KANSAS CITY, Mo. & ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Social Solutions Global today announced Kansas City Local Investment Commission (LINC) and St. Louis Area Resources for Community and Human Services (ARCHS) as recipients of Social Solutions matching grants using funding from Ballmer Group. The matching grants will defray 50 percent of the licensing costs for Social Solutions’ leading case management and analytics solution, Apricot 360.
Both organizations are significant providers of out-of-school time child care in their communities, supporting critical initiatives including early childhood education, correctional re-entry programs, and fostered youth programs, and serve as crucial coordinating hubs in their respective communities. The matching grant includes other community partners that are part of the Missouri Family and Community Trust (MoFACT), a private-public sector partnership that consists of the major state agencies involved in social services and education.
With their Apricot 360 licenses, LINC, ARCHS and the other Missouri community partnerships can now:
- harness data for more comprehensive reporting
- proactively identify risks and take action
- address chronic absenteeism
- support education enrichment in out-of-school time programs
“Robust, state-of-the art data systems are needed to tackle complex community issues that straddle jurisdictions, funding streams or single-focused initiatives,” said Brent Schondelmeyer, deputy director of community engagement for Kansas City LINC. “Upgrading to Apricot 360 will allow us to effectively address the myriad of issues, such as absenteeism, that often affect working poor families facing the enormous pressures of improving the futures of their children.”
The news comes on the heels of the recent partnership with Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS), the first district in the country to join Social Solutions and Ballmer Group’s initiative to share data for better integration between school districts and local nonprofit programs. The partnership between KCPS and Social Solutions will allow LINC to incorporate student data, like grades and attendance, to better assess its impact in advancing the success of specific students participating in their programs.
“We’re thrilled to expand our partnerships throughout Kansas City and St. Louis and are inspired by the dedication of these organizations in supporting at-risk students and families in their communities,” said Kristin Nimsger, CEO of Social Solutions. “With more robust access to insights and data, these organizations can take their work to the next level and support students where they need it most.”
LINC and Social Solutions are working together closely to develop powerful tools that specifically address chronic absenteeism, a problem affecting 13.8% of Missouri students. Apricot 360 can proactively identify those at higher risk of absenteeism from instances such as eviction, flagging the risk to caseworkers along with recommended steps to help ensure the student remains on track in their education.
“Absenteeism is a growing concern, and historically the solution has been to evoke legal action against students that are chronically absent,” said Hedy Chang, director of the California-based Attendance Works. “However, there is a need for solutions that are not solely focused on the fact students are absent, but that identify the reason behind the absences and how the community can better support each child.”
"In St. Louis, ARCHS is committed to disrupting cycles of intergenerational poverty by advancing lifelong learning, and a large part of this is providing holistic support of each student and family,” said Wendell E. Kimbrough, Chief Executive Officer of ARCHS. “With this matching grant, the Apricot 360 solution will enhance ARCHS’ strategic consulting and technical support services for our grantees related to data management and program evaluation.”
To find out if an organization qualifies for these matching grants, or to learn more about Social Solutions’ Apricot 360 solution visit: https://www.socialsolutions.com/software/apricot-360/.
About Social Solutions Global
Social Solutions Global, the provider of Efforts to Outcomes (ETO®) and Apricot® Software, specializes in outcomes management software for human services, workforce, and education programs. Across the globe, our software is the leader in equipping thousands of organizations with the tools needed to transform the lives of children, adults, and families by making data useful to staff at all levels, from case managers to executive leadership. Follow us on Twitter: @SocialSolutions.
About ARCHS
Area Resources for Community and Human Services (ARCHS) funds and strategically enhances initiatives that improve the lives of children and families facing disparities and disadvantages in St. Louis’ most impoverished communities. ARCHS’ 30 funded programs currently serve 180,000 people in more than 300 business, education, faith-based, and community locations. Follow us on Twitter: @stlarchs.
About LINC
The Local Investment Commission is a non-profit community collaborative involving efforts by the state of Missouri to work with neighborhood leaders, citizens, business, civic and labor leaders to improve the lives of children and families in the Kansas City region. Follow us on Twitter @kclinc.
