Less Stress, More Impact: How Unite Us Saves Caseworkers Time and Delivers Government Accountability
How Summit County, Ohio’s partnership with Unite Us saves government caseworkers 591 hours and $3M in taxpayer dollars during its first year.
Government programs have long been asked to provide high-quality services with limited resources—and find new ways to increase efficiency. While this work often takes place in silos, Summit County, Ohio leaders had the foresight to recognize the need for robust community-wide infrastructure to improve program capacity and collaboration, and ensure constituents’ needs are met. Through their partnership with Unite Us, they have saved caseworkers nearly 600 hours and are projected to save $21 million in taxpayer dollars over the next decade.
During a recent webinar, “Efficiency in Action: Saving Millions, Serving Better — Summit County’s Success Story,” we explored Summit County Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS)’ decision to implement technology in support of their benefits bridge program, NEXT. NEXT helps working families transition off public assistance and into stable employment by addressing barriers to employment like transportation, child care, and job training needs. These wraparound supports require coordination among multiple community partners.
By replacing manual and often-duplicative systems with Unite Us’ person-centered, secure data-sharing infrastructure, Summit County has enabled accurate, timely, and accountable use of government funds. This blog highlights key takeaways from the webinar, demonstrating how Summit County’s partnership with Unite Us has delivered high-quality services while saving taxpayer dollars.
Meet the Speakers
Heather Yannayon, Deputy Director, Summit County Job & Family Services
Rebecca Nussen, Social Program Supervisor, NEXT Program
Carolina Bejarano Eyl, Lead Success Coach, Summit County NEXT
Takeaway 1: Unite Us Improves Time Management in Government, Saving Summit County Caseworkers 591 Hours
Government employees today face growing time pressures and increasing administrative burdens that negatively impact their ability to serve the community effectively. Lengthy spreadsheets, manual data entry, and complex referral processes often consume valuable hours that could be better spent directly supporting individuals and families in need. Finding ways to save time and increase efficiency is critical to improving the quality and reach of government programs. By streamlining workflows and automating routine tasks, governments can empower workers to focus on what matters most: delivering timely, impactful services to the people they serve.
This was a consistent theme during the webinar, with each of the panelists highlighting the ways in which Unite Us has helped save Summit County caseworkers hundreds of hours in administrative time, allowing them to dedicate more time to serving more constituents. Carolina Bejarano Eyl, stated, “On the spot, we can look for a resource in Unite Us, send information to a member, send the referral straight to our partner provider … and it’s all just very easily streamlined. So it does reduce having to go back-and-forth from different pages and softwares, and spreadsheets that we used to use. Now, it’s all in one, so it’s been very helpful.”
“The reality was that we literally had a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that had over a hundred tabs on it for every single member that we would track what was going on with that member, and that whole spreadsheet went away with the use of Unite Us Payments. For us to have all that information on a member level brought her stress level down and it brought our accuracy level up and gave us the ability to issue incentives more accurately and more timely, which ultimately benefits our members.”
—Heather Yannayon
Takeaway 2: Unite Us Decreases Administrative Burden, Reducing Stress for 71% of Summit County Caseworkers
Government caseworkers often face overwhelming time burdens due to heavy caseloads and administrative tasks, which contribute directly to stress and burnout. When caseworkers are stretched too thin, it affects not only their well-being but also their ability to provide high-quality, timely support to constituents. Reducing these time pressures by streamlining workflows and automating routine tasks helps prevent burnout and enables caseworkers to focus more on meaningful client interactions. This, in turn, leads to better service outcomes and a stronger, more responsive government workforce.
Participants in the webinar drew a straight line from the time savings resulting from the use of Unite Us’ closed-loop referral system to decreased stress and burnout among Summit County caseworkers. Rebecca Nussen commented that “the stress level has reduced massively” thanks to Unite Us, adding, “Morale is up. Everybody loves Unite Us.”
“That’s something that’s been transformational – the ability to take on higher caseloads using Unite Us without feeling the increased stress. So we’re able to do more work, but it doesn’t necessarily equal more stress because of the tool that we have.”
—Heather Yannayon
Rebecca Nussen reiterated this message, sharing that the use of Unite Us has given her “a rejuvenated feeling about social services.”
Takeaway 3: Unite Us Accelerates Government Cost Savings, With $21M Projected for Summit County Over the Next Decade
Accountability is a cornerstone of effective government, especially when it comes to the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Public agencies must not only deliver essential services but also track, monitor, and report on how resources are used and the outcomes they achieve. Without the right tools, this level of transparency can be difficult to maintain, particularly in complex programs involving multiple partners and funding streams. Investing in systems that improve data accuracy, simplify reporting, and offer real-time visibility into service delivery helps agencies uphold public trust and demonstrate the tangible value of every dollar spent.
Throughout the webinar, the participants shared how Unite Us helped them not only ensure accurate and timely payments to community partners, but also generate reports that demonstrate the program’s value to state agencies.
“We’re able to prove the outcomes for the State on how our participants are doing, we’re able to justify our tax dollars within our contracts, and we’re able to know what’s going on with our constituents.”
—Heather Yannayon
Heather added that since adopting Unite Us, she hears consistently from community partners about additional ways they’re utilizing the technology to support their day-to-day work and programming. Similarly, fellow government leaders have noted the success of NEXT and are seeking to replicate it within their own agencies and departments.
Rebecca Nussen discussed how documentation and tracking of member outcomes has helped inform larger County strategy decisions: “By having this information live and seeing what is going on with these cases and members, we’re able to strategically see if the things that we have developed – our processes, our policies – are working and if they need to be changed or enhanced.”
At the end of the conversation, all three Summit County leaders shared how grateful they are for the past year of partnership with Unite Us, expressing confidence that this partnership will continue to benefit their staff members and their community for years to come. Heather Yannayon noted, “You’re not on your own when you’re working with Unite Us. Unlike other technology efforts that I’ve dealt with, it’s really a team effort.” And Carolina Bejarano Eyl added, “It’s been a breath of fresh air from the start.”
Steps for Success: Enhancing Efficiency with Innovative Government Solutions
Transparency and accountability in government service delivery are essential components to ensuring taxpayer dollars generate impact. When government programs, social service agencies, and healthcare providers operate in isolation, it leads to duplicated efforts, waste, gaps in care, and miscommunication that undermine efficiency. By creating one integrated, person-centered system of care, Summit County is delivering improved outcomes and financial independence for its constituents, reducing waste in the form of administrative inefficiency, and producing cost savings through increased program capacity and County taxpayer savings.
