Resources that belong in the directory should fall under one of the following categories:
Behavioral Health: Treatment and supportive services for mental health and substance use disorders, including rehabilitation, psychiatry, support groups, and therapy.
Education: Services that provide and promote education, including academic scholarships, special education programs, early childhood education programs, tutoring services, ESL classes, and GED programs.
Emergency: Services that provide immediate, short-term assistance, including mental health crisis intervention services, emergency shelters, emergency financial assistance, disaster preparedness and response services, and heating and cooling centers.
Family & Youth: Services that provide support to families and youth, including family counseling, adoption and foster care services, child care programs, infant and child supplies, parenting support and education, and youth empowerment programs.
Financial Support: Services that provide assistance paying for housing, education, food, transportation, medical expenses, etc., or that are aimed at improving financial literacy, such as financial education and tax preparation assistance.
Food: Services aimed at improving access to adequate and nutritious food, including food delivery, free or low cost meals, food pantries, food vouchers, and farmers' markets.
Goods: Services that provide basic goods like clothing, furniture, medical supplies, and toiletries for free or at a reduced cost.
Health: Services around navigating, accessing, and paying for health services, including primary and specialist care, medical bill and prescription assistance, wellness programs, health insurance enrollment assistance, and harm reduction services.
Housing: Services aimed at improving access to safe and affordable housing, including housing counseling, emergency shelters, low-income housing, financial assistance, supportive housing, home repair services, etc.
Legal: Services that provide legal support and advocacy, including free or low-cost legal representation, citizenship application assistance, support services for individuals involved in the criminal justice system, and assistance with obtaining and changing identity documents.
Social Supports: Services that provide general community support, such as community centers, case management, and benefits assistance, as well as services that are population specific, such as LGBTQ services, disability services, senior services, and HIV/AIDS services.
Transportation: Services around accessing and paying for transportation, including car repair assistance, free or low cost transportation, disability-accessible transportation, driver's education, etc.
Work: Services for workers and job-seekers, including job search assistance, career counseling, job training resources, supported employment, and retirement and unemployment benefits assistance.
What types of resources do NOT belong in the directory?
Examples of resources that do not provide direct social services and thus do not belong in the app include:
Municipal services, such as sewage disposal, food inspection, fire departments, police departments, etc.
Government offices with no community programs, such as the New York City Mayor’s Office, the Chamber of Commerce, or the District Attorney’s Office
Commercial services, like T-Mobile, Craig’s List, or utility providers
WellSky Social Care Coordination also does not actively collect, curate, import, or validate any information on individual medical providers. This includes private practices, lone specialists, and any other providers that exist outside an agency, organization, medical center/system, etc.
We also have a policy against including resources that deliberately provide deceptive/ misleading information to clients.
Other resources that do not belong in the directory:
Fire stations
Police stations/ departments, sheriff departments
EMT
Courts
District attorneys
Government offices with no community programs
Correctional facilities, prisons, jails, juvenile detention facilities, etc
Probation/ parole services
County clerks
Juror/ jury services
Highway department/ services
Consumer affairs, consumer protection
Political committees/ headquarters (Republican Party, Democratic Party, Libertarian Party, Tea Party, etc)
Tourism departments/ services
Radio stations
Chambers of commerce
Public works
Sewage/ waste disposal
FBI
Animal control
County assessor
City clerk
Parks (without programs)
Golf courses
Permit/ licensing offices
Homeland Security
Cemeteries
Cultural resources like museums
Airports
Amusement parks
Environmental conservation organizations
Post offices
Coroners
Medical examiners
Zoning/ regional planning offices
Politician’s offices (e.g. Senator’s office, Mayor’s office, etc)