The Path Finder Project is a consortium of social service providers located in a vast, sparsely populated region of central Wyoming. These non-profit organizations serve approximately 67,000 people who live in a county almost 500 square miles larger than the state of Connecticut.
The Path Finder Project will link twenty social service agencies, Casper College, the Natrona County Schools and the City of Casper. Multiple computer stations scattered throughout the area will provide access to the Path Finder web site, where information on all available services will be found and where initial application for most services will be possible. The consortium members will use the technology network to access and use information to analyze and improve their services. Linked through the state's interactive video network with the University of Wyoming in Laramie, the service providers will learn to use the web-based system to gather and analyze data effectively in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs and services.
The goals of the Path Finder Project are: (1) to allow those in need to more easily obtain information about and access to the full range of services for which they are eligible; (2) to use technology to leverage scarce resources and provide better services to clients; and (3) to develop organizational capacity within the non-profits to gather, analyze and use information through technology for planning and improvement of services.
