Upstate Institute of Youth Programsinc

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

Underserved, at-risk youth, first generation students and limited income families within our communities.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Suggestion box/email,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

We listened to the needs of the parents and students within the program via a Google doc survey during an academic activity and implemented the following changes to the Financial Aid process for the High School Seniors. These changes included us coordinating two types of Financial Aid Workshops to include virtual and in-person sessions. The first part included a full overview of the Financial Aid, FAFSA, and Scholarship processes. Students and parents were also able to learn about the required documents needed in order to successfully complete their FAFSAs and reduce errors. The second part of the series, included an opportunity for parents and students to complete the FAFSA with the assistance of a Financial Aid Director from a postsecondary institution.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

The feedback we receive allows us to continue to modify the programs and services we provide. One the course of many years, the feedback has allowed us to identify areas of improvement and growth, clarifies expectations, benefits to our organization and performance.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,