The IMPACT/UpRys partnership began 5 years ago. Over the years the partnership has evolved and become stronger.
“As our program has expanded, UpRys has always gone above and beyond to meet our needs” said Cassandra Fletcher, IMPACT Program Manager. In addition to the day-to-day activities, the partners meet monthly to provide status updates, evaluate processes and uncover any additional needs. Interaction with UpRys is not limited to these meetings, however. “We work very closely with Tracy Stearns, UpRys, Vice President Workforce Solutions and the rest of the UpRys team” said Fletcher. “We appreciate being able to contact Tracy if an issue comes up and know she will take care of it right away. She stays in constant communication with us and has exceeded our expectations.”
As part of the youth empowerment services, IMPACT provides work experience opportunities to foster youth in Franklin County. “A payroll situation arose with these individuals and UpRys implemented a unique solution to ensure foster youth were paid timely and securely” said Fletcher.
Per Franklin County Children’s Services, foster youth are not permitted to have their own bank account. Therefore, cash cards are the preferred method used to issue paychecks. However, it quickly became clear that providing them with an instant issue cash card with no name and mailing the permanent card was not going to work.
According to Fletcher, since foster youth move from placement to placement, there is no guarantee they will be at the same address when the permanent card arrives—making them easily intercepted or stolen. UpRys worked with the cash card provider to have the permanent cards mailed to UpRys allowing IMPACT to hand cards directly to each individual. “Without the creative thinking and hard work of the UpRys team, this would not have been possible,” said Fletcher.