FLORENCE CRITTENTON PROGRAMS OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

Young women in our congregate care facility: ages 14-20 who are pregnant, parenting, or in foster care. Unmarried mothers ages 18 - 34 who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.

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

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, 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 understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

As young mothers graduate from our residential program, they are offered the opportunity for housing assistance and on-going support services. Numerous young women declined the support stating that they did not want to enter support program because it meant they would not be able to live with their child's father. Based on the feedback, we have begun to look for more ways to include father's in our residential program services, such as offering co-parenting classes. We also changed the language we used for our housing assistance program. Instead of saying the program is for "single mothers," we now say the program is for "families".

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?

We have always conducted client satisfaction surveys, but we have found new ways to solicit feedback from clients in ways that shifts decision-making power. Previously, the weekly dining menu was created and prepared by the house manager without feedback from the clients in our residential program. Now the residents are given an opportunity to suggest and prepare meals for the menu. By allowing them choice over what they eat, they are now more engaged in learning to cook and preparing meals, and we've received far fewer complaints.

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 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 hard to come up with good questions to ask people, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve,