Case Study: Franklin County, Kentucky reduces youth substance abuse and keeps dollars local with Yiftee

Franklin County, Kentucky keeps $1M local and boosts youth participation with Yiftee

Franklin County, Kentucky faced rising concerns around youth substance use and disconnectedness, as many families struggled to afford enrichment activities and students lacked access to supportive, supervised spaces. To address this, they sought a new approach and turned to vendor Yiftee for its digital gift card platform to power their new YES Card program.

Yiftee implemented a closed-loop payment system for the YES Card, a $400 annual enrichment card for students to use at approved local businesses. The solution was secure, scalable, and required no special hardware for the 71 participating vendors. The results were significant: the program saw a threefold reduction in alcohol use by underage drinkers and doubled participation in out-of-school activities. Furthermore, Yiftee's platform helped keep funds local, with $1 million reinvested into the Franklin County economy.

Franklin County, Kentucky