Prior to FY19-20, funded programs used different methods to calculate this measure. Unfortunately, this led to wide variability in numbers. Starting with FY19-20 reporting, the numerator is the # of surveyed caregivers/program participants who reported obtaining or remaining at a job or in school.* The denominator is the # of caregivers/program participants who were surveyed (NOT the total # of families served). Questions about this can be directed to amundel@uwstory.org. *A similar performance measure, FS-PM 2.1b, looks exclusively at those who started school/obtained a new job while enrolled in a funded program. There is some duplication with this measure. (8/2021, AM)

A note about the data of FY19/20: The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 caused devastation to the employment landscape in Story County, with close to 8,000 individuals becoming unemployed from late February to July 2020 (source: Ames Chamber). Unfortunately, this was borne out in our programs as well, with a huge decline of individuals able to remain in school or at their job. Compounding this, many childcare centers had to close temporarily, leaving working parents suddenly without care. United Way partners worked tirelessly, however, to come up with solutions to safely reopen.

Partners reporting this data include:

• ACPC
• Boys & Girls Club
• Center for Creative Justice (starting FY20-21)
• ChildServe
• Story Time Childcare
• The Community Academy: Community Projects (anticipated in FY23-24 and beyond)
• University Community Childcare
• YSS: Transitional Living/Homelessness, Family Development

Notes:

• While United Way of Story County: Wheels for Work program collects this data, it comes on a 1-year lag due to the survey schedule. To prevent late/"unexpected" data changes when this data is finalized, this data has been excluded from this particular measure (August 2021 - AM).
• The Bridge Home no longer collects and reports this data point.