Jewish Family Service of the Desert

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

JFS clients are residents of the Coachella Valley (California) who have a need for stabilization, whether that be emotional, financial, housing, etc. JFS serves all who have a need regardless of their race, religion, age, and lifestyle, and programs are offered based on noted community need. The agency is small enough to make substantial changes to programs, should the community need change. As an example, prior to the Federal government shut down and subsequent furloughing of employees in 2019, JFS only offered case management services to those 55 years old or older. Requests for support at that time were predominantly made by persons under 55 years of age, so the agency decided to open its case management program and connection to available benefits to all Coachella Valley residents.

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

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Case management notes,

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,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, JFS converted its programs and services to telecare. This created the need to register new clients remotely. Our efforts first started with a fillable pdf form, but client feedback regarding the difficulty of navigating the form, specifically the signature function, forced JFS to reconsider. The change to a Jotform based service has significantly decreased the time needed to register. Further, evaluations are now issued using the Jotform platform, making it easier and faster for clients to submit feedback. We know that this change is leading to an increase in document completion and, therefore, the provision of needed mental health counseling services.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

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

Thankfully, JFS has always responded well to community requests, and programs have been altered based on stakeholder feedback or staff's recommendations throughout our existence. Further, our efforts to expand access to JFS services to all community members prompts the agency to consider client needs in negotiating services such as remote office space allowing those who live a considerable distance from the agency to connect (via telecare) to a JFS therapist. Both process and program changes are possible based on stakeholder feedback, so our system of gathering feedback allows the community to drive many aspects of JFS services.

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

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, 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 demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve,