Orange County NC Website
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' History <br />On August 20, 199, the Orange County Board of CorLmissioners signed an agre~r,-lent 13 <br />with the United Way of Greater Orange County to operate an automated information and <br />referral rystem. The County allotted 525,000 and The Partnership for Young Children <br />(Smart Start) contnbuted 550,000 for start-up and ongoing costs for the project. In <br />September 1995, citing higher-than-expe:ted start-up cos'~s, United Way asked for and <br />received an additional 515,000 from the Board. Orange County and Smart Start <br />contnbuted a total of 5140,720. <br />The target date for the beginr_ing of service was January 1996. Service delivery began in <br />March 1996 as Orange Resource Connection. Between l~fay and September 1996, staff' <br />turnover and reassigrunent of duties within the newly consolidated Triangle United Way <br />created gaps in the delivery of services. <br />Purpose <br />1. To provide informadon on Orange County resources for Orange County Citizens paid <br />for by Orange County dollars <br />2. More personal approach'~~service delivery <br />3. Access to a computerized information referral system for Orange County service <br />`` agencies and Orange County citizens <br />4. Telephone and web access to the general public <br />~. Continuous updates of a comprehensive database on existing community services <br />6. Hard copy of resource directory (Orange Book) <br />Proposed Services . <br />1. Begin immediate operation of referral system - no Iag time between acquisition and <br />start of service delivery <br />2. Posting of service on County World Wide Web site <br />3. Update and convert database to Microsoft Access <br />4. Resume publication of Orange Book <br />~. Develop questionnaire for service provider to determine method of referral <br />6. Logging of calls and "hits" on web site to determine usage <br />Effectiveness of a Locally ~I~anaged Computerized I&R System <br />• Connectivity of all Human Service Agenaes with intenet access and a-mail <br />• Calls will be handled by Human Service workers who are already familiar with <br />services Listed in the I&R Guide <br />• Ongoing technical support and training will be available to help nonprofits <br />access the information <br />• Coordination and communication among human services agencies would be <br />enhanced <br />• Program oversight will be provided by the Clerk to the Board and the Human <br />Services Analyst position <br />• Providing access over the Internet and using ofr-the-shelf software will not <br />involve costs associated with installation of new sofrwzre <br />• There will be a link fi om this web site to available resources in surrounding <br />counties <br />