Category: Government

Basic Needs Navigation to Help Families Thrive

Child Welfare departments and child-serving organizations across industries face the complex challenge of reducing child removals while grappling with the unmet basic needs of children and families. Significant hurdles exist in navigating the maze of services, from mental health and substance abuse treatment to programs that address basic needs like paying for utilities, housing, transportation, food, and employment assistance. 

Up-to-date knowledge of these programs, eligibility requirements, how to enroll, and capacity is difficult at best and can be exacerbated by issues like staff turnover and cross state kinship placements. 

Findhelp is dedicated to supporting the holistic needs of children and families. Whether that’s ensuring families have access to services when a need first arises, to being there when crisis strikes, we’re committed to ensuring that families — and their advocates — have a trusted resource at their fingertips.

Read our child serving use case

Supporting Families Along All Points of the Continuum

The Findhelp network spans the entire United States and millions of people across the country are already using our publicly-available, free online platform (findhelp.org) to find and connect to needed services and support.

Prevention Levels

Unique Ways Findhelp Supports the Holistic Needs of Children and Families

Ensuring the health and well-being of children and families is a community effort. We’re grateful to work with hundreds of organizations at the center of children and family services — from health care entities and health plans, to nonprofits, state and community-based child welfare agencies, and more. Below is just a snapshot of some of the organizations we’re partnering with to help families thrive.

Find Help Georgia

A partnership among Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, and the Technical College System of Georgia and housed in the Georgia State University School of Public Health, the Find Help Georgia platform and mobile app (powered by Findhelp) were launched in 2022.

“What’s wonderful about Find Help Georgia is how easy it is to search and self-navigate for resources, even without creating an account. It’s also simple, and free, for helpers and organizations to keep up with the resources shared with the individuals and communities they serve,” said Prevent Child Abuse Georgia Training and Resource Coordinator Kimberly Stewart-Lucas.

Individuals can search by ZIP Code or speak directly with a resource specialist by phone or online chat.

Find Help GA quote

Sutter County Children & Families Commission

Sutter County Children & Families Commission is committed to ensuring all children ages 0 to 5 are born healthy and raised in nurturing homes and communities. The Commission is led by nine individuals appointed by the Sutter County Board of Supervisors. The Commission adopts a strategic plan that addresses identified challenges, strengths and problems faced by children 0 to 5 and their families and funds programs and services that align with the plan.

They launched the Sutter Kids platform (powered by Findhelp) in 2022 to help parents & families find assistance, and help organizations coordinate care.

Sutter County quote

Kids’ Central

Formed in 2003, Kids Central is the lead nonprofit agency charged by the State of Florida to treat and prevent child abuse in several counties. As a prevention program, Kids Central offers Kinship Care Support for relatives raising relative children to keep them from entering foster care. For children who cannot safely remain with their families, Kids Central recruits, trains, and licenses foster homes.

Kids Central Connect (powered by Findhelp) enables investigators and case managers to connect families to both protective factor services as well as apply, manage, and track multiple family referrals to Kids Central’s evidence-based programs.

Kids Central quote

Findhelp’s Nationwide Network

Millions of individuals have used the Findhelp platform to find and connect to free and reduced-cost health and social resources in their communities. Our industry-leading network serves individuals in every ZIP Code in the United States.

We partner with more than 600 customers nationwide, including state, county, and city governments and hundreds of payer and healthcare organizations. We work with nearly a dozen state agency customers in Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia. 

Seeker Journey

Partner With Us!

To learn how Findhelp can help you achieve your organization’s strategic social care goals of supporting the holistic needs of children and families, connect with our team.

Read our child serving use case

“American Compassion” Podcast: LBJ and the American Social Safety Net

On January 8, 1964 (60 years ago today!) President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) gave the State of the Union address to the United States Congress. During his speech, LBJ proposed legislation as “an all-out war on human poverty” in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent: “This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America”.

In honor of this declaration and LBJ’s progressive legacy, we’re launching season two of American Compassion, our podcast about the history of the social safety net in America.

Listen to the podcast button

From the New Deal to the Great Society

In season 1 of American Compassion we went back in time to the turn of the 20th century to explore poverty and wealth, philanthropy and charity, work, health and politics, and policy at a time when the idea of a safety net was just a dream, and we dove deep into what and who it took to make those dreams a reality. From workplace safety, fair labor standards, and child labor laws to the New Deal, we scratched the surface of the complex history of the social safety net in America.

American Compassion logo

In season 2, we explore not only what programs and legislation President Johnson created to build the safety net we have today, but we also delve into why LBJ was so committed to civil rights, education, economic opportunity, and so much more. We do this through both archived recordings and speeches and interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Robert Caro. Other guests on the podcast include biographers, economists, policy advisors, and historians, H.W. Brands, Julian Zelizer, Guian Mckee, Mark Updegrove, Martha Baily, Andrew R. Smith, Melody Barnes, and Erine Gray.

Episode 1: Taking The Reins and Passage of The Civil Rights Act 

In May of 1964, six months before he would be elected president of the United States in a landslide victory, President Johnson laid out his vision for The Great Society in a speech at the University of Michigan: “The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time.” It was there that he was to begin his life’s work, with “liberty for all”. Passing the civil rights bill was crucial for Johnson, not only because he was continuing Kennedy’s legacy, but because it was a foundational piece of his Great Society and the American Safety Net.

In this episode we explore Lyndon Baines Johnson the man and the president with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Robert Caro, we hear conversations between LBJ with Martin Luther King Jr. and we get a better understanding of the context and the consequences of this monumental moment in American history.

Mark Updegrove quote.

Episode 2: The (Revolutionary) Economic Opportunity Act

It’s the summer of 1964 and Lyndon Johnson has just signed the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, but when it came to the safety net Johnson’s vision encompassed far greater legislation. President Johnson was willing to wager his presidency on the War on Poverty – but why? 

In this episode, we will pull apart the fine details of the Economic Opportunity Act and hear some conversations that illustrate the tension and the stakes of creating some of the most revolutionary safety net programs of the 20th century. We’ll talk about why the War on Poverty and programs like Community Action, Job Corps, and Head Start were so important to LBJ as a person and as president, and we’ll talk about the compromises it took to create and pass this legislation. In addition, we’ll explore the impact of programs like the Job Corps through the experiences of George Foreman.

Episode 3: The Road to Realization for Medicare and Medicaid 

By passing the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964, and The Economic Opportunity Act on August 20, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson continued the work of Franklin Roosevelt as an interim president before he was elected in his own right in November of 1964. However, there was a significant element of the safety net that no president before LBJ was able to conquer, and that was healthcare. In this episode, we explore Medicare’s tenuous, little-known road to realization and the masterminds behind its conception.

Episode 4: The Legacy of The War on Poverty

In his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964, Johnson says, “This administration here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in America.” But we still see poverty in America today; does that mean the War on Poverty failed? In this episode, we’ll look at the legacies of the Great Society, the War on Poverty, and LBJ’s presidency.  What did the policies that came out of his administration mean for the American Safety Net, and why aren‘t more people aware of LBJ’s social policy legacy?

Listen to the podcast button

Partner With Us to Rebuild the Safety Net

If you’d like to learn more about how we partner with more than 600 customers nationwide to rebuild the social safety net, connect with us.

Welcome Home: Helping Immigrant and Refugee Families Thrive

Many American cities, counties and towns are experiencing a surge  of newly-arrived immigrant and refugee individuals and families. The New York Times has described some of these towns as “welcoming but worried”.  Communities have found many of their  public and private social services overwhelmed by unexpected placement of refugees. Well-intentioned communities need support in helping immigrant and refugee families thrive.

Connecting to these services can be a complicated and overwhelming task due to cultural, economic, and language barriers. We partner with government agencies and community organizations responsible for providing vital, life-saving services to those just arriving, and our technology enables both self-referrals and assisted navigation to housing, food, healthcare, legal aid, and other resources. 



How the Findhelp Platform Supports Immigrants and Refugees

The programs that are part of the Findhelp network are as diverse as the people they support. We have multiple ways for users to find the programs that are the best for them or the person they’re helping.

Program Filters

Program language filter screenshot

Digital Equity

Language Support

Language Translation Screenshot

 


Partnering with Our Customers to Support Their Communities


City of Dallas logo

The Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs (WCIA) Division of the City of Dallas seeks to bridge the space between newcomers and existing Dallas residents to foster informed understanding and promote shared leadership.​​​​​


Immigrant Welcome Center logo

The Immigrant Welcome Center (IWC) collaborates with Findhelp to augment their mission to be a trusted partner and advocate for all immigrants. IWC’s work includes immigrant and refugee programming, collaboration with local leaders, and the assembly of a community-based network of services. 

Watch our short Findhelp films documentary about how the Immigrant Welcome Center is helping immigrant and refugee families thrive.



How Can We Help You Support Immigrants and Refugees?

Schedule a demo with us to see how we can partner with your organization to address the social needs of the immigrants and refugees you serve and support.

Call to action: collaborate with findhelp

Social Care Without Stigma: How Findhelp Supports People Living with HIV/AIDS

HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, weakens someone’s immune system by destroying their cells that fight disease and infection. While there is currently no cure for HIV, with proper medical care, it can be controlled. If left untreated, HIV can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 1.2 million people in the United States had HIV at the end of 2021, and of those people, about 87% knew they had HIV (source). CDC data shows that from 2017 to 2021 HIV diagnoses in the US decreased 7% overall, but there were still more than 36,000 people who received an HIV diagnosis in 2021 (source). The CDC has a goal to decrease the number of new HIV diagnoses to 9,588 by 2025 and to 3,000 by 2030.

Map showing HIV infection rates per U.S. state.

Darker colors = higher rates of infection.

In this post, the second in a two-part series timed to World AIDS Day on December 1 (read the first part), we’ll discuss the social care challenges faced by people living with HIV / AIDS, how the Findhelp platform is designed to support them, and innovative ways that we’re collaborating with our customers for treatment and prevention.

Call to action: read Living Positive blog, part 1

How Stigma Harms People Living with HIV/AIDS

There is widespread social and individual stigma surrounding HIV: negative attitudes and beliefs about people living with HIV. As a result of this stigma, people living with HIV often face discrimination (behaviors that result from the negative attitudes or beliefs held by others). HIV discrimination is the act of treating people living with HIV differently than those without HIV, because of the stigma associated with the disease.

Graphic of interlocking hands

According to the National Institutes of Health, social stigma surrounding HIV can result in:

HIV stigma can also lead to “reluctance in seeking HIV testing, disclosing HIV status, or accessing healthcare services, hindering timely diagnosis and engagement in care” (source).

How Our Platform Makes it Easy to Find Help

As highlighted by the American Psychological Association, HIV is a disease that “is embedded in social and economic inequity, as it affects those of lower socioeconomic status and impoverished neighborhoods at a disproportionately high rate” (source). Our nationwide platform only lists free or reduced-cost programs that provide direct services to people in need, to address the social impacts of chronic disease and illness.

Easily Identify Non-Medical Needs

Customers can implement custom or standard social needs assessments on their Findhelp platform. Individuals can self-assess or be helped by a staff navigator.

Screenshot of HIV/AIDS typeahead search

Social Care Without Stigma

Our platform can be used by individuals to self-navigate, anonymously and securely. Furthermore, we have a “Don’t reach out” option on our referral form that gives the program  a heads up that someone needs their help but keeps the initial outreach in the hands of the individual, as an added layer of privacy. 

Screenshot of referral form

Our platform is HITRUST certified and HIPAA-compliant.

Supporting People Living with HIV / AIDs

We partner with several of our customers nationwide to connect people to local resources. Here are some highlights of how these organizations successfully partner and innovate with us to lift up their communities.

Siloam Wellness Center logo

Siloam enriches the well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS by providing a broad range of integrative mind, body and spirit services and programs. When the city of Philadelphia shut down in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Siloam’s Executive Director, Sarina DiBianca, got all of their classes online in only four days, and used it as an opportunity to open them up to participants anywhere in the world, in part by listing them on the Findhelp platform. 

Classes like chair yoga, grief group, trauma support, and breathwork were now available to anyone with an internet connection. Siloam’s Man Cave Support Group and HIV/AIDS Support Group remained reserved specifically for those with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis, but their trauma, grief, and movement classes were opened to the public. These programs were listed on the Findhelp platform, and Sarina turned on referrals in hopes of reaching more people in need of these important mental and emotional health services. 

Today, Siloam receives around 100 referrals a month on the Findhelp platform from individuals and care navigators nationwide. Not only does the Siloam team respond to every referral, they also update the status to let care navigators know that they reached out. When Sarina emails a client, she shares all of the programming at Siloam. She knows that someone might have been referred to a yoga class but actually needs the Grief Group. Even if someone isn’t ready to attend right away, they have the knowledge that there’s a safe space waiting for them and lots of different ways to get involved and be supported.

Last week our storytelling initiative, Findhelp films, released a documentary short about Siloam’s holistic work to support people living with HIV/AIDS.

Call to action: watch our Siloam documentary short

Dallas County logo

Dallas County has a population of 2.6 million and is the ninth-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Dallas, which is also the ninth-largest city in the United States. It’s a very diverse county, with only 28% of residents identifying as non-Hispanic White (according to the 2020 U.S. census. Their mission is “To provide quality service, public safety, and positive behavior change through the use of effective techniques for the betterment of the community.”

Dallas County is also on a mission to end the HIV Epidemic in Dallas by 2030. 

CommUnityCare logo

CommUnityCare (CUC) is a federally qualified health center (FQHC) that serves uninsured and underinsured people in Central Texas.

CUC operates a health center dedicated to providing innovative HIV treatment and prevention to those living with HIV and those at a high risk of contracting the disease. 

DC Health logo

The Washington, D.C. Department of Health (DC Health) promotes health, wellness and equity across the District. Their responsibilities include identifying health risks; educating the public; preventing and controlling diseases, injuries and exposure to environmental hazards; promoting effective community collaborations; and optimizing equitable access to community resources.

Integral Care logo

Integral Care is a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Austin, Texas that supports adults and children living with mental illness, substance use disorder, and intellectual and developmental disabilities through a 24-hour helpline, counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, and housing.  

Partnering for Good

If you’d like to learn more about how we partner with customers nationwide and can support your organization’s social care goals, connect with our team.

Call to action: collaborate with findhelp

Supporting Mental and Behavioral Health

Last week we announced our new contract with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) to help state residents find the substance use disorder and mental health services they need. This week, we’re focusing on our deep experience in partnering with organizations nationwide to support mental and behavioral health.

According to the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), 22.8% or 1 in 5 U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2021, and 33.5% of these adults also experienced a substance use disorder. Mental and behavioral health challenges often go hand-in-hand with, or cause, additional social needs. 

For example, NAMI’s research shows that the rate of unemployment is higher among U.S. adults who have mental illness (7.4%) compared to those who do not (4.6%), 21.1% of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. have a serious mental health condition, and high school students with depression are more than twice as likely to drop out of school compared to their peers.



Helping Vulnerable Populations and People in Crisis

At Findhelp, we have a history of partnering with our customers across industries to address the social needs of substance users and support mental and behavioral health.

Our platform includes situational filters to help users narrow their search to programs that specialize in addressing substance use and mental or behavioral health challenges.

Mental and behavioral health filters


Read on to learn more about how we’re collaborating with some incredible customers to address the mental and behavioral health challenges faced by the populations they serve – patients, staff, and the general public.



Tailoring the Findhelp Platform to Better Serve Your Population

Our platform is designed to allow customer organizations to tailor their displayed navigation categories (food, housing, health, etc.) to fit the needs of the populations they serve. The following customers used this functionality to show groups of programs relevant for folks experiencing mental and/or behavioral health challenges.


Behavioral Health Partners MetroWest

Our customer Behavioral Health Partners of MetroWest is an innovative partnership that brings together the strengths and capabilities of leading social services and behavioral health agencies serving the Greater MetroWest region of Massachusetts.

These partner organizations – Advocates, South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC), Spectrum Health Systems, and Wayside Youth & Family Support Network – encompass expertise in mental health, substance use and addiction, housing, and social support for people of all ages.

MetroWest partnered with us to configure their patient site, MetroWest Care Connection (powered by Findhelpv) to focus navigation categories on mental health, addiction & recovery, emergency services, and more, guiding their patients to the most relevant resources.


To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is a nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and invest directly in treatment and recovery.

They launched their Findhelp platform in 2018 with tailored navigation categories to focus on programs that offer counseling, crisis services, peer support, and more, and they feature specific community programs that they endorse or work with directly. 

Supporting mental and behavioral health



Partnering to Expand Care Networks

At Findhelp, we’ve built the nation’s largest social care referral network. The following customers chose to partner with us as an efficient and easy way to expand their existing internal and local networks of social support resources to better address substance use and mental or behavioral health challenges.


highland rivers behavioral health logo

Based in Georgia, Highland Rivers Behavioral Health is a behavioral healthcare agency offering services for adults, youth, and families with mental health and addictive disease challenges as well as adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

As a public safety net provider, they serve individuals who have little to no financial resources, as well as veterans and persons with State and Federal benefits such as Medicaid and Medicare. Highland Rivers launched their branded Findhelp platform in 2022 to bolster their current behavioral health service offering to include a diverse array of important social care resources.


Supporting mental and behavioral health

Hope For The Day empowers the conversation on proactive suicide prevention and mental health education. They focus on proactive prevention, creating an environment that doesn’t wait for someone to reach a point of crisis to address their mental health.

They launched Resource Compass (powered by Findhelp) in 2022 as a place for people in need to find important information and resources to proactively support their mental health.

 

Optum logo

Optum is breaking new ground in behavioral health by driving better overall health outcomes while bringing down the total cost of care through both services and tools.

Formerly known as Optum Behavioral Health, they launched the Optum Community Connector (powered by Findhelp) in January 2019 to connect people with community social services while also bringing them into Optum’s internal network of  behavioral health providers and resources. 



Analyzing Community Trends

All Findhelp customers have access to our native suite of data and analytics dashboards. Many data-driven organizations purchase access to their platforms’ raw data via a SQL connection to build custom reports, understand community needs, and evaluate outcomes.

The following is just one example of how our customers take advantage of this offering to combine datasets from multiple sources and connect Findhelp data with clinical data to better understand the health outcomes of addressing SDoH.


Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs

The Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs works with Findhelp through Convergence Integrated Care (CIC), a network of 21 independent nonprofit community and behavioral health agencies throughout the state of Minnesota.

In partnership with CIC, these organizations are not only providing a network of standardized care but also sharing innovations and increasing access to crucial behavioral health services. They launched their CIC Resources platform (powered by Findhelp) in May 2023 for their member organizations to complete social needs assessments, share resources, and follow up on patients’ SDoH needs.

CIC uses Findhelp’s data warehouse through a SQL connection to marry social need data and outcomes in Findhelp to the greater population health data of member organizations, and they also collaborate with the State of Minnesota to improve statewide health outcomes. 



Supporting Mental and Behavioral Health, When and Where People Need It

We’re proud of the part we play in helping our customers support vulnerable populations and people experiencing a crisis. To quickly help those in crisis, we partnered with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline last year to add messaging on our platform homepages that guides people to helpful services via text, phone call, or online chat.  

Crisis Lifeline Homepage Screenshot


We recognize that mental and behavioral health struggles can exacerbate already-tenuous situations so that individuals feel like they’re out of options; our partnerships (like the ones highlighted here) serve to let people know that they’re not alone, and that help is available.

Get a demo with findhelp

New Partnership to Support Delawareans with Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Needs

Findhelp is proud to announce we have won a contract with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) to help state residents find the substance use disorder and mental health services they need. Read on to learn more about this new partnership and our existing network in Delaware, and stay tuned for our follow-up post next week where we’ll share more about our experience supporting organizations that provide substance use and mental health services.


Expanding the Delaware Treatment & Referral Network 

We will partner with DSAMH and Bamboo Health, a leader in real-time health care intelligence, to provide search and referral services to the 30,000 Delaware residents who rely on DSAMH, allowing them to connect to human services programs that address social drivers of health. 

Quote from Joanna Champney, Director at Delaware Health and Social Services




Our Network in Delaware

One of the reasons DSAMH chose Findhelp is because we have an engaged network that’s already in place. Our network spans the entire Blue Hen state and Delawareans across the state are using our platform to find and connect to needed services and support. 

Findhelp’s data and analytic tools can identify gaps in services and provide actionable insights to inform public policy. For example, over the past two years, monthly users and searches on Findhelp’s network in Delaware jumped 392% and 163% respectively, reflecting our important (and growing) role in connecting Delawareans to local social assistance. 

Quarterly Searches in Delaware on findhelp Platforms

 


Partnering for Success in Delaware 

As of October 2023, we partner with more than 11 customers throughout the state to connect their patients, members, students, constituents, and clients to local resources. 

findhelp customers in Delaware


Here are some highlights of how these organizations successfully partner and innovate with us to lift up their communities.



TidalHealth


Centurion Health



Next Steps for DTRN360

The state’s new system, which Findhelp will integrate with, is called DTRN360 and will be designed, developed, and deployed by Bamboo Health over approximately the next 6 months. DTRN360 will add significant capabilities to the existing DTRN (Delaware Treatment and Referral Network) to better serve residents in need by connecting them to resources to address substance use disorder & mental health needs.


Supporting Your Community

Schedule a demo with one of our team members to learn more about how our platform can meet the needs of the individuals you serve.

Learn more

Supporting Colorado’s Drug User Health Hub

We are proud to announce that we have been awarded a contract with the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE) to build a Drug User Health Hub. This project, funded in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will help reduce transmission of viral hepatitis and promote the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the infectious disease consequences of drug use.

Addressing Substance Use in Colorado

In Colorado, intravenous drug use is the most common risk factor associated with acquiring hepatitis A and C. At the same time, overdose deaths in Colorado have risen sharply since 2019, in line with national trends. In 2020, the state suffered a historic high of 1,477 fatal overdoses; in 2022, that number rose to 1,799 (source: CDPHE).

Substance use disorder programs often focus on treating addiction and preventing overdoses, to the detriment of addressing the infectious diseases associated with injected drug use. People who inject drugs are at high risk for viral hepatitis, HIV, and bacterial or fungal infections, which require costly and prolonged medical care. Despite these acknowledged risks, there are many barriers to accessing longer-term medical and social care services. 

Quote from Erine Gray, Founder & CEO of findhelp

Read our press release

Findhelp’s Network in Colorado

One of the reasons CDPHE chose Findhelp is because we have an engaged network that’s already in place. Our network spans the entire Centennial State and Coloradans across the state are using our platform to find and connect to needed services and support. 

Findhelp’s data and analytic tools can identify gaps in services and provide actionable insights to inform public policy. For example, over the past two years, monthly users and searches on Findhelp’s network in Colorado jumped 252% and 167% respectively, reflecting our important (and growing) role in connecting Coloradans to local social assistance. 

Partnering for Success in Colorado 

As of October 2022 we partner with more than 18 customers through the state to connect their patients, members, students, constituents, and clients to local resources. Here are some highlights of how these organizations successfully partner and innovate with us to lift up their communities.

Based in Colorado, Denver Health is known for emergency medicine and trauma care; as Colorado’s primary safety-net institution, Denver Health has provided billions of dollars in uncompensated care and serves as a model for other safety net institutions across the nation. 

UCHealth strives to promote individual and community health and leaves no question unanswered along the way. Their network of nationally-recognized hospitals, clinic locations, and health care providers extends throughout Colorado, southern Wyoming and western Nebraska.

Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County (ECPAC) is made up of over 80 Adams County, Colorado organizations and family partners building a system of early childhood education, health, mental health and family support so every child is ready for school and can read well by 3rd grade.  

Next Steps for the Drug User Health Hub Project

The health hub will focus on the surveillance of viral hepatitis, increased stakeholder engagement in viral hepatitis treatment planning and elimination, as well as improved access to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment among populations at risk. In addition, the project aims to deliver comprehensive, outcome-focused approaches to preventing infections associated with injection drug use, reducing overdose deaths, and linking people to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.

Phase 1 is focused on creating a resource directory in the Pueblo area later this year / early 2024. 

Supporting Your Community

Schedule a demo with one of our team members to learn more about how our platform can meet the needs of the individuals you serve.

Learn more about our platform

Funding Social Care: Streamline Payments to Community-Based Organizations

With Findhelp it’s never been easier to fund, track, and manage payments for your social care initiatives. Our technology allows you to connect to resources on our platform through integrated workflows, effectively partner with social care providers, manage payments for services, and increase and quantify your impact.

Organizations are looking for ways to directly invest in the programs, services, and systems that improve community health outcomes – we can help. Research shows that when non-medical health-related social needs (HRSNs) like food, housing, and transportation are met, people are healthier. In fact, according to the National Institutes for Health, social needs are estimated to impact 50-60% of health outcomes and evidence continues to suggest that supporting social needs is a critical driver for achieving health equity.

Organizations are looking for ways to directly invest in the programs, services, and systems that improve community health outcomes – we can help.

While everyone recognizes the importance of addressing social needs, it can be difficult to secure funding and make payments for services. At Findhelp, we have a successful track record of facilitating and supporting end-to-end order and delivery workflows.

Paying for Social Services on Behalf of Individuals

There are three ways to approach sustainable funding – and payments – to effectively tackle the needs in our communities:

Directly invest in CBO capacity.

Whether you want to pay CBOs for services, order goods and services from vendors, or use our platform for reimbursements and 1115 waivers, we offer payment services that fit your needs. We simplify eligibility screening, invoicing, billing, and payments so CBOs don’t have to waste time figuring out complex, unfamiliar coding and billing systems and your organization has access to a trusted, secure system for tracking outcomes and making payments.

How it Works

Below is an example of our intuitive payments workflow:

Our payments workflow (1 or 2).Our payments workflow (2 of 2).

Partner with Us for Secure Social Care Payments

We’ve been partnering with our customers to support making payments to community organizations and other service providers since 2019. We collaborate with health plans, managed care organizations, accountable care organizations, vendors like Uber Health, and community-based organizations to configure workflows and payment processes to fit their unique requirements, from 1115 Waiver Programs to end-to-end order and delivery workflows.

We partner with our customers to make secure payments.

With Findhelp’s payment technology, you can save time and resources while tracking all your invoicing and billing information in one place. In using our comprehensive platform, you don’t have to worry about managing multiple systems. Our robust data and built-in analytics can be used to inform your decisions about funding and reimbursement, and then measure your impact in the community.

Talk to Us!

See how our payments workflow can support your organization’s goals and workflows – schedule a demo with one of our team members.

Meet the Social Care Needs of Medicaid Beneficiaries

There’s been a lot of commentary and discussion recently about Medicaid enrollment and redetermination. What does it mean for your organization and the people you serve? Read on to learn more about the challenges facing healthcare organizations, and the technology solutions that can help you meet the social care needs of Medicaid beneficiaries.



Medicaid: Supporting Vulnerable Populations

Medicaid is a federal program managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and implemented by individual states that provides health coverage to low-income people. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the end of the federal public health emergency, state Medicaid agencies are undergoing a process of redetermination, updating the eligibility status of millions of Americans.

Many people will end up losing their coverage, exacerbating already tenuous situations and increasing the need for community and social services to fill in the gap.



Addressing Social Needs via 1115 Waiver Programs

Section 1115 of the Social Security Act gives states flexibility to design and improve their Medicaid programs by providing waivers authorizing experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects. 1115 waivers are initially approved for five years and can be extended for three to five more years. Many states focus their projects on addressing Medicaid enrollees’ unmet health related social needs and the downstream health impacts.


At Findhelp, we have a history of successful 1115 waiver program support:

California

On January 1, 2022, the California Department of Health Care Services launched the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) program, an 1115 waiver program to make Medi-Cal more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered. The program covers one-third of Californians and perinatal care for half of annual births and will impact the lives of over 14 million Californians. 

Learn more about our CalAIM work


New York

The Empire State is awaiting approval on a several billion dollar New York 1115 waiver proposal to invest in creating major social care network structures. We look forward to collaborating with our existing customers and community partners to advance the work of the New York State Department of Health to connect people in need to the programs and services that can help them.

Update: Findhelp is partnering with several Social Care Networks (SCNs) as part of the approved 1115 waiver.

Learn about our New York partnerships


Massachusetts

In response to increasing needs surrounding food, housing, and behavioral health, Massachusetts’ department of health, MassHealth, launched their 1115 demonstration waiver program, Flexible Services, in 2019. Today, we partner with several ACOs to support navigation assistance; in the first year of the Flexible Services initiative, 99% of patients reported that their participation improved their overall health.



Meeting Immediate Needs: Findhelp’s Marketplace

Even if your state isn’t currently implementing an 1115 waiver, you have options to address your population’s health-related social needs. Our Marketplace program allows you to order goods and services from a vetted vendor, deliver them to an individual in need, track outcomes, and manage invoicing and payment – all from your Findhelp platform.

Healthcare organizations and health plans are looking beyond medical needs to improve health outcomes by either paying directly for social care services or reimbursing healthcare groups for arranging them. The government is supportive of these measures, providing grants and allowing Medicare to begin reimbursing plans for “non-medical” services as part of the 2020 CHRONIC Care Act. 


With Marketplace, we’re shifting the paradigm beyond search and referral to order and delivery. We support eligibility and/or authorization of services, order and fulfillment, invoicing, and payment. You can ensure that people who need transportation can order an Uber Health ride to their appointment, or someone who is identified as food insecure gets a food box delivered right to their door.

Learn about marketplace



Navigating the Medicaid Landscape

To learn more about how we support healthcare organizations, health plans, government agencies, and community organizations grappling with the changing Medicaid landscape, connect with us. 

NY 1115 Waiver Program: Meeting the Needs of New Yorkers

More than 30 healthcare, health plan, nonprofit, and other organizations across New York have already implemented social care coordination platforms with Findhelp and are ready to hit the ground running when the NY 1115 waiver program is approved later this year. Read on to learn about proven strategies from some of our current New York customers and successful 1115 waiver programs across the country.

Innovating Medicaid Delivery to Address Social Needs

Why are folks talking about 1115 waivers, and what are they? Section 1115 of the Social Security Act gives states flexibility to design and improve their Medicaid programs by providing waivers authorizing experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects.

1115 waivers are initially approved for five years and can be extended for three to five more years. Many states focus their projects on addressing Medicaid enrollees’ unmet health related social needs and the downstream health impacts.

At Findhelp, we have both a history of successful Medicaid 1115 waiver support and deep relationships across the state of New York and beyond. Our technology supports:

Our Network in New York

One of the reasons our customers across industries choose Findhelp is because we have an engaged network that’s already in place. Our network spans the entire Empire State and New Yorkers are already using our platform to find and connect to needed services and support. 

Findhelp’s data and analytic tools can identify gaps in services and provide actionable insights to inform public policy. For example, over the past two years, monthly users and searches on Findhelp’s network in New York jumped 452% and 153% respectively, reflecting our important (and growing) role in connecting Empire Staters to local social assistance. 

Partnering to Help New Yorkers

As of September 2023 we partner with more than 30 customers throughout the state to connect their patients, members, students, constituents, and clients to local resources. Our customers know that they can trust us to help them connect their most vulnerable populations to resources and services that can help them, as shown by our Best in KLAS rating for 2023. 

A few of the organizations we partner with in New York.

These highlights show how some of our customers successfully partner and innovate with us to lift up their communities.

New York City’s Institute for Family Health (IFH) is a federally qualified health center (FQHC) that launched their IFH Findhelp platform in August 2019 to foster meaningful connections between their patients and CBOs like A-Med Supplies, God’s Love We Deliver, Preferred Home Care, and many more. By partnering with Findhelp to build this trusted network of community partners, 94% of IFH referrals receive a response from the referred-to CBO. 

In 2021, IFH deepened our partnership by leading an innovative collaboration between Findhelp and UberHealth to provide 2,396 free rides for patients to and from vaccination centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. IFH continues to explore additional innovative approaches to proactive social care and plans to launch additional Findhelp-UberHealth transportation assistance programs in 2024 to ensure patients can attend routine medical care appointments.

Value Network LLC, IPA is a behavioral health care collaborative in Western New York that advances healthy equity, innovation, and transformational strategies. They launched the Value Network Community Connector platform (powered by Findhelp) in December 2021 to facilitate stronger coordination between helping professionals, patients, and the greater Western NY community.  

Value Network has used their vast network of providers to strengthen the safety net to address member’s social needs and has led the way with innovative work to create efficiencies in provider workflows by integrating multiple electronic health record (EHR) systems with Findhelp.

Mount Sinai Health System uses their Community Resources Guide (powered by Findhelp) to support all their patients in need and connect them to free or reduced-cost social services with dignity and ease. 

Since launching the platform in December 2019, more than 85,000 patients and staff have visited the platform to search the 13,000+ programs available in Findhelp’s New York network. Mount Sinai continues to build robust community relationships and generate social care referrals with an array of partners to holistically support the social needs of their patients.

A Legacy of Support for Medicaid 1115 Waivers

We’ve been partnering with our customers and trusted community partners to support Medicaid 1115 waiver programs since 2019 in Massachusetts and California, and are uniquely positioned and ready to support New York’s Medicaid 1115 waiver. We collaborate with health plans, managed care organizations, accountable care organizations, and community-based organizations to configure workflows and payment processes to fit the requirements of each state’s program.

Massachusetts: Flexible Services

In response to increasing needs surrounding food, housing, and behavioral health, Massachusetts’ department of health, MassHealth, launched their 1115 demonstration waiver program, Flexible Services, in 2019. 

Under Flexible Services, MassHealth pays for health-related nutrition and housing supports for certain members enrolled in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). These  ACOs pilot evidence-based approaches that address a member’s health-related social needs with the goal of improving health outcomes and reducing the total cost of health care for the member.

California: CalAIM

On January 1, 2022, the California Department of Health Care Services launched the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) program, an 1115 waiver program to make Medi-Cal more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered. The program covers one-third of Californians and perinatal care for half of annual births and will impact the lives of over 14 million Californians.

CalAIM expands community-based approaches to addressing complex care for high-needs populations, such as individuals experiencing homelessness, serious mental illness, or substance use disorders, or children involved in the child welfare system. Designated navigators coordinate members’ physical and behavioral care, as well as access to critical social services. 

Looking Ahead to 2024

Our robust data and analytics show what New Yorkers have searched for over the last two years, painting a picture of how needs have changed over time and what gaps currently exist in New York communities.

As you can see, food, housing, and transportation-related needs are among the most common for New Yorkers over the past couple of  years. Findhelp has experience partnering with customers across the country to address needs like these, whether it’s via our fulfillment program, Marketplace, by establishing trusted networks of community service providers, or by collaborating with organizations like Uber Health.

When the New York Medicaid 1115 waiver is approved later this year, we’re ready to partner with our existing and future New York-based customers to help them connect their patients, members, students, and clients to helpful resources. 

We look forward to collaborating with our existing customers and community partners to advance the work of the New York State Department of Health to connect people in need to the programs and services that can help them; we’re ready to support New York’s Medicaid 1115 waiver.

Partnering for Success 

You don’t have to start from scratch with your pilot demonstrations; chat with one of our team members to learn how we can collaborate with your organization to successfully implement New York’s 1115 waiver program, using established best practices and our proven strategies.