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Goodwill Data Plan to Connect Vets in Need, Service Providers

Goodwill of Orange County has received a $1.6 million grant from America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP) and taken on a new challenge that follows a recent study that found social service programs for military veterans here are disjointed and would benefit from a new level of coordination.

The Santa Ana-based Goodwill chapter hopes to fill the bill through its newly established Tierney Center for Veteran Services. The goal is to bring services under one roof to supplant various, independent programs that assist with mental health, housing, and job training—often with all three at different locations.

The recent report by the USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families—titled “The State of the American Veteran: The Orange County Veterans Study”—listed barriers identified by veterans including “not knowing where to get help or whom to see,” “difficulty scheduling an appointment,” and “don’t trust providers.”

Goodwill of Orange County and AWP see Orange County as a logical place to begin to try to address the shortcomings that veterans services observers see as a statewide problem.

“Orange County is ground zero for the armed forces in California,” said Frank Talarico Jr., chief executive of Goodwill of Orange County. “60% of all California veterans live within two hours of Orange County.”

Orange County has never had a VA administrator or headquarters and doesn’t have a large base within its borders—a sliver of Camp Pendleton sits in Orange County, and a small reserve base is in Los Alamitos.

The AWP grant will support coordinated and streamlined services administered by the Tierney Center for Veteran Services, which will look for new efficiencies through data collected by various social-service providers.

“For some reason, all of the separate veterans services organizations in Orange County have been reluctant to share their data,” said Kathy Copeland, vice president of human services at Goodwill of Orange County. “It makes it so that they are often all serving the same veteran without even knowing it.”

Data Sharing

Data sharing hasn’t been typical among social service providers serving veterans in OC. Goodwill has taken on responsibility of ensuring the practice will lead to improved outcomes for veterans.

“There’s never been one source of accountability in this county for the service of veterans,” Talarico said. “Now there is an obligation, which I love, that forces all the partners to be accountable.”

The grant from AWP is structured to be distributed over the next four years, with the first sum of $750,000 slated for this year.

Goodwill of Orange County has to make equal or greater contributions to the program out of its own pocket each of the four years.

Goodwill also will have the discretion to request additional, smaller grants from AWP for its partners.

“We will be able to say, ‘This is where a gap is in these services, and this partner needs these funds to fill that gap,’ ” said Copeland.

The funds for smaller grants give Goodwill the ability to emphasize its leadership role by offering incentives to various organizations that take part in the program.

Why Goodwill?

Goodwill of Orange County reported revenue of more than $113.9 million for the 12 months ended June 30, 2014, and generates most of its revenue from the operation of its well-known thrift stores.

AWP’s desire to have a lead organization that could match the grant made Goodwill an especially attractive recipient for the effort in Orange County.

“The typical imagery, which is usually correct, is that the nonprofit needs the grant to sustain itself,” Talarico said. “One of the reasons why we were an attractive recipient of the grant is that for 91 years in this county, we have been a very successful social enterprise.”

Outreach to Orange County veterans not previously identified is Goodwill’s first task with the new program, according to Copeland. She is optimistic that the contacts with veterans will aid partner agencies in administering benefits to veterans and present OC business owners with a pool of uniquely qualified and trained candidates for employment.

“You’re going to get a competitive advantage if you hire a vet,” Copeland said. “We will soon be able to provide the businesses of Orange County with a stream of highly qualified employees.”

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