Our 2018 Customer Impact Prize Winners

Foothold Technology is proud to announce the 2018 AWARDS Impact Prize recipients. Granted annually since 2015, the Impact Prize celebrates an agency’s use of AWARDS, Foothold’s complete electronic record designed by human services for human services, to improve client services, streamline agency operations, and ultimately make a positive impact on the greater community.

Prizes were awarded in three categories. The recipient of the 2018 AWARDS Impact Prize for Greatest Impact on Agency Operations is Pennsylvania-based MHY Family Services. As an agency, MHY Family Services leveraged its implementation of AWARDS as a catalyst for substantive organizational change. Throughout their implementation, staff members reflected on and altered documentation requirements, and utilized a host of creative strategies to encourage staff usage of AWARDS. An extensive internal training and evaluation program, paired with a strong support system around their usage of AWARDS, allowed MHY Family Services to decrease the amount of time spent on administrative tasks, improve the quality and capability of reporting mechanisms, and ultimately provide a new level of services to clients. Building on change management practices already infused into its service model, staff at MHY enthusiastically created a positive environment for change.

The 2018 recipient of the AWARDS Impact Prize for Greatest Impact on Client Services is New York City-based Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC). BRC’s integration of AWARDS into its Transit Outreach Program provided the agency with a tool to organize 7,500 monthly contacts with people experiencing homelessness within New York City, and place over 3,300 people into improved housing situations or treatment facilities in 2017. Additionally, AWARDS provides BRC with a tool to effectively organize services for clients across its 28 programs. This has allowed the agency to provide a comprehensive approach to client services, resulting in more suitable housing placements based on a client’s individual needs. During BRC’s quarterly performance management meetings and through its robust auditing protocols, the agency is able to utilize the data provided by AWARDS to quickly identify areas of need within its programs and improve the services available to BRC clients.

The 2018 recipient of the AWARDS Impact Prize for Greatest Impact on the Community is Illinois-based Niles Family Services. Through its extensive use of the AWARDS Waiting List Functionality, Niles Family Services has helped reduce pressure on emergency services and improved client services within its community.  Their successful implementation and ongoing use of the Waiting List within AWARDS has allowed the agency to streamline its triage system and consequently significantly reduce the average wait time for program admission. This helps to divert clients away from costly emergency services within their community.  The prioritization functionality within Waitlist has allowed them to better serve clients. A client at high risk is able to be assessed more quickly, and the more efficient response has improved their coordination efforts with local police, fire, and other professionals in the field. Niles Family Services’ overall use of AWARDS has allowed them to better approach complex client needs with timely wrap-around services and thus has reduced pressure on other systems within their community.

Congratulations again to this year’s winners. We thank all Foothold customers creating impact in their communities. We’ve shared many of those empowering stories here on our blog and we will continue to champion the work of our client partners. If you aren’t yet a member of our thriving community, we’d love to hear from you!

More about the Impact Prize

Impact Prize nominations are submitted by peers and colleagues and then reviewed by a small cross-departmental committee of Foothold Technology staff. The winning agencies are selected based on the belief that they embody what it means to provide staff on all levels with the freedom to focus on their mission. The winners are announced at our annual User’s Conference.