Treehouse: Scheduled Support Opens Up a World of Possiblities

Foster kids, through no fault of their own, average two years behind their peers in school. A foster child loses four to six months of academic progress with every school change. More immediately, the state pays foster parents only about 60 percent of the cost of raising a child, leaving a huge gap for caregivers to fill.

To help close the gap in basic needs, and to provide foster kids with some "extras" to help them feel good and fit in, Treehouse offers the Wearhouse, where foster kids can come in to select new and like‐new clothing, shoes, school supplies, books, toys and bikes. On the shopping floor at the Wearhouse are neatly arranged racks and bins. Behind the scenes are the computers and software that check shoppers in and out, print out the labels that make shopping easier, and inventory the $1,250,000 in donated goods that go through the Wearhouse each year. If it's a Tuesday or Friday, you'll probably find a Scheduled Support consultant from NPower Seattle working behind the scenes. Under Treehouse's contract with NPower, a data network consultant visits Treehouse six times monthly. The consultant supports the Wearhouse by keeping software updated, troubleshooting hardware breakdowns, and updating the Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) software that Treehouse staff use to measure the impact of their Enrichment, Educational and Wearhouse programs. NPower also supports Treehouse's overall technology infrastructure, including computers for staff workstations and the Treehouse Learning Center, which is used for afterschool tutoring. John Joynt, Manager of Data Network Services at NPower observes, "The real story of Scheduled Support is its invisibility. It's about disasters averted because someone's keeping things updated and being proactive about resolving little problems."

When asked about the return on investment for Treehouse's Scheduled Support service, MacKellar‐Hertan says he's done the math and in his opinion the cost is well worth it. "We spend about $19,000 a year on Scheduled Support with NPower. It would cost two or three times that to have a staff person covering our IT needs. And NPower is very flexible and available when things come up. The Scheduled Support model works great for us."

MacKellar‐Hertan is well aware of the importance of keeping the store up and running. The Wearhouse is the first point of entry for many of the kids Treehouse serves. "Sometimes they leave the house in the morning to go to school and they're met by the social worker in the afternoon to be moved to a different home. They need something to wear for the rest of the week. You see the relief on their faces when they leave here." In addition, MacKellar‐Hertan attributes Treehouse's ability to be nimble about fundraising opportunities to having a stable and secure technology foundation. "We can say "Yes" to more things because our staff is freed up to focus on the mission." He offers the example of partnering to run the downtown Holiday Carousel last December, an opportunity that came up in the midst of the busy holiday season and required filling 500 shifts with volunteers. "We were able to jump on that opportunity, raise some money and get some great publicity because we have reliable access to a database to marshal volunteers and because we are not burdened by technology problems."