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Many United Way staff and volunteers participated in read Across America day on March 2. We saw great pictures from the United Ways of Adams County, Berks County, Southwestern PA and Wyoming Valley on social media. This shot is from United Way of Southwestern PA.
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February was biggest month ever for PA 2-1-1, and data shows how Pennsylvanians currently learn about 2-1-1
PA 2-1-1 call centers handled 24,833 contacts in February of 2017. This represents a 51% increase in call volume from January of 2017. While 98% of calls came from Pennsylvania, we also heard from people in 24 other states. Residents of 58 of PA's 67 counties contacted 2-1-1.
The number one request for help was was income taxes, usually with a request to schedule a tax appointment at a VITA site. Many callers were asked how they heard about 2-1-1. The top ways the reported were prior use of the service, they learned about it from agencies in the community, or from friends and family.
February also brought significant improvements in coverage to two of our PA 2-1-1 regions, as the Central region now has a contract to provide service 24/7/365 through a contract with the Southwest region. PA 2-1-1 East launched Coordinated Entry Services for the Eastern Continuum of Care Homeless Services pilot project in Lehigh and Northampton counties.
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National 2-1-1 Big Count Report for 2016 Released
United Way Worldwide has completed what is known as the "Big Count" report for total 2-1-1 contacts across the country. The data is broken down to a state and call center level as well.
The Big Big Count number for 2016 is: 12,952,291 calls answered across the 2-1-1 network. When added to the 438,491 contacts helped through text, chat, and email, the total contacts helped in 2016 is 13,390,782. This represents a 34% increase over the text/chat/email number from 2015.
As people across the country continue to use text, chat, and email more frequently and call less, this combined number will be more and more important to measure value.
Here are some talking points on the report:
- In 2016, 2-1-1s answered calls equivalent to more than 10% of all U.S. households.
- The most prominent reason for calling was housing (19% of all calls), utilities assistance was responsible for a further 12% of calls, with food and meals amounting to 9% of calls, and health care 8%. Essentially, more than 80% of calls involved the most basic human needs (food, shelter, warmth, health) and the means to achieve those needs (employment, education, income support, etc.).
- The number of chat/text interactions with 2-1-1 clients increased nationally by 34% from 2015.
- The number of unique visits to 211 websites to access free online resource databases increased by 19% from 2015 for a total of 25,003,175.
- 2-1-1 resource databases maintain information on 296,320 human services organizations providing a combined total of 942,130 programs and services.
The report estimates that 3.08% of Pennsylvania households are accessing 2-1-1. The national access level for households is 10.5%.
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Registration for UWP's Annual Conference will open March 20
With March now upon us, we are less than four months from UWP's Annual Conference!
Our conference will be taking place on June 21st-23rd, at the beautiful Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, located in the Poconos. This new location will offer attendees a great setting for family to join you or for you to take some time to relax on the river or tour the on-site brewery. UWP is also planning some activities for attendees to participate in on Thursday afternoon, which will be a lot of fun!
The best part about this conference, besides the great training sessions available, is the ability to use flex credits! Following the completion of the conference you will be able to submit a travel form to UWW for reimbursement of expenses. We are hopeful this ability to use flex credits will give your United Way more of an opportunity to attend this conference and bring along some staff or volunteers to participate in the valuable learning opportunities available.
Below is the reimbursement schedule each attendee will be eligible for. Please be aware you will only be reimbursed for the early bird registration fee, so make sure when registration opens you get registered in time!
- Registration fee: up to $240
- Travel: up to $500
- Per diem: $185 per day, up to 3 days
We will be opening registration up Monday, March 20th and we will be sure to inform you how and where to register, so please be on the lookout. UWP and our training committee have been working hard to bring you a valuable conference and feel the sessions we have planned will provided training in areas of importance to you. A draft agenda will be shared during registration, so please take a look at the opportunities available.
We hope you will be able to join us at our Annual Conference and look forward to another memorable year!
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State budget deficit grows in February
PA revenue collections came up short for February, again. The Revenue Dept. reported collections in February totaled $32.9 million, which is 1.7 percent less than anticipated. With this shortfall, the year-to-date General Fund collections are 2.4% below estimate. Actual collections are now $450 million short of expectations.
Of the "big three" revenue producers, The Sales and Use Tax (SUT) was the only one to bring in more revenue than expected, bringing in $11.8 million, 1.7 percent more than anticipated. Personal Income Tax (PIT) and corporation tax collections were below estimate, which greatly impacted the total revenue collections.
Other tax revenue sources produced below-estimate revenues in February, a combined $97.5 million, or 5.4 percent short of expectations.
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Nominate a Tocqueville donor for the Keystone Spirit of United Way award - Due March 31
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UWP is accepting nominations for the 2017 Keystone Spirit of United Way award. The award is created by the United Way of Pennsylvania to recognize exceptional and sustained volunteer and philanthropic leadership. The criteria for selection of an honoree reflect a philanthropic impact and personal commitment of time and talents reaching across community borders.
Nomination forms were emailed to member chief professional officers on February 8. If you would like to request another copy, please email krotz@uwp.org.
Nominations can only come from UWP member organizations with Tocqueville donors. An individual or couple can be nominated for the award.
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UWP seeking candidates for a paid summer internship
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UWP is on the search for a summer intern to help with a few projects. This is a great opportunity for a student to get some real world experience while also getting credits for their major. The internship we are offering is paid and we are willing to have students who need class credits, or those who do not. Some of the work we are looking for the intern to do includes marketing pieces, public policy work, and some membership development work. Please share this opportunity with students you feel would be a great fit with us! The internship posting can be found on our website,
here.
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United Ways invited to register for the Early Learning Investment Commission Economic Summit
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The PA ELIC's annual Economic Summit brings together more than 200 business leaders, policy makers, and community leaders to examine the latest research and policy developments in early learning. Participants learn, network, and collaborate for smart policy investments to impact today's children and tomorrow's economy.
This year's event, entitled "The Business of Early Learning," will explore why high quality childcare is so important for the workforce of today and tomorrow, the challenges of the childcare business model, and innovative business and policy solutions emerging from around the Commonwealth and the Country.
Register here.
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Promote your United Way's work in the public UWP E-letter
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UWP has been circulating our e-letter monthly and we need some help from members to keep this going!
We need submissions from our membership on agencies, volunteers, and board members you would like to highlight and thank for their hard work in your communities. Unless we start getting more submissions, we may need to reevaluate this communication. Please keep in mind this e-letter is a great way to get some coverage with your state legislators, as it is sent to them and their staff. If you would like to make a submission please email Maggie (
maggie@uwp.org)
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