Updating a system could help better connect individuals to the resources they need.
Officials heard recommendations for making Prince William County human services more efficient.
The suggestions were included in a presentation to the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS), according to a release.
During the discussion, the community leaders learned about the results of the “No Wrong Door Human Services Solution Study.”
If the No Wrong Door idea was implemented, citizens would receive the necessary assistance by reaching out to the human services agencies.
Accessing resources can be difficult for those using the current system in place, Area Agency on Aging Director Sarah Henry.
“For example, a client served by the Agency on Aging may also be served by Social Services, Community Services and Housing for multiple services,” Henry said in a release. “The four departments are spread out at multiple locations throughout the county, and each time the client contacts a new department, the client has to share their story again.”
Public Consulting Group (PCG), which conducted the study, advised officials to upgrade technology and facilities.
Connecting area organizations is another suggestion.
“A lot of human services agencies use many of the same partners,” Erin Henderlight from PCG said in a release. “So looking at ways that we can capitalize and sort of mobilize a community and those stakeholders in a way that individual departments are doing now as just single agencies.”
County staff members can continue the process by looking over the recommendations, considering necessary services, and working with the BOCS.
