FORWARD Impact in Los Angeles County
- Administered $2.5 million to support survivors in Los Angeles County.
- Connected 1,000 survivors with more than 5,000 wraparound services
- Collaborated with six local community-based organizations to provide intake to domestic violence survivors for the program and wraparound services to support domestic violence survivors in LA County.
“With the combination of losing my job due to COVID-19 and almost losing my life in a violent domestic relationship, receiving the $2,500 grant has helped with paying medical and dental costs, some moving supplies, and other essential household expenses. This grant came at a time when I was really about to give up hope. I have been just getting by on my part-time income to have some income coming in, but this grant has assisted me and given me hope to keep going.”
~ LA Empower_u Grant Recipient
Program Overview
The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) partnered with FORWARD to administer the LA County Empower_u Fund, a pioneering program providing crucial financial aid to survivors of domestic violence affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a dedicated $2.5 million allocation, the program offers grants of $2,500 each to 1,000 individuals in Los Angeles County. FORWARD’s comprehensive program administration services included a centralized application portal, equitable program design, intake and review processes, award distribution, fraud prevention, and reporting. Additionally, FORWARD surveyed participants to understand their top needs and how the funds were utilized, such as rent, utilities, food, transportation, and clothing. This approach aimed to assess the grant’s impact and contribute to domestic violence survivors’ financial recovery.
Challenges that the Los Angeles County Empower_U Program Faced
- Navigating complex needs of diverse survivor populations
- Ensuring equitable resource distribution
- Maximizing impact and financial recovery assessment
Solutions Provided by FORWARD
- Collaborated with community-based organizations in program design to ensure inclusivity and effectiveness.
- Provided comprehensive back-office support, utilizing FORWARD Sync for customized intake forms, follow-up surveys, centralized client data tracking, document storage, inter-agency collaboration, and reporting.
- Facilitated secure payment distribution and enabled thorough impact assessment of funds.
Addressing Diverse Survivor Needs by Providing Equitable Access
Challenge
One of the greatest challenges of administering the Los Angeles County Empower_u Fund was addressing the diverse needs of domestic violence survivors, particularly those from historically underserved communities, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) groups, immigrant communities, and LGBTQIA+ populations.
Solution
To navigate the complex needs of diverse survivor populations, FORWARD included community-based organizations in the program design phase, leveraging their expertise to ensure effectiveness. FORWARD's application portal is available in 68 languages and comes with multilingual support via call, text, and email, increasing accessibility for individuals of various linguistic backgrounds. FORWARD also prioritized the protection of Personal Identifying Information (PII), safeguarding the privacy of participants, particularly those from historically underserved communities. These measures ensured that the Empower_u Fund effectively reached and supported those in need.
Outcome
FORWARD's proactive approach ensured that the Empower_u Fund reached a diverse population, with most applicants identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and over 69% falling in the 25-44 age group. Additionally, the program achieved its objectives with no instances of fraud reported. This success can be attributed to FORWARD's meticulous implementation strategies, low-key promotion efforts to maintain a minimal profile, and trusted community partners' oversight of the application and payment process. These efforts ensured secure handling and equitable distribution of funds, reflecting FORWARD's commitment to serving vulnerable populations effectively and responsibly.
Over 69%
of applicants were
25-44 years of age
92% of applicants were BIPOC
Ensuring Equitable Resource Distribution and Understanding the Impact of Payments
Challenge
Given the varying needs of survivors, ensuring the equitable distribution of the allocated $2.5 million presented a significant program administration challenge. The program needed the right resources and tools to quickly and securely intake applications from various local community-based organizations, review them for eligibility, connect participants to wraparound services, and securely administer and track the funding's impact.
Solution
FORWARD provided comprehensive back-office support, encompassing program design, deployment of multilingual marketing materials, application intake and review, payment distribution, and reporting. In addition to FORWARD’s expert program management team, Los Angeles County leveraged FORWARD Sync, the premier client and resource management software solution, to create custom intake forms with input from community partners and seamlessly deploy follow-up surveys within the same platform. With FORWARD Sync, all client information is tracked in one centralized information, making it easy for Los Angeles County, nonprofit partners, and FORWARD staff to track applications, payments, and client progress. Nonprofit community partners could also communicate with clients directly from FORWARD via call, text, and email while tracking all communications. All client information is fully encrypted and protected with role-based permissions.
Outcome
As a result of implementing FORWARD solutions, the program achieved significant outcomes in ensuring equitable resource distribution and understanding the impact of payments. By incorporating surveys into the application process through FORWARD Forms Engine, Los Angeles County gained valuable insights into survivors' needs before and after they received funding. According to surveys conducted, there was a 350% increase in awareness of LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) resources by program applicants. Since FORWARD Sync centralizes program applicant information all in one platform, Los Angeles County and nonprofit partners were able to accelerate interagency collaboration, preventing duplication of benefits and driving better client outcomes. This collaborative approach resulted in more than 1,000 survivors being connected with over 5,000 wraparound services, demonstrating the program's impactful support for survivors' long-term recovery and well-being.
Efficiently Administer Payments to Participants
Challenge
The Los Angeles Empower_u required an efficient and secure solution to administer payments to participants and track how participants used the funding. Assessing the fund's impact on the financial recovery of domestic violence survivors requires robust data tracking and assessment mechanisms to meet program objectives and ensure tangible positive outcomes.
Solution
To meet the challenge of administering payments to participants and tracking the impact of payments, FORWARD partnered with Blackhawk Network to administer prepaid cards while obscuring personal identifying information to ensure applicant safety. FORWARD was able to streamline the distribution of funds and track how participants used the funding.
Outcome
Through FORWARD's data-driven approach and collaboration with Blackhawk, the Empower_u Fund efficiently administered payments via prepaid cards to participants while thoroughly assessing how these payments impacted their financial recovery. During the application process, participants provided details about their financial needs, with the top three needs reported being rental and mortgage payments, utilities, and food. The transaction history provided by Blackhawk revealed that $400,000 was spent on food, $300,000 on retail purchases, and $150,000 on financial services. This comprehensive evaluation shed light on the program's effectiveness in addressing survivors' financial challenges. The partnership with Blackhawk played a pivotal role in achieving these impactful outcomes, highlighting the importance of collaborative efforts in fostering positive change.
“Providing this support to our clients has been a true blessing! Empower U Fund has changed everything for us. I’ve witnessed tears of joy, heard dreams becoming reality. Working with colleagues who’ve offered immense support has been amazing. This program has been one of the most wonderful experiences, and our survivors feel seen and heard. Thank you so much, we truly appreciate it!”
~ LA Empower_u Grant Partner
County of Los Angeles FORWARD
Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA), in partnership with FORWARD and a coalition of community-based partners, successfully administered $2.5 million to assist 1,000 survivors. FORWARD’s commitment to accelerating opportunity and access through customized solutions and human-centered technology resulted in an accessible and equitable application process, powerful partnerships with community organizations, and secure payment enablement to participants. Due to the program’s overwhelming success, the County plans to expand the program to continue serving vulnerable populations. FORWARD is proud to support the Los Angeles County Empower_u Program in supporting survivors in their path to recovery.
