As hospitals and clinics increase screenings for social determinants of health (SDOH), referrals to agencies that provide services to address these needs also will increase. However, questions remain about the ability of nonprofits and other “community resources” to absorb these increased referrals for services. Using secondary data analysis, a review of existing capacity assessment models, and case studies of human service centers in Florida and Texas, researchers will develop and implement an approach for assessing the capacity of community social services organizations and their partners to absorb and meet the needs of referred clients. Findings will lead to improvements in understanding the nonprofit sector’s ability to respond to growing demand, ultimately contributing to the long-term goal of strengthening cross-sector partnerships and integration of services and systems to improve health outcomes.

Principal Investigators

Danielle Varda, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs
Co-Director, Center on Network Science
University of Colorado Denver
CEO, Visible Network Labs
https://visiblenetworklabs.com/

Katie Edwards, MPA
Executive Director
The Nonprofit Centers Network
https://www.nonprofitcenters.org/

Partners

Todd Ely, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs &
Malinda Mochizuki, MPA, Events & Community Partnership Manager, Center on Network Science
University of Colorado Denver
https://publicaffairs.ucdenver.edu/

Rachel Hogg, DrPH
Assistant Professor, College of Health Sciences
University of Kentucky
https://www.uky.edu/chs/

Kinsey Adamson, BA
Operations Assistant, Serve Denton
https://www.servedenton.org/

Kameron Hodgens, PhD, Executive Director &
Charlene Altenhain, AAS, Campus Administrator
The Glasser Schoenbaum Human Services Center
https://gs-humanservices.org/

Sarah Lampe, MPH
Executive Director, Trailhead Institute
http://trailhead.institute/