OpenWest Conference

Community development and the open source way share many commonalities. We invite you to join us and explore the potential of the open source methodology in the social sector.

Quick facts - Refugees in Utah:

1. 60k refugees, mostly in Salt Lake Valley, ~25 communities

2. Last year along there were about 1,200 refugees resettled. This year expecting 1,200-1,300.

3. Service providers are expecting a few new groups - Congolese, Syrian, Somali and Sudanese.

Community Development Principles:

• Solutions should focus on the simple and impactful.

• Have patience and build solutions that work for the long term.

• Listen.

• Be nimble, humble & tenacious. Create solutions that work in the face of many shifting variables.

• Adjust. Iterate. Pilot. Test.

• Solutions must be highly relevant & designed to scale.

Problem Statement:

The International Rescue Committee needs a system that facilitates stronger, more dynamic/tailored communication with clients while also collecting data that informs their work and tracks client success over time.

Considerations:

• All refugees served by the IRC receive a cell phone immediately after arriving in the States. This is the easiest means of communication since most families will not have internet connectivity at home.

• The IRC provides designated case management for clients for 24 months. They don’t want to lose touch with these clients at the 24 month mark.

Use case

• The IRC needs User X to be able to log into an app and find resources that pertain to their needs

• The IRC to be able to push a survey to all registered users every 6 months. Responses from clients will trigger a variety of actions including push notifications, personalized outreach to clients by a case manager, links to resources, etc.

System Requirements:

• Templated lesson plans that could be sent to clients based on elected interests/needs

• Links to resources that are triggered by survey answers

• Communication mechanism that enables IRC to message volunteers and clients

• Privacy is important - all client data must be protected

• Easy for clients to access

• Easy for IRC to populate

• Localization + languages: Arabic, Somali, Nepali, Swahili, Tingrinye, French, Spanish, Kirundi, Farsi

• How are people progressing along the continuum of services.

• Risks trigger case management attention - so that if a client is in danger of unemployment, eviction, etc. they can help with prevention and build resilience rather than reacting.

• IRC needs to be able to identify the client and tie the app to their case info

  • If it’s someone the IRC didn’t case manage, they’d need fields for first name, last name, date of birth, country of origin, primary language, and number of people in household, phone, email

Goal:

• Create an application architecture, data model and resource requirement list to meet the need outlined above.

Survey section:

IRC would like to send out a survey every 6 months. Collecting data at regular intervals over a longer span of time would enable the IRC to monitor risks, better understand their clients by community/age/etc. They would like to track survey completion rate & trigger a reward or gift card for every survey completed. IRC needs to be able to run a report to see how people responded so they can case manage appropriately.

Specific examples of survey questions that would help the IRC provide stronger service, better access to resources, and create a more engaged community past the 24 month mark.

Health:

• When are immunizations due (track for whole family + send push notifications)

• When is their doctor’s appointment

Microenterprise:

• When is your loan due

Housing:

• Are you in the same housing or have you moved

• Rent payment

Employment

• Are you in the same job, changed or unemployed.

  • If they tick the unemployed box, it triggers a resource link for how to help.

• Current hourly pay rate + hours worked per week

• Do you have a savings account

• Do you have a credit score? If so, what is it? Are you interested in building your credit? Provide a link to the resource with how to contact the IRC.

Education

* Are you able to read your mail in English

* Are you able to have appts without interpreters

* Are your children passing schoolß