SHARING SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES
Challenges Persist

The Center and its partners have been working together for a long time and have collaborated more intensively over the last five years, but they still face challenges. The lack of transportation in northern Idaho is a formidable obstacle. Although the Center's outreach sites have improved access to services, many learners still cannot get services they need because they don't have a car or access to public transportation.

Although the Center and its partners share information informally by phone and email, they do not have a common database. This informality has worked well for them in serving their clients, but they are unable to assess how well the partnership is serving the area's adults. Like partnerships in other communities, they are struggling with how to combine data and at the same time protect their clients' privacy.

The partners work with some businesses on a regular, though limited, basis, but they acknowledge that they need to build stronger relationships with area businesses. They also admit that they have made mistakes in the past and referred unqualified clients to businesses. Having learned from these mistakes, however, they are now more protective of their business partners and are careful to send only qualified applicants to them.