Finance Highlights 2008 0729 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

• There was one single-person department -First Five -and this person's comments were only included in the Center Feedback portion of the survey since providing a Departmental Feedback section would identify her and void the confidentiality promise. • Two of the childcare centers reported unsafe conditions where employees felt that their physical safety was being jeopardized. These situations need to be investigated, and if safety concerns are found to be valid, corrective action should be taken without delay. Creating Strategic Partnerships Our proposal posed three questions regarding strategic partnership possibilities with the idea that creating these partnerships may strengthen community ties and have a positive, minor impact on sustainability. Each question is repeated here and followed by brief comments. Can DSFRC create new programs through community owned businesses that offer discounts to DSFRC clientele? The single, past incidence of a discount program for DSFRC clients offered through a community business (a car repair shop) ended because funding stopped. Ms. Padilla- Johnson considered that program valuable and would like to pursue others. In order to avoid a community discount program coming to an end because of funding issues, we recommend letting the community business absorb the full costs of the discounts offered. This may create more program stability. Here is one way a DSFRC sponsored Community Discount Program (CDP) might work: 1) Estimate DSFRC's cost of enrolling community businesses into a DSFRC CDP, and the cost of the limited administrative support needed to sustain it. These activities are described in more detail below. Find a source for these needed funds. 2) Approach select businesses to see which will offer 10-25% discounts, or other benefits, to DSFRC clients who are members of the DSFRC CDP. Businesses often have a discount structure already in place, such as offering discounts to senior citizens or AAA members. They often consider the value of the increased business from these groups, along with the public relations advantages, as compensation for the cost of the discount. Enroll a variety of businesses to participate as providers in CDP such as a car repair shop, legal service, local food market, retail stores, etc. we recommend only having one business partner per industry in the CDP. The nature of this exclusivity will encourage enrollments ("You'd be the only car repair shop we'd refer to" 3) Select a time period for the program (one year, on a calendar basis is recommended since having synchronized expirations makes administration easier) and work with each CDP business partner to outline conditions for the discount. These conditions can be customized for each provider and should include policies that apply to the client (such as making discounts only available for work totaling $50 or more) as well as those pertaining to the agreement between DSFRC and the CDP business sustainability Study: Davis Street Family Resource Center - 4/08 Page 33 of 96