New database for at-risk families in South Carolina

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - A new database that tracks people as they navigate different social services could reveal which programs are working and which are not.

Unite Us provides a platform that streamlines how nonprofits take in new clients and refer them out to other groups. Once a client’s account is created, it follows them from place to place, allowing the nonprofits to see where people are going and what’s working.

Greenville County has dozens of nonprofits and social services looking to help people. The first nonprofit in the area to join Unite Us is called Just Say Something.

Just Say Something’s Executive Director Carol Reeves says Unite U.S. is needed now more than ever.

Reeves said their case load has increased 30% since 2020 and the kids that they work with, many in foster care, are feeling a new level of hopelessness.

“It’s very hard for me or someone my age to listen to a child say they are not worried about their future because they don’t know if they have one,” said Reeves. “They’re probably not going to be around that long. I mean they throw those words and terms around at nine and 10 years old. It’s just unthinkable to me.”

Reeves said Unite Us will also be the key to getting hard data on which programs are working and and for who. That data will help them locate the gaps in their services.

“We’d know if they stop the class. We’d know if they finished the class and went on to something else. We’d know if they were referred back and had a good experience or a bad experience,” Reeves said. “We’d be able to improve.”

However, Reeves said the key for Unite Us to work is to get buy-in from other groups. The more nonprofits that join, the more complete the picture will be.

MORE NEWS: Salvation Army overcomes high food prices to serve