Policy and Practice | June 2022

Case Study #1: Monroe County Systems Integration Project (SIP) The Challenge “Program rich but results poor.” This was the finding from the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge study in Rochester, NY in 2015. The study identified several strategies to improve com munity health and reduce poverty. It realized the potential of communities and neighborhoods to stop poverty before it starts. Strategies include leveraging data for greater insight, coordinating services to optimize outcomes, and introducing preventive strategies.

The Results Creating a Future Shaped by Communities and Neighborhoods n People in the community remain at the center of this project. Individuals and organizations are working collaboratively to build an interconnected system focusing on addressing care in a personal ized way. Making Better Decisions by Using Community Data n A secure data hub helps to share information and coordinate care. Coordinating Services for Better Outcomes n Improving access to needed services by creating connections for indi viduals and families to programs and services based on their needs. This includes housing, food, health, employment, education, and more. Introducing Preventive Strategies to Stop Poverty Before It Starts n Improving coordinated cross-sector interventions by working with multiple organizations. Collectively helping to transition individuals and families from crisis, to stable, to thriving. Case Study #2: DelawareTribe of Indians The Challenge The Delaware Tribe of Indians operated a paper-based system for services and benefits. In 2021, the tribe undertook a digital transforma tion project to improve support for their clients. The project enabled digital case tracking of Child Welfare, Child Support, Domestic Violence, Grant Management, and Client Court Cases. for their clients was to modernize the tribe’s applications to improve service delivery. A digital profile was created for each individual receiving benefits and/or services. As clients seek benefits and services, caseworkers are now able to view their client’s digital profile, assess the current situation and status, The Solution The first step to improve support

The Solution The Systems Integration Project (SIP) began to explore these recom mendations in 2017. From the start until the present day, the SIP works across a diverse network of committed community providers and community members. The SIP seeks to keep people at the center of an interconnected system of education, health, and human services with a solution called MyWayfinder. IBM reflects SIP’s principles and approach by collaborating with diverse community stakeholders in the design and development of MyWayfinder. With agile processes, SIP and IBM can rapidly implement community feedback and build a solution to incorporate the com munity’s needs and desires. Today, SIP provides easy and acces sible digital tools and neighborhood navigation centers. Individuals can locate support and service pro viders can manage their workflows. MyWayfinder empowers members of the community to better understand their needs and make personal con nections with local service providers who can help. Individuals and families maintain control over their personal information. They decide who can access their 360-view Dashboard. Service Providers can maintain con nection with community members who have added them to their Care Team. The 360-view Dashboard allows providers to holistically view an individual. They can reduce service duplication and address services gaps. 211 Community Connectors also leverage MyWayfinder to locate and share resources with individuals calling into 211. Platform Administrators can update content on MyWayfinder. The inte grated Content Management System manages accounts across the platform. To design better experiences and identify friction, administrators can review the Web Analytics Dashboard where they can run reports to analyze de-identified data. Data and reporting metrics displayed in dashboards also provide administrators the opportu nity to identify “resource deserts.” These are communities where specific services are needed but are too limited or nonexistent.

Karen Snyder is the Lead Health and Human Services Industry Partner on the Public Market team at IBM Consulting.

Maryam Ghariban , MPH, is a Senior Managing Consultant on the Health and Human Services Public Market team at IBM Consulting.

Leah Dienger , MSW, is a Senior Consultant on the Health and Human Services Public Market Team at IBM Consulting.

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Policy&Practice June 2022