Supplementing and Supporting the Human Services Industry with Radicle Health

Radicle Health, a platform for human services software companies that is part of Alpine Software Group (ASG) and backed by Alpine Investors, is the technology backbone for more than 12,000 organizations across the U.S and Canada.* Radicle Health’s far-reaching impact comes from the four software businesses within its platform, including:

• Foothold Technology’s data and management support of more than 1,100 human services agencies across the U.S;
• KCare’s support of more than 700 social service, mental health and behavioral health agencies;
• Link2Feed’s support and data offerings to nonprofits with a poverty relief and food insecurity mission, and
• Radicle App and Sara’s support to staff in the human services industry as a digital assistant.

The collective impact of Radicle Health’s businesses and its 80,000 active users across its products is vast, yet below are a few highlights for 2023 emphasizing how Radicle Health customers were supported during a challenging year for the industry.

Navigating Regulatory Changes

The human services nonprofits and agencies that Radicle Health works with face many regulatory hurdles each year given the industry’s consistent changes. However, 2023 contained particularly large shifts, including such human services regulatory changes as California’s CalAIM Incentive Payment Program and the Medicaid 1115 Waiver Amendment in New York. These regulatory changes critically impact how nonprofits and agencies are reimbursed for the work they’re doing and their cash flow. This ultimately impacts the individual missions of these businesses, whether providing food to at-risk communities or helping those with substance
use disorders.

Staying at the forefront of helping customers navigate hundreds of pages of regulatory paperwork and complex changes, Radicle Health dedicated internal task forces to take proactive action. Customer experience teams stepped up to guide customers through it all so more time could be spent advancing their missions. AOG’s customer experience expert, Matt Beaudette, partnered with Radicle Health to advise and strategize on these efforts. More customer-experience team members were hired, and a regulatory consultant role was created to better translate complex rules to the entire staff and to customers.

Additionally, from a product perspective, Radicle Health updated and adapted its software products with the goal of staying ahead of regulatory changes, including devoting more staff and resources to these product updates. ASG’s Chief Technology Officer Jeremy Jackson partnered with Radicle Health as a strategic partner as they built out new initiatives to help ensure quality and security.

“Radicle Health staying nimble and ready for regulatory change can be existential to the survival of our customer agencies,” says Alyza Tarmohamed, Co-President of Radicle Health and CEO of Foothold Technology. “It’s meaningful to enable these businesses by investing in product updates and customer service, because we can see the very small—but very real—part that we play in the crucial services that they’re providing.”

Supplementing Staffing Crises

Across the industry, 2023 posed significant staffing challenges to nonprofits and agencies. The causes were similar to those that inspired the post-pandemic staffing shortages in healthcare—staff burnout, noncompetitive pay and limited labor pools—and human services were not spared. Additionally, some of the funding and grants for behavioral health agencies are ending in 2024, which means hiring more help isn’t always an option. In response, Radicle Health invested in strategic partnerships to help customers alleviate some of that staffing pressure throughout the year.

The partnerships intend to identify the best possible third-party partners to provide certain areas of functionality or services that Radicle Health doesn’t have in-house. Radicle Health can then advise and provide customers with a more turnkey, holistic solution to address some of the problems brought on by staffing shortages.

“We’re accelerating regulatory consulting and our strategic partner ecosystem, particularly because our customers are continuing to have to do more with less,” says Katie Cortes, Co-President of Radicle Health and CEO of KCare. “Our goal with these additional investments is to help plug some of those gaps and ensure success for the long term.”

Case studies presented contain the opinions of past and present Alpine portfolio company executives. Alpine makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented here. It should not be assumed that the portfolio companies discussed in these case studies were profitable or that future portfolio companies or experiences will be comparable. Past performance is not necessarily indicative, or a guarantee, of future results. Under no circumstances should these case studies be construed as an offer to sell, or a solicitation to buy, any security or as opinions regarding the provision of investment advisory services by Alpine. Please see Alpine’s Terms of Use on Alpine’s website for disclosures.

*ASG I is an investment of Alpine Investors V, LP and Alpine Investors VI, LP and therefore not within the scope of Alpine’s ESG Policy or the practices described therein.