FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Beylah R. Marks, Director of Marketing and Communications
United Ways of California
(877) 355-8922 x16
bmarks@unitedwaysca.org

United Ways of California Builds New Enhanced Care Digital Referral Network (ECDRN) Aligned with State HHS Data Exchange Framework (DxF) Requirements

Collaborative of 11 California United Ways envisions faster and greater community impact outcomes through consistency of client referrals, programs and technologies

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif., December 2, 2024 — United Ways of California (www.unitedwaysca.org), the state network for United Ways, revealed today that it is building a new digital client referral framework to more effectively work with community-based organizations (CBOs) employing thousands of case workers helping 11 million residents across 20 California counties.

Rolling out across an initial 11 United Ways, this new Enhanced Care Digital Referral Network (ECDRN) will be implemented and fully deployed throughout 2025. Its purpose is to make it easier to deliver faster, better service outcomes to the millions of Californians who rely on federal, state, county, and private donor-funded programs to help address mental health, housing, and food insecurity challenges—and a host of other needs vulnerable community members have in times of crisis. 

Importantly, the new ECDRN will embrace adoption of the California Health and Human Services (CalHHS) Data Exchange Framework (DxF), which becomes mandatory in January 2025 for many state and county departments as well as organizations handling healthcare and social services data.

“We are thrilled to announce this unified approach to enhanced care management in a digital world, improving how we deliver critical services to our California communities,” said Pete Manzo, President & CEO of United Ways of California. “For more than a century, United Way has been a leader in creating, coordinating, and simplifying care delivery programs for communities. Now, in California, we are launching a 21st century digital referral network by tapping the latest and most innovative tools available to accelerate smooth and efficient integration of CBO service delivery. Data interoperability doesn’t sound exciting, but it is critical to improve systems and boost outcomes, and our approach can serve as a model for United Ways in other states—and for other community care organizations. We’re excited to reduce friction for CBOs, their case managers, and—more importantly—the people they help in their communities through 211 referral programs.”

Streamlining Data-Sharing for Improved Outcomes

The ECDRN’s virtual front door will be the participating 211 information and referral programs already processing over one million incoming help requests a year. ​​Operated by nine California United Ways and supported by two more, these 211s reach deep into communities to play a critical role in meeting day-to-day needs as well as helping during disasters and emergencies—by connecting people 24/7/365 in over 150 languages to social service resources unique to their concerns and locations, using call centers, chat, SMS/text, and websites.

Until recently, Californians seeking assistance and services have had to navigate an unpredictable number of service delivery organizations to meet their needs, resulting in frustrating repetition, duplicative inquiries, delays in accessing services, inefficient CBO costs, and duplication of data entry. This lack of easy data interoperability wasted time, hindered accuracy, and bred discontent. A more effective method would be for health systems, medical care providers, nonprofit agencies and others serving community members to coordinate their services, share information and hold each other accountable for meeting people’s broad, complex needs. This “whole person care” approach—addressing underlying social determinants of health like housing, food, and social service access alongside clinical care to ensure all of a patient’s needs are met—has shown success and is the direction California’s health and care services are moving, and the ECDRN streamlines the coordination required.

Over the last six months, 11 pioneering United Ways have been developing a new technology framework, using the CalHHS DxF Roadmap guidelines, to exchange data much more smoothly and efficiently. Behind the 211 networks’ front door is a carefully selected new collection of technology systems built into the ECDRN. Speed and accuracy of referral, and confirmation of service delivery, are made possible by new workflows in modern digital systems powered by best-in-class technologies from Salesforce and Amazon Web Services (AWS), in addition to six software developers and systems integration technology vendors delivering cloud-based additive solutions. When fully implemented, the ECDRN will connect 1,000-plus CBOs, with over 4,000 case managers and 10,000 employees, enabling them to more easily confirm service referrals and delivery, solve for particular case management outcomes and data analytics use cases, and adhere to the policies and obligations set by the CalHHS DxF.

Participating California United Ways include:

• Inland Southern California United Way
• Kings United Way
• Orange County United Way
• United Way Bay Area
• United Way California Capital Region
• United Way Fresno and Madera Counties
• United Way of Merced County
• United Way Monterey County
• United Way of Northern California
• United Way of Santa Cruz County 
• United Way of the Wine Country

“Earlier this year, we launched our Orange County Enhanced Care Referral Network platform,” said Susan B. Parks, President and CEO of Orange County United Way. “We’re onboarding over 100 CBOs, with 500 case workers in 20 cities, giving our tens of thousands of people in Orange County (including veterans, families, youth, and seniors) a more efficient experience. It gives the community a means to offer care to an individual’s specific needs that span across service sectors, as well as offers insights on the ecosystem of care, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions that make immediate and sustainable impact. Now, we’re excited to build on this by implementing the United Ways Enhanced Care Digital Referral Network, collaborating with 10 other California United Ways to learn faster, share expertise, and keep costs low—all to improve client outcomes.”

To learn more or support the new California United Ways’ Enhanced Care Digital Referral Network (ECDRN), go to unitedwaysca.org/donate-data-exchange/.

ABOUT UNITED WAYS OF CALIFORNIA

United Ways of California mobilizes the caring power of communities to improve health, education, and financial results for low-income children and families. In partnership with California’s local United Ways, United Ways of California implements community impact programs and advocates for policies that advance opportunities for Californians, working toward an equitable California where every individual has the resources and opportunities they need to thrive.