WITH SUCCESS STORIES MOUNTING, UNITED WAY ANNOUNCES NEXT STAGE OF NEW FUNDING STRATEGY

Boston, MA- Instead of having their education disrupted at its earliest and most critical stage, 1,300 Massachusetts preschoolers showing developmental and behavioral concerns had the professional support they needed to remain learning in school in 2009 - a key recommendation from a 2006 Yale University study on reducing preschool expulsions. And, instead of funding costly shelter stays, taxpayers saved nearly $4 million because of a program that helped 130 homeless families avoid prolonged shelter stays. These are just two of the many examples of how an innovative three-year funding strategy, launched in 2007, is paying off quickly for United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley and the people it serves.

Today, United Way is detailing the results of that shift in funding strategy and unveiling the next stage of its plan, which kicks off with an investment of nearly $30 million in its first year. The 2007 shift in investment strategy moved United Way from a funding model based on historical relationships with its provider organizations to one which ties its funding of organizations to specific community goals and measurements. Today's announcement builds upon that strategy and sets new goals and measures for the organization's  network of 160 partner organizations that will track specifically how children, youth and families are impacted by the programs serving them.

"Three years ago, we threw out the old rules and directly linked our investments to the measurable results we wanted to achieve," said Michael K. Durkin, president and chief executive officer at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. "Now, every three years, we evaluate how we can create the most impact with donor dollars. Despite the global recession, our data is showing that this strategy has generated a substantial impact in our community and has brought donors closer to the work."

Results from the three-year strategy include 1) direct outcomes for children, youth and families from the network of 160 agencies funded; 2) improved program quality in early education and out-of-school time settings; and 3) the implementation of innovative models that change the way human service agencies do business.  Examples of the direct outcomes over the past three years for children, youth and families include:

More than 5,000 families obtained housing while 15,000 avoided shelter

• More than 15,000 obtained job skills while almost 8,000 obtained employment
• More than 6,000 youth matched with high quality mentor relationships
• More than 15,000 young children screened/assessed for developmental concerns
• More than 1,300 young children are receiving services to address delays allowing them to stay engaged in their pre-school setting
• More than 8,000 parents were educated/engaged in their child's development

The first stage of United Way's new investment strategy focused on improving program quality across its 160 funded agencies and mandating alignment under a set of shared goals and metrics. For example, facing data which showed that Massachusetts had the 9th highest pre-school expulsion rate in the country, United Way used the new strategy to target specific investments in early screening of young children in preschool settings and teacher training so that more early care and education programs could respond to learning delays and behavioral issues to prevent expulsions. Because United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley funds early education and care organizations at a scale unmatched by any other funder outside of government, this shift resulted in more than 1,300 children being retained in quality programs in the last two years.

United Way's shift also required that funded organizations working with populations experiencing homelessness adopt a new model, so called Housing First, which flips the traditional approach to homelessness, by moving families out of shelters and into permanent housing as a first step, and providing support services immediately thereafter.  Because United Way funded and tracked this model across its 13 homelessness-focused agencies, more than 130 homeless families avoided prolonged shelter stays through rapid re-housing strategies, and taxpayers saved an estimated $3.9 million in shelter costs in 2009 alone.

In August, United Way released a set of community goals and specific objectives in the areas of healthy child development, increasing youth opportunities, and family financial stability. Nearly 200 organizations were invited to apply for funding to deliver upon these goals. After a rigorous five-week review process with more than 150 volunteers from the community, 160 organizations were selected as United Way partner organizations and granted three years of funding.

For the next three years, United Way's funding will shift from improving program quality and coordination across partner agencies, to addressing the outcomes of participants within those programs. For example, instead of just measuring the quality of afterschool programs in its network, United Way will begin to track how many youth in United-Way-funded organizations are advancing from grade to grade in school.  Or, instead of tracking how many early education staff are trained to identify developmental concerns in children, United Way will track how many children in those programs are receiving intervention services or treatment for developmental concerns.

"United Way funding supports programming for nearly 150,000 youth every year, nearly 13,000 of whom are high-risk youth," said Durkin. "Measuring outcomes on this scale over the course of the next three years will give us a never-before-seen viewpoint into the effectiveness of our investments. It will enable the organization to bolster successful programs, adjust funding to those not reaching goals, and drive a greater impact across the region."

United Way projects that the first year $30 million investment will:

• Provide intervention or treatment to more than 9,600 children at risk for developmental delays or behavioral issues.
• Provide more than 21,500 youth with academic support enabling them to progress in school and graduate, and match 7,000 youth with positive mentors and
• Help more than 10,000 families retain permanent housing and more than 5,000 residents secure quality employment.

As part of the next stage of funding, United Way President Michael Durkin also announced today that the organization will begin releasing reports three times a year which detail the results donor dollars are achieving in each of the organization's focus areas.  The reports will be published for download at www.supportunitedway.org/investments.

More than 1,000 businesses in the region - including State Street Corporation, Bank of America, Bain Capital, Deloitte, Brown Brothers Harriman, John Hancock, NSTAR, UPS, and P&G/Gillette- were key to raising the resources for the next stage of United Way's investment in the community.  This includes support from labor organizations as well as more than 5,700 donors who contributed $1,000 and above and more than 600 donors who contributed $10,000 or above. United Way's investment strategy also benefits from the more than 150 volunteers who helped to evaluate each agency funding application alongside experts from United Way.

About United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley

One of the region's largest nonprofit funders, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley invests in a network of 160 health and human service agencies, all working toward three community goals: (1) helping children enter school ready to learn, (2) keeping youth engaged in school and graduating, and (3) making sure families have safe homes and the skills necessary to achieve financial stability.