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LEAP tells Washington County committee food pantry expanded; data migration caused reporting gaps
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Summary
LEAP told the committee its food pantry and senior-transportation programs are expanding and that a recent move to a new data system created reporting gaps; staff committed to send financial reports and corrected demographic figures after follow-up.
At a Washington County Public Safety Committee meeting, Shella Smith, executive director of LEAP, provided an overview of LEAP’s contracts with the county and described operational changes at the food pantry and senior transportation services.
Smith said Washington County subsidizes LEAP’s food pantry at $40,000 annually and that the agency has five Head Start locations across the county. She described partnerships with local veteran organizations and community partners to expand food donations and client choice at the pantry. "We filled every freezer in the pantry," Smith said when describing recent large donations and improved relationships with community partners.
Committee members pressed Smith on an apparent drop in reported service counts for November and December after LEAP migrated to a new data-management system in October. Smith said the decline in some metrics appears to be a reporting error caused by the transition and incomplete demographic fields. "I don't think that's an accurate number ... I'm going to dig into the data once it's fixed and try to figure that out," she said and committed to providing corrected demographic and financial reports after consulting her transportation director and finance staff.
The committee also heard a veterans peer-to-peer update (delivered by a program representative): the peer-to-peer program has begun VA-led training for PTSD and military sexual trauma, expanded outreach into remote parts of the county, and reported that female veteran participation has "increased by 70%." The county and LEAP representatives said they are coordinating transportation and meal-delivery partnerships with local American Legion and VFW posts.
Smith said her finance director was unexpectedly unavailable before the meeting and that she would deliver the full financial report to the committee by email. Committee members accepted the offer and requested additional follow-up on the transportation figures.
