- Grant will help provide wage assistance and support services for people overcoming employment barriers and becoming self-sufficient.
LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky awarded Goodwill Industries of Kentucky (Goodwill Kentucky) a $90,000 grant to help support people eligible for Medicaid, including those in the justice system who are re-entering society, with resources to find and sustain employment.
Through this grant, UnitedHealthcare and Goodwill Kentucky are partnering to enhance wage assistance and support services for program participants.
The grant funding period began May 1, 2019, and will benefit Louisville RISE (Reintegrating Individuals Successfully Every Day), a Goodwill Kentucky program that provides Kentuckians with skills training and mentorship. The partnership will support events including expungement clinics, which help people clear certain cases from their criminal records, as well as literacy classes, health and wellness presentations, and career-development resources.
“At UnitedHealthcare, we look at an individual’s medical needs, but also at behavioral, functional and social needs, which are supported by programs like RISE,” said Amy Johnston, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky. “The unique value that managed care offers Kentuckians includes working with community-based organizations to identify and address areas that affect health outcomes and quality of life. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Goodwill Kentucky on this program.”
UnitedHealthcare’s support will help participants overcome barriers to self-sufficiency, emphasize finding employment and promote employment retention. Program participants enter RISE after completing Goodwill’s Soft Skills Academy where they earn a Work Ready Certificate by learning and practicing six key skills necessary for maintaining employment.
“An integral part of our mission is to empower ‘second chance’ participants to achieve economic independence through professional skills training and educational development tools,” said Dennis Ritchie, career services manager, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky. “Our partnership with UnitedHealthcare helps address a unique set of challenges for our population to get them on a path to self-sufficiency.”
The initial goal of the grant is to move 200 people through the program in one year. RISE is currently available in Jefferson County, with the possibility to expand statewide in 2020.
The grant is part of UnitedHealthcare’s Empowering Health initiative focused on expanding access to care and addressing the social determinants of health for people in underserved communities.
About Goodwill Industries of Kentucky
In the 2018 fiscal year, Goodwill Kentucky placed Kentuckians into more than 2,600 jobs across the state – both inside and outside of Goodwill. Goodwill Kentucky’s career path programs and employment services, which serve Kentuckians who have disabilities or other challenges, are funded through a combination of grants, corporate and individual giving, and its retail stores, which sell donated clothing and household items at 65 locations across Kentucky.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com/ or follow @UHC on Twitter.
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Contacts
Media Contact:
Isaac Sorensen
UnitedHealthcare
Isaac.Sorensen@uhc.com
952.931.5705