people have this type of intelligence. We outlined our goals to end homelessness and Cloud for Good has assisted us in transforming the way we interact with the clients we serve,” said Garber. LifeMoves will use these new insights to continue to improve services and programs and further their mission to end homelessness in the Bay Area.
