The decrease in referrals is attributed to the increase in re-occuring clients who have exhausted their resources within a 12 month period. Most of those served often seek assistance multiple times a year to meet their needs, but referral partners limit assistance to once every 12 months per client.

The decrease may be due to families getting services necessary, additional community resources, and successful linkage to resources.

Family Connections did not meet the target goal of 2,000 referrals made by June 30th. The decrease in referrals is attributed to the increase in reoccurring clients who have exhausted resources within the 12 month eligibility period. Most served often seek assistance multiple times a year to meet needs, but referral partners limit assistance to once every 12 months per client. As the year progressed, more inquiries were from ineligible applicants because they had already received services within the past 12 months. Compounding the issue was the lack of resources held by other agencies and the significant debt clients were experiencing from rent and high utility bills from an extremely harsh winter. Experienced Navigators know that helping clients with substantial debt ($1,000 +) is extremely difficult and most of the time impossible unless the client can obtain the majority of the funding on their own.

Worcester County Health Department, Board of Education, DSS, DJS, Cricket Center