Beginning to Answer the Questions

The questions on the Together We Can (TWC) Community Collaborative Wellness Tool are designed to help collaboratives and their members learn more about the process and content of systems reform and jointly assess the progress of their collaborative efforts. To help these persons, and the consultants/facilitators working with them, understand the thinking behind each question, and possible paths for addressing the issues raised by the question, TWC has prepared this Q&A document.

The answers are a starting point from which people can build their own shared meaning and understanding about a particular issue. They reflect our best thinking; they are not the definitive answers. Asking questions and continuously searching for answers together is a critical capacity which TWC hopes that collaboratives will develop from their work with the wellness tool.

The answers to the wellness tool are organized according to the seven elements of reform.

• Collaborative Decision Making
• Public Engagement
• Parent, Consumer and Neighborhood Participation
• Accountability for Results
• Comprehensive Services, Supports and Opportunities
• Financing and Resource Development
• Leadership/Professional Development and Capacity Building

STAGE ONE: GETTING TOGETHER

101 Have diverse and representative people and organizations committed to working together to improve conditions for children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

Collaborative initiatives typically begin with a small group of people who come together in response to the initiative of local lenders, a community crisis, a funding opportunity, or a state or federal action. This group of individuals must: 1) be committed to real change in order to improve results for children, youth, families and neighborhoods; 2) have the knowledge and skills (to reach out across the community to engage a broad array of people and organizations in the collaboratives' work); and 3) include individuals with a reputation as impartial leaders and brokers in the community.

102 Does that group include people who represent different neighborhood, community and institutional views and interests?

Often, the most critical task of the initial group is to expand itself to represent the diverse views and interests of the community. A basic principle of collaboration is that representatives of diverse perspectives must be involved in the process from the beginning. By applying this principle, initiating groups can avoid tension and conflict when people and organizations do not see "themselves" represented. Therefore, initiating groups must conduct careful stakeholder analyses to determine who should participate in the collaborative. Major stakeholders include: 1) youth, parents and neighborhood leaders; 2) major funders of educa tion, health and human services; 3) business, civic and religious leaders; 4) public, private and community-based providers of services and supports; and 5) elected officials. The group should reflect the demographic characteristics of the community, particularly in terms of race, ethnicity and age.

There is not a "most successful" formula for constructing the membership of a collaborative body. A set of simple criteria that has proven helpful suggests that the members should bring: 1) clout 2) commitment 3) diversity and 4) wisdom to the body.

Many community collaboratives are moving from "agency-dominated" groups to "citizen- driven" groups that involve a larger proportion of parents, neighborhood leaders, and civ ic/business leaders. A few collaboratives have shifted providers into an advisory role, with community leaders making decisions.

103 Have members agreed upon how they will plan and conduct their meetings?

Effective collaborative groups consider and decide how they will do their business. They determine when to meet, how to set their agendas and who will prepare meeting summaries. They establish and follow ground rules for their dialogue to promote frankness and to help create a safe environment where participants can address difficult issues.

104 Have key people taken the lead to move the group forward?

Effective leaders are crucial to the success of collaborative initiatives.

These leaders have: 1) the respect of people and organizations with diverse views and diverse interests, 2) credibility with various different ethnic/racial groups, 3) the skills to build consensus on difficult issues, 4) a reputation as impartial brokers in the community, and 5) the ability to engage other community stakeholders. When people with some of these leadership skills step forward, the group can move ahead.

STAGE TWO: BUILDING TRUST AND OWNERSHIP

201 Are members getting to know each other personally and learn about each other's organizations and neighborhoods?

For people to work together for change, they must begin to know something about what drives them in personal terms and to understand the interests they represent. They also should learn about the organizations where they work and neighborhoods where they live. Methods for achieving this objective include: 1) conversations with parents, consumers, and front-line workers; 2) visits to successful, local service delivery sites; 3) rotating meetings at different sites, or consistently holding meetings at a neutral site; 4) experiential learning opportunities; 5) personal style inventories such as Myers-Briggs, Firo-B or other tools that enable people to understand each other's ways of working.

202 Can the group talk openly about sensitive issues?

In a safe environment people can talk openly about sensitive issues such as: ethnic and racial differences; a criteria for determining the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of particular services and agencies; power and control issues among the public, private and community-based organizations; and accountability. Creating such an environment takes time and commitment from participants. Creating time for open dialogue, setting ground rules for dialogue, and dealing directly with tough issues are tactics that can help create a safe environment.

Listening together to the voices of parents, consumers, youth and front-line workers; exploring data together on the status of children, youth and families; and deciding what results the group wants for children, youth, families and neighborhoods, also can help. External facilitators can be helpful in particular circumstances.

203 Has the group agreed on how it will make decisions, handle conflict and share information?

Effective groups recognize that conflict is an inherent part of a group process and jointly decide how they will make decisions (e.g., consensus, majority-rule); and how they will manage conflict. They also develop procedures for sharing information about the collaborative's work and the activities of their own agencies among partners. Working on these fundamental tasks may appear very basic, but too many joint efforts flounder because people do not give enough attention to little things.

204 Has the collaborative agreed upon a shared vision, purpose and principles to guide its actions?

A shared vision, purpose and principles are the collaborative's working tools. They should be used as a sounding board against which all decisions are evaluated. A shared vision defines the picture of what the collaborative is seeking to create; its purpose identifies the unique role that the collaborative intends to play in moving toward that vision; and its principles outline the criteria and values by which it will make decisions. If the shared vision, purpose and principles are incorporated into every document associated with the collaborative and used regularly by leadership, they become living tools, not words on a page. Remember to use this tool when the collaborative makes decisions.

STAGE THREE: STRATEGIC PLANNING

301 Has the group defined collaboration and identified opportunities for early successes in working together?

The term collaboration is often used by "collaboratives" but rarely defined in ways that allow a group to determine whether it is indeed working on the higher standard of collaboration rather than just coordinating or networking. Taking the time to define the term can help groups focus their work on fundamental change rather than tinkering at the edges of reform.

"Early successes" or "small victories" can be vital to the long term viability of a collaborative effort. Since collaboration is difficult and time consuming, small successes can give a group energy and strengthen commitment to the effort. However, collaboratives should be careful not to be deflected from their larger systems reform agenda, emphasizing easy wins at the expense of dealing with tough issues.

302 Have members agreed to use their personal and institutional clout and resources to achieve the agreed upon vision and plan of action?

Real change will not occur unless the people around the table are committed to making it happen -- in the collaborative and within their own organizations. At this stage in the collab orative process, there should be evidence that people will use their clout and resources to create change. Evidence of a willingness to use clout might include committing a pool of funds or redirecting staff; securing support from their own Boards of Directors for the collaborative's work; or promoting the mission and principles of the collaborative within their own organization.

303 Does the collaborative's organizational structure enable it to effectively oversee the implementation of its plans?

During the strategic planning process, collaboratives must consider how they will oversee the implementation of a new service and supports strategy. This may require some adaptation of the collaborative's organizational structure, which to this point has focused on planning functions.

An operations committee or implementation team may be required, consisting of members whose organizations are involved in implementation or a team of middle managers may be needed to monitor daily activities. Collaboratives must beware of the possibility that top-level leaders will delegate their work to others at this point, and gradually diminish their own personal involvement with the effort. Establishing clean lines of communication between Implementation Groups and the Collaborative will be necessary.

To this point, collaboratives also may have had a variety of different working committees, e.g., parent and neighborhood involvement, data collection and outcomes, or service delivery planning. This structure also may warrant examination at this time.

It is most important to keep in mind the following principles: 1) do not have more committees that you can manage; 2) use ad hoc working groups that take on a task and then dissolve; 3) open up committees to a broad array of interested people to take the burden off collaborative members and spread the collaborative's vision and strategy throughout the community; 4) expect that the structure will continuously change to respond to the environment where the collaborative is working; and 5) worry if the structure is not changing -- you may be getting stuck in your ways.

STAGE FOUR: TAKING ACTION

401 Is the collaborative holding members accountable for following through on their commitments?

If partners do not fulfill commitments then collaborations simply will not work. Partners should define each other's responsibilities clearly in their operating plans. They should also anticipate that some individuals and organizations will not follow through and handle these situations as conflicts to be managed according to the group's conflict management guidelines. Written memoranda of understanding can be useful in clearly defining responsibilities and creating a written record.

402 Does the collaborative regularly discuss and act on personnel, fiscal and other day to day matters?

Bringing operational matters to the attention of the collaborative ensures the continued en gagement of participants and also provides a forum where barriers to effective practice can be considered and addressed. Differing personnel policies, supervision of workers from different agencies, the lack of cross-agency training and fiscal policies that vary by agency are all reflections of constraints to comprehensive service delivery. The categorical system dealing with these issues -- and generalizing from that experience to add broader policy and practice issues constraints -- is a crucial task of the collaborative.

403 Are decision-making, conflict resolution and communication processes working?

At this stage of the process, collaboratives should re-examine some of their established oper ating procedures and fine tune those procedures to facilitate smooth collaborative operations. Failing to attend to these basic tools for sustaining the collaboration may lead to more tension as the collaborative begins to address more difficult policy and practice barriers.

STAGE FIVE: DEEPENING AND BROADENING

501 Are members strengthening their commitment to the work of the group?

Participation by people in almost all activities naturally tends to ebb and flow. Collaborative leaders must be conscious of this reality and take action to ensure continuing commitment to the effort. Opportunities for reflection and celebration at regular meetings, facilitated retreats where participants examine their experience as a prelude to defining the next stage of their work, and personal conversations among leaders in groups can be helpful in reinforcing commitment. An even greater commitment will be necessary if the collaborative is to push forward to change the system.

502 Is the collaborative developing relationships with related groups and key institutions working to improve the quality of life for children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

As it seeks to deepen and broaden its work, collaboratives should consider establishing more formal relationships with key institutions such as state and local government, school boards, United Ways and other major community institutions. To this point, representation from these groups may have been informal -- someone associated with the institution serves on the board, but there is no formal resolution from the organization that defines its role and relationship to the collaborative. Establishing formal ties can give the collaborative the credibility and legitimacy it needs to pursue its work more effectively.

Where more formal relationships already exist, the collaborative should assess the effectiveness of these relationships to work to strengthen them. For example, do board members from various groups know about the work of the collaborative and how it relates to the work of their own organization?

503 Do policies for selecting members and leaders ensure diversity and enable the group to sustain its work?

At this stage, a collaborative should give consideration to transitions in leadership and mem bership. These policies should recognize the need for the group to reflect the demographic characteristics of the community and to select leaders who will strengthen the group's visibility, credibility and legitimacy in the community. A task force of committed collaborative leaders could take on the challenge that this issue entails.

504 Is the collaborative making a difference in how member organizations do their work?

Too often agencies pursue programs and practices in collaboration with other organizations, while their own independent operations continue to function in the old way. By asking mem bers to identify precisely what they have done to take the lessons from the collaborative back into their own organizations, the collaborative can push change within its partner organizations as well as in their joint work.

Collaboratives also can promote such change by continuous communication with member organizations, through workshops and training seminars, and through site visits to new service delivery operations.

This question raises one of the most challenging aspects of changing the system. It requires that organizations and agencies ask themselves a very tough question: if we believe that the new way of doing business is working better for children and families, then how can we change the way we use existing resources to reflect that new way of doing business? This question is especially crucial during a time of dwindling resources.

505 Does the collaborative regularly discuss and act on its policy, media and other advocacy strategies?

Once collaboratives face the demands of managing joint service delivery operations, there can be a tendency to focus all of their efforts in that direction. As a result they neglect to address the policy issues which affect children, youth, families and neighborhoods and do not focus on changing the system. With major policy changes occurring in systems affecting children and families -- welfare, managed care, school financing -- collaboratives cannot ignore the policy environment if they wish to achieve results.

The advocacy role of a collaborative is a challenging one given the diverse array of stakeholders at the table. Public agency leaders may feel constrained to function as advocates, while neighborhood leaders want to push the policy makers and some leaders may be hesitant to support additional public spending. The collaborative's most important role in advocating policy is sharing its knowledge and experience with policy makers. The more policy makers hear from a diverse group of citizens who have hands-on experience working to support families, the greater the likelihood that policies will emerge that enable a collaborative to reach its stated goals.

Talking openly about advocacy is the first step toward defining an advocacy strategy for the group.

STAGE ONE: GETTING TOGETHER

105 Have members discussed how the public views the challenges facing children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

Public attitudes toward the needs of vulnerable children, youth and families vary widely across the country. What the public believes, in this era of polling, has a major influence on policy decisions.

Any effort to engage the public, or the many different publics, must begin with collaborative members reviewing available polling data, looking through recent newspaper articles, talking with key community leaders, and sharing their own views about public attitudes.

Understanding these attitudes may be crucial as collaboratives explore potentially controversial service delivery strategies. Controversy might emerge around: 1) school-based health clinics, 2) any type of school-based social service, 3) services to support mothers and children moving from welfare to work and many other issues.

106 Have members discussed why it is important to build public support for children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

Regrettably, many people in the education, health and human services fields are not open to public involvement with their work. They have had relatively little training or experience in working with the public. In this context, a collaborative should begin by defining specific reasons why public support is important to its work. Purely agency-driven strategies that do not engage the public are not likely to achieve desired results.

STAGE TWO: BUILDING TRUST AND OWNERSHIP

205 Is the group seeking input from the broader community through surveys, public forums, focus groups or other methods?

Community assessment processes have become a common strategic element of community collaboratives. Such assessments tend to emphasize, as they should, input from present and potential consumers and front-line workers. Equally important, in the long run, are the views of other neighborhood residents and the general public who represent potential resources. Focus groups and open forums are useful ways to gather such input. Structuring collaborative committees so that interested neighborhood leaders and members of the public can participate, and actively soliciting their involvement, are other tools for engaging the public. These individuals also can communicate the work of the collaborative back to their friends, neighbors and organizations.

206 Does the group know how key institutions (e.g., local and state governments, United Way, school boards) are organized and make decisions?

Members of the collaborative often may only know how decisions are made with regard to their own particular funding stream or program. There are many different institutions whose policy and budget decisions influence services and supports for families. Identifying these entities, determining what power and authority they have as well as how and when they make key decisions and finding ways to influence them is essential for collaboratives to function at both the policy and service delivery levels.

Knowing how such decisions are made is the first step toward influencing those decisions.

STAGE THREE: STRATEGIC PLANNING

304 Has the collaborative developed a strategy for keeping various individuals, residents, agencies and institutions in the community informed of its vision, plans, actions and successes?

The strategic plan for a collaborative must include a communication strategy. The communi cation strategy might include: 1) a focus on print and broadcast media; 2) articles in house organs of key groups (business, civic, religious); 3) a newsletter from the collaborative; and 4) an aggressive speaker's bureau. Too often communication is overlooked in the process of developing innovative service delivery designs, but it is the communication strategy which will help generate the community support necessary to make the strategy successful.

Communications tools should not be too burdensome to develop. People generally want a quick picture of what is going on. If they want or need more detail, they can always make the effort to find out.

305 Are the collaborative's decision-making processes open to the public?

Given the level of public mistrust of institutions today, collaborative decision-making should be open to the public. This will not be easy, given the conflict and tension that may be associated with the work. However, decisions made without public knowledge are likely to be suspect and diminish the credibility and legitimacy of the collaborative on the community. Opening up the process can help to avoid this problem. Collaboratives can create other opportunities for members to do work together informally, as necessary.

Credibility means believable or trustworthy. Legitimacy means having some formal status (perhaps legal). But whether the status is legal or not, the membership, structure and pro cesses of the collaborative must be seen as consistent with the way the community wants to do its business.

306 Has the collaborative identified and worked to obtain support from community individuals, agencies and institutions who could either block or help move its plan forward?

As the collaborative partners learn to work together they must remain aware of key constitu encies who could block or support their plan. The stakeholder analysis conducted earlier to determine who should be involved with the collaborative is helpful here, however, it is im portant that collaboratives continuously scan the environment to identify people and organiza tions who can support or hinder their work. These constituencies will not always be the likely suspects. For example, a collaborative that does not do a good job of parent and consumer involvement may find opposition at the neighborhood level; failure to consider the religious community may lead to opposition on a particular issue or to not tapping a rich set of resources.

STAGE FOUR: TAKING ACTION

404 Has the collaborative developed and made available a report card that tells the public how well (or not well) children, youth, families and neighborhoods are doing?

Informing the public about the conditions of children, youth, families and neighborhoods in the community is an important strategy for building public support. A number of communities now publish community profiles, community report cards or other statistical analyses designed to focus public attention on children, youth, families and neighborhoods. There are many local examples of such reports; the Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Report is a useful resource as well. Each collaborative should carefully select the measures of well-being it wants to present to ensure that the report will have credibility in its community.

The collaborative needs to have a media and public education strategy associated with the publication of the report. Possible tactics include: 1) keeping the data and analysis simple; 2) briefing key leaders in advance so they are prepared to comment on how the community is addressing these issues; 3) connecting media to real people struggling with specific challenges to put a human face on the data; and 4) planning follow-up conversation in the community about the implications of the data for all residents.

405 Are there opportunities for interested members of the public to become involved in the collaborative's work?

Citizens should be able to volunteer their services to a collaborative. Other citizens with expertise also might serve on committees or task forces of the collaborative. Engaging people in this way can generate a cadre of strong supporters for the collaborative's work. Other possible roles for citizens include: direct assistance and support to children, youth and families; preparation of newsletters and other communications activities; and organization of community celebrations and other events.

406 Is information on progress and changes in results publicly communicated on a regular basis?

Accountability is essential to engaging the public and sustaining public involvement with issues affecting children, youth, families and neighborhoods.

People want results. Collaboratives should develop easy to understand progress reports for the public. These reports should be clear about successes as well as failures, helping people to understand the challenges that the collaborative faces. Reports on the condition of children should be published annually.

407 Has the collaborative developed strategies for engaging diverse people, agencies and organizations who have not yet been involved?

No matter how much work a collaborative may do at the outset to engage diverse constituen cies, not everyone will be on board. Identifying these constituencies as work progresses and finding ways to reach them can avoid potential conflict with groups that might oppose the collaborative's work, and also can help to engage new supporters. To do this, collaborative leaders must move about the community talking to people and developing ways to channel information to and from these constituencies.

STAGE FIVE: DEEPENING AND BROADENING THE WORK

506 Is public's awareness of (visibility) and support for (credibility) the collaborative growing?

Measuring credibility and support is a difficult task. Often collaborative partners will have informal indicators of visibility and credibility e.g., the scope of media coverage, numbers of volunteers, speaking requests, a growing mailing list, or queries from elected officials. Regardless of the measure, just asking and answering this question will likely lead a collaborative to new strategies for reaching out to the public.

507 Is the collaborative regularly involved in public dialogue about issues facing children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

Contributing to public dialogue on issues related to children, youth, families and neighbor hoods is one measure of the effectiveness of a collaborative. If collaboratives are asked to testify before policy bodies, if their input is sought formally and informally by elected officials and other policy makers, or if their data is used to inform community decisions, then the collaborative is helping to create a context for more effective policies and programs for children, youth, families and neighborhoods as well as the public will to make necessary investments to achieve real results.

STAGE ONE: GETTING TOGETHER

107 Do members include parents, consumers and other neighborhood residents?

Parents, consumers and neighborhood residents have critical knowledge about the assets of their communities as well as the effectiveness of currently available supports and services. Their early involvement helps to ensure that initiatives are grounded in an understanding of the expertise and realities of the families and their communities. Engaging at the front-end also helps to ensure that they understand and support the decisions of the collaborative as it proceeds with its work.

A critical task of any initiating group is reaching out and identifying individuals from among its constituencies who can participate. This task should occur before the collaboratives engage in any public activity. Existing community groups, including community development corpo rations, neighborhood organizations, school councils, Head Start parent groups, block clubs, and other similar groups are potential resources for identifying and recruiting parents and consumers. Over time, new leaders may also emerge to participate in the collaborative's work. Collaboratives should pay careful attention to whether the people engaged reflect the racial, cultural and linguistic diversity of the communities served.

STAGE TWO: BUILDING TRUST AND OWNERSHIP

207 Has the group asked parents, consumers, other residents and neighborhood groups (civic associations, community development corporations, community-based organizations, etc.) their opinion of services and supports currently provided to children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

Assessing the effectiveness and responsiveness of currently available services and supports requires soliciting perspectives from a broader community and not simply relying upon the opinions of agency personnel. Collaboratives can use a variety of strategies for collecting this information. A data collection plan might include: 1) hiring neighborhood residents to interview their peers; 2) holding house meetings in the homes of recognized neighborhood leaders; 3) conducting telephone surveys; 4) sending out written surveys with AFDC checks; and 5) holding focus groups in community facilities.

Wherever possible, collaboratives should involve parents, consumers or other neighborhood residents in designing strategies for collecting data as well as analyzing their results. They can provide critical insights into the best ways to contact people their communities as well as the meaning or accuracy of key findings.

Agency personnel should also be prepared to find community members and parents calling for supports that fall outside of their traditional roles and services. For example, residents may ask for car repairs so they can get to work or basketball hoops for youth rather than parenting education or mental health services. If systems are to change, then agencies will have to deter mine how they can respond to these very real issues.

208 Has the group identified practices which encourage or discourage participation by parents, consumers and other neighborhood residents?

Schools, other human services agencies and even community-based organizations often will lament the lack of parental participation. Indeed, achieving such participation is a significant challenge. Too often, however, these organizations do not look at their own behavior to determine how they may inadvertently, or through bad habits, be discouraging participation: an unfriendly voice on the phone, the presumption about what parents should know, body language that implies a lack of respect, or inability to understand a person's language. All of these are real factors and exist in too many situations. An analysis of existing practices in cooperation with parents and consumers can be an important step toward enhancing participa tion in the existing systems of services and supports.

209 Do members understand the historical relationships between agencies and the neighborhoods or people they serve?

History is important in relations between agencies and communities. Some agencies, while continuing to be funded, do not necessarily have positive reputations in their communities or high utilization rates. Families may avoid certain agencies or services because they feel they are unresponsive or even believe that the agencies have had a damaging impact on members of their family or community.

As collaboratives begin their planning, it is important to learn about the history of agencies and the communities they serve -- both positive and negative experiences -- and to discuss the implications of this information for their action plans. Understanding community perceptions of agencies can, for example, help the collaborative determine where the best sites are for conducting community meetings or providing services, or whether actions need to be taken to build trust and change the image of a service or agency.

STAGE THREE: STRATEGIC PLANNING

307 Do parents, consumers and other neighborhood residents involved in planning reflect the diversity of the population being served?

Far from being monolithic, most communities include a wide variety of sub-groups reflecting differences such as race, culture, linguistic background, socio-economic status, gender and neighborhood. Engaging diverse participants who can provide the collaborative with infor mation about the realities and perspectives of members of these different groups is essential to gaining a comprehensive understanding and picture of what is happening. Sometimes, even if efforts have been made to engage parents, consumers and neighborhood residents, those partic ipating may not reflect the diversity of the entire community. The beginning of the strategic planning stage is an opportune time to revisit the participation issue, and work to ensure that participants do, in fact, reflect the community's diversity.

Involving key stakeholders may require reaching out to groups across differences in culture and language. Community-based organizations, ethnic associations or community leaders often can offer critical advice and help with approaching new groups. At this stage, adding people to the group often also requires paying special attention to the orientation and support of new members.

308 Does the collaborative's agenda respond to the concerns and hopes of neighborhood residents or its target population?

If parents, consumers and neighborhood residents are involved and if the voices of parents and others have been clearly heard, then the collaborative should be in a position to formulate a plan that reflects neighborhood concerns and hopes. Even in the best situation, however, it is important to step back, and create an opportunity to review the emerging plan relative to expressed community concerns. Scheduling time at a meeting for that explicit purpose can be a useful tactic in this context. This will ensure that family and community interests -- not agency interests -- are driving the plan.

309 Are consumers, parents and other neighborhood residents organized to define their common interests? If not, is the collaborative taking steps to help them organize?

There is an important difference between involving individuals as collaborative members and having them come as representatives of organized community interests. In the case of indi vidual membership, the perspectives of professional collaborative members can be more dominant. Where individuals represent an organized constituency, they bring more power and influence to the table, and have a constituency to which they are accountable.

Where people are not organized, the collaborative might consider how it can support a com munity organizing strategy.

An organized community has more social capital available to solve its own problems and help achieve real results. An organized community also may challenge public and private agencies in the collaborative and seek to hold them more accountable. This is a different paradigm for many people -- it represents a step toward systems change.

STAGE FOUR: TAKING ACTION

408 Are parents, consumers and other neighborhood leaders involved in implementing the plan?

Once implementation begins, there can be a tendency for agency leaders and organizations involved in the delivery of services and supports to be assigned the primary responsibility for oversight of the implementation process. Parent, consumer and neighborhood representatives should be included equally in the implementation process. They can be the eyes and ears of the collaboration in the communities, talking to participants and neighborhood residents about their perceptions of the services and supports and providing feedback to the collaborative.

409 Is there a process for parents, consumers, and neighborhood residents to provided feedback on the services and supports provided to children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

Few programs and services, whether collaborative or otherwise, have developed ongoing systems to collect feedback from parents, consumers and neighborhood residents about the quality and responsiveness of services and supports. Many collaboratives will seek this input in the planning process, but continuous assessment of services supports is less likely.

Creating a new system of services and supports means building in mechanisms for feedback as part of a continuing self-assessment process. This might include: 1) brief customer surveys following participation in a particular activity; 2) regular focus groups with participants on what they like and do not like; and 3) hiring residents to conduct occasional neighborhood surveys. Formal evaluation techniques also can serve this purpose, but they are typically conducted at too long a time interval to provide timely input concerning program operations. Community-based organizations have a unique capacity to manage this assessment process on behalf of the collaboration.

STAGE FIVE: DEEPENING AND BROADENING THE WORK

508 Is the system of feedback from parents, consumers, and neighborhood leaders being used consistently to influence policy and practice?

Designing feedback systems is one thing, using them is another. As the collaborative consid ers how to broaden and deepen its work, it must ensure that feedback is influencing changes in policy and practice. Putting parent, consumer and neighborhood feedback as a regular item on the collaborative's agenda is one way to achieve this objective. Mandating a committee in this arena is another approach. At this point the collaborative also might consider working to incorporate its feedback systems into the operations of collaborative members and other community agencies and organizations.

509 Do consumers and other neighborhood residents believe the work of the collaborative is creating positive changes in their community?

When people believe that change is possible -- when improvements in their lives and the lives of their children can occur -- they are more likely to invest more of themselves in efforts to build their own community. The feedback from parents, consumers and neighborhood resi dents is one measure of whether this belief exists. Turnout at meetings of the collaboratives, service delivery sites, volunteer activities, or spin-off activities in the community are all signs that people believe in change and that better outcomes are possible! If a collaborative has helped to create such a belief, it has established a sound foundation for its future work, and for getting better results.

STAGE ONE: GETTING TOGETHER

108 Have members begun to discuss what is going well and not well for children, youth, families and neighborhoods in the community? (e.g., socially, economically, etc.)

It is important for people concerned with the well-being of children, youth, families and neighborhoods to begin their accountability work by sharing their own perceptions of what is going well and not well for those groups. Perception is reality for most people, and having a sense of individual members' views can set the stage for deeper dialogue and learning. Answers to this question may vary widely. Some may speak of violence, others will criticize the absence of jobs at family wages. Still others will talk about how the schools or the child welfare system do not work.

Looking at what is not going well is only a part of the task, however. Many young people growing up in poor communities find the resiliency to succeed. People should share their views on the services and supports that are helping those young people to beat the odds. They pinpoint assets and strengths they see in the community. After sharing these views, individuals can begin to formulate a plan for the group that will help them gather the facts and figures to inform their work.

STAGE TWO: BUILDING TRUST AND OWNERSHIP

210 Has the group reviewed and fully discussed available data about the well-being of children, youth, families and neighborhoods and the conditions in which they live by neighborhood, ethnic group, age group, language background, gender?

Knowing the data about the well-being of children, youth, families and neighborhoods, in their community and target area of concern, is a critical step for an emerging collaborative group. Collaborative members should begin this process by sharing individual ideas on what data is most important. It is important to air different news on what variables are important to measure.

For most groups it will be helpful to have a general set of data on well-being that includes social, economic and physical indices, as well as specific data related to the issue or neigh borhood of concern to them. In most instances this data is available through existing sources e.g., local public and private planning groups, KIDS COUNT and the U.S. Census. Groups should be careful not to make the data collection process so large that it becomes an obstacle rather than a tool for their planning process.

211 Has data been made easy to understand and available to community residents, agencies and institutions?

Understanding data is difficult for many people. When preparing data, groups should work to make the data accessible and understandable so that everyone in the discussion has a common base of knowledge and information. In some places, this may mean translating the data into other languages. In other situations, graphic representations may be helpful.

212 Have members discussed why it is important to hold individuals and organizations responsible for results?

Accountability for results is a relatively new concept for public and private education and human services. There are many hopes and fears that people have about a focus on results.

Hopes: 1) greater discretion in the use of funds in return for more accountability; 2) more public trust; 3) changes in the ways categorical systems work together.

Fears: 1) policy makers will decide that nothing works and reduce funding; 2) agency will serve only those who are easy to help; 3) agencies will be unfairly sanctioned for circumstances that they can not control.

Demands for better results are real and an important tool to drive change in the way systems work. Giving people the chance to discuss the importance of accountability early in the process can set the stage for the more difficult conversations that lie ahead.

STAGE THREE: STRATEGIC PLANNING

310 Has the collaborative developed a set of priority outcomes for children, youth, fami lies and neighborhoods with measurable objectives and interim measures of progress? Results (also referred to as outcomes or goals) are conditions of child, youth, family and neighborhood well-being that the collaborative seeks to create. Measurable objectives or indicators help assess progress toward the result. Interim progress measures are observable or measurable acts by participants that illustrate progress toward the objective. Collaboratives should define expectations for themselves in each of these areas.

For example, if healthy births are the result, rates of: infant mortality, low-birth weight, reduced adolescent pregnancy, and reduced substance abuse among pregnant women are among the measurable indicators that might be used. Interim progress measures related to healthy births might be participation in pre-natal care or participation by pregnant women in formal or informal education and support groups.

Reaching out beyond the membership of the collaborative to the broader community to define results is one path to pursue. Community involvement in defining results, can lead to com munity participation and community commitment to achieving those results.

Collaboratives should take the time to define results, indicators and interim measures of progress. From these definitions can flow strategies for crafting different services, supports and opportunities across systems. Take care not to commit the collaborative to unrealistic rates of improvement on specific indicators of progress. Overpromising can prove harmful in the long run.

311 Has baseline data been collected to show how well children, youth, families and neighborhoods are currently doing in achieving the desired outcomes?

Once collaboratives decide what results, indicators and interim measures of progress they are pursuing, collecting baseline data on each objective is the next task. Data on indicators should be readily available through ongoing data collection processes of public and private agencies. Baseline data may not be available, relative to interim measures of progress, however. The collaborative should begin to collect such information as a way to measure its progress.

312 In setting the measurable objectives and interim measures of success, did the collaborative consider the community's capacity to achieve desired outcomes?

Collaboratives must ensure that they have the capacity to reach the objectives and measures of progress they set. For example, in a community where there is a high rate of teen pregnancy, an intervention that will serve 50 or 100 persons will not have a significant impact on the overall rate. Helping all children to be ready to learn will be difficult if all children do not have access to effective early childhood development experiences.

Consideration of community capacity may lead the collaborative to pursue strategies which bring together its financial resources with other assets which the community has. For exam ple, how can the quality of family-day care be enhanced to help children be ready-to-learn? Can churches and neighbors be organized to help pregnant and parenting teens? The challenge is to reach high, but remain realistic, and also to think outside the box of traditional service delivery models towards solutions that blend an array of community assets and resources. At the same time, collaboratives should be clear about those places where additional investments of financial resources from public and private organizations are necessary. More can be done with existing resources, but everything cannot be done with existing resources.

313 Has the collaborative developed a plan to evaluate its work?

Evaluation is a key function for collaboratives pursuing systems reform. Evaluation can take three different forms: 1) self-evaluation: the internal process through which the collaborative will be able to judge the effectiveness of its operation and their impact; 2) process evaluation: an analysis of how the collaborative carries out its work; this type of evaluation is intended primarily to enable groups to strengthen their own working relationships; 3) impact evaluation: an examination of the results of the collaborative's work and the reasons for its success or failure. Not every collaborative will be able to secure resources to hire external groups to conduct process and impact evaluations, but they can and must set up internal methods to evaluate their work. New literature on participatory evaluation and self-evaluation, and consultants with expertise in self-evaluation, can support collaborative efforts in this arena.

STAGE FOUR: TAKING ACTION

410 Is information on progress and changes in outcomes communicated regularly to all members of the collaborative and the public?

A critical task of the collaborative during implementation is to review the progress of its efforts, make mid-course adjustments and identify policy issues that influence the collaborative's ability to achieve its desired results. This begins with the establishment of a clear process for communicating how well the collaborative is doing to all members. The collaborative then needs a way to share this information with the public through annual reports, media, public forums and other activities.

411 Are data and information being used to review progress towards achieving the results and to make necessary revisions to strategies?

Collecting data and information and communicating that data does not guarantee that it will be used. Collaboratives must use data and information from their experience to decide whether to make changes in strategy. Experience suggests that new forms of service delivery and alternative supports for children, youth and families are evolving continuously. The data which collaboratives gather should inform that evaluation. Placed in the hands of oversight committees involving neighborhood residents, this data may lead to very different decisions about what agency or organization should be funded to do what in support of children and families.

STAGE FIVE: DEEPENING AND BROADENING THE WORK

510 Is the collaborative considering how public policies beyond its immediate control influence its work?

Systems reform means changing policy and practice. Effective collaboratives operate in both arenas. With significant turbulence now occurring in the education, human services and community development policy arenas, collaboratives have a responsibility to use their knowledge and experience to influence policies that affect their ability to achieve desired results. Welfare reform, managed care, and changes in housing policies all effect a community's ability and a collaboratives capacity to achieve desired results.

511 Is the collaborative regularly discussing what it has learned from its successes and failures and changing its plans as needed?

Accountability includes listening to and reflecting on the lessons of experiences -- both positive and negative -- and modifying objectives and strategies to reflect that experience. Too often, people and organizations stay with old practices which are not achieving positive results, when the lessons of experience should be leading them in a different direction. Looking at lessons may entail, for example, utilizing para professionals with appropriate cultural and linguistic expertise for work defined previously for professionals, moving personnel from centralized locations into neighborhood centers and schools, or working more aggressively with neighborhoods to identify and mobilize their assets. Lessons also may lead to closer alliances with community development corporations (CDCs) and community organizations. Continuous adaptation based on the lessons of experience and the community context is essential in the process of systems change.

STAGE ONE: GETTING TOGETHER

109 Have members talked about their perceptions of what is and is not working with current services, supports and opportunities available for children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

Individuals in a new collaborative venture can begin their work by sharing their views on what it is they believe works and does not work in the current system. Some may say that the system is underfunded, others will suggest that fragmentation and narrow categorical programs erode the current system, still others may argue that programs are based on a deficit rather than a strengths model, and so forth. This dialogue can lead the emerging group to identify initial areas of common ground and difference where additional information and analysis is necessary.

110 Have the members discussed what makes a healthy and strong community and the conditions that are necessary for children, youth, families and neighborhoods to succeed?

A conversation about a healthy community is very different from a discussion about programs designed to respond to specific problems. Conversations about community naturally involve broader issues -- jobs, community and personal responsibility, housing, recreation and other kinds of opportunities. They also can raise important questions about what the government, the private sector, communities and neighborhoods, agencies and organizations, parents and families can and should do to achieve better results. By beginning with this broader conversation, groups will build a foundation from which an array of strategies to improve results can emerge.

111 Have members discussed building on individual and community strengths rather than dealing with problems?

There is a growing consensus that effective services and supports must build on individual, family and community strengths rather than focus on deficits. Traditionally, people and communities have been forced to demonstrate a need or a flaw e.g., mental or physical illness, drug addiction, criminal activity, low educational achievement, in order to obtain resources or services. The problem with policies and programs which focus solely on deficits is that they create and reinforce situations where people see themselves as helpless victims incapable of improving their own lives and the future of services which meet community needs by building upon the skills, strengths and potential contributions of individuals, families and community institutions. Asset-based approaches have increasing currency and should be thoroughly ex plored by collaborative members.

STAGE TWO: BUILDING TRUST AND OWNERSHIP

213 Have members developed a list of services, supports and opportunities currently available to children, youth, families and neighborhoods and identified what's missing and where the duplication is?

Knowing what exists is an important first step in determining how to create a more effective system of services, supports and opportunities. The categorical program system -- funded with both public and private funds -- has spawned an array of services designed to solve individual problems. People agree that this approach is not working well. By developing an inventory of what exists, and comparing this analysis with what families say they need, members can begin to see where and how to make change. TWC inventory can lead to strategies such as: locating services and supports together, determining how personnel working with parents of young children (0-3) in different programs can avoid duplication and consider how formal services and supports can link with informal networks and assets in communities.

In the hands of parents and neighborhood residents, this information could lead to a proposal for significant change in the way in which funds are used and services allocated.

214 Have staff who work directly with children, youth and families been asked their opinion of current services, supports and opportunities?

The people who work directly with children, youth and families -- front line workers -- have a major stake in making the system more effective. For a new system to be successful, front line workers must change. If they are to support change then they should be consulted about what they see wrong, and right, in the existing system. Community-based organizations, which typically bring a more grassroots perspective, also must be part of the consultation process.

215 Are members up to date with current thinking and promising approaches to working with children, youth, families and neighborhoods?

New knowledge is emerging about promising practices for strengthening children, youth, families and communities. Groups can secure such information by visiting successful initia tives in their own community, reviewing available literature or making site visits to other com munities. Site visits, at home or to other communities, are particularly useful since they offer group members an opportunity to share their perspectives with one another about what they are seeing, and how it applies to their own community.

216 Do members agree on what they believe are the most effective ways to work with children, youth, families and neighborhoods (e.g. building on community strengths, cultural and language appropriateness, working with the entire family, building community capacity)?

Defining a set of principles that will drive new strategies of services, supports and opportuni ties is a key step for the group members as they move to become a collaborative. These principles, which should emerge from the data analysis, information gathering, listening, site visits, review of promising practices, and group experiences will be an important foundation for the strategic planning work. While the literature on systems reform sets forth various principles, it is essential that groups not rubber stamp others' principles but create their own. The level of commitment will be much higher when applying those principles to new strate gies. These principles should become part of the vision, mission and overall principles that the group creates at the beginning of the strategic planning phase.

STAGE THREE: STRATEGIC PLANNING

314 Has the collaborative developed an action plan defines short and long term objectives, time lines and responsible individuals and organizations?

Collaborative planning is more challenging than internal agency planning because partners must negotiate many different issues and full-time staff may not be in place. Therefore, it is especially important that the collaborative develop a formal written action plan, which will lay out tasks, timelines and responsibilities and will hold individual members accountable for fulfilling their commitments to the group.

315 Does the collaborative's plan describe how services, supports and opportunities provided to children, youth, families and neighborhoods need to change to reflect the collaborative's principles?

The collaborative's plans should meet two basic tests. 1) It should respond to the interests and concerns of parents, consumers and neighborhood leaders and 2) it should reflect the principles for change that the collaborative has articulated. These may have been missed or diminished as partners sorted through their own interests in the planning process.

316 Does the plan use experience about what works well and not well for particular sub- populations as defined by race, language and culture?

What works for one population may or may not be appropriate for members of another group given differences in world views, language background, experience with discrimination, family structure, communication styles, cultural beliefs, etc. For example, a home visiting program which emphasizes support to a child's biological parents may be very effective in some communities but have a limited role. Service and supports must vary to reflect what

works for different subpopulations. Collaborative groups that have reached out to the various groups served and involved representatives in discussing promising practices as well as reviewing proposed plans will be in a better position to identify and incorporate appropriate strategies.

317 Does the plan describe how services provided and resources available from different organizations will be brought together to achieve desired results?

This question goes to the essence of collaborative planning and systems reform which seeks to break down the system of categorical services. The plan should draw on the services and resources of each partner organization to create a set of services, supports and opportunities that will yield better results. There are many approaches -- from co-locating services in schools and neighborhood-based locations to forming interdisciplinary case management teams or developing integrated assessment and intake procedures -- for bringing resources together. Initiatives such as Beacon schools, and strategies such as transitioning from welfare to work and community-based child welfare examples, serve as real-life examples of how such integration can occur.

318 Does the plan draw upon the strengths and supports available through grassroots organizations, community groups and families?

If the collaborative has done its homework in the earlier stages, it will know about the assets and informal supports that a neighborhood brings to its own development. Within any com munity, there are people who can contribute to the healthy development of children and families -- whether they are volunteers willing to open their home to create after school pro grams, formerly incarcerated adults interested in preventing youth crime and violence, or successful Head Start mothers able to provide guidance and support to new mothers. Often, organizations support such important initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of their community. An effective plan for services, supports and opportunities will not only tap into these sources but help communities to expand such assets.

STAGE FOUR: TAKING ACTION

412 Does the plan being implemented fit with the collaborative's principles and values?

Implementing a new program of services, supports and opportunities poses many operational challenges. Sometimes in the process of moving from the program's designers to its imple menters, the principles and values can be lost. This dilemma can be addressed in several different ways. First, key people who will be responsible for implementation could be in volved in the strategic planning process. Alternatively, staff development activities should emphasize these principles and values and how the collaborative expects them to be realized. And finally, oversight groups from the collaborative should give special attention to the extent to which principles and values are being adhered to.

413 Does staff reflect the diversity of the neighborhood?

Hiring staff who reflect the racial and linguistic background of the communities served is critical to providing effective services and supports and creating an environment where chil dren, youth and families are more likely to participate. Staff who come from the same background as the families served are more likely to be knowledgeable about their cultures, traditions and behavior patterns because they were raised in a similar manner. Being able to speak to families in their home language or dialect is often critical to effective communication and establishing a rapport. Such staff can also serve as important role models for children and youth. Hiring from within the community can also contribute to community revitalization by bringing jobs and income to neighborhood residents.

414 Is the collaborative developing linkages with related efforts to address social welfare economic, housing and safety issues?

Collaboratives that begin in the education, health and human services arena, will inevitably find themselves facing broader community issues -- jobs, affordable housing, public safety and others -- which families are confronting. Other initiatives or groups with expertise in these areas may well be operating in the geographic areas served by the collaborative. Building strategic alliances with these groups can enable the collaborative to enhance its own capacity while simultaneously enhancing the capacity of its allies.

STAGE FIVE: DEEPENING AND BROADENING THE WORK

512 Is the collaborative using feedback from people who work directly with consumers and neighborhood residents to evaluate its work and design changes?

In the early stages of planning, the collaborative consulted frontline workers. Their views were taken into account in designing the collaborative's new approach to services and supports. Feedback from frontline workers is equally important during implementation. Their input will help fine tune ongoing operations and develop plans for expansion and linkages with other services and supports.

513 Is the collaborative identifying issues beyond its original focus which need to be addressed if it is to achieve its desired results?

Collaboratives which begin with a focus on one arena generally will find that they need to address related issues in order to realize their vision and desired results. For example, helping families through a school-linked family resource center may lead a collaborative to identify the need to address employment and housing issues; an initiative to address infant mortality is likely to lead to a recognition of the need to incorporate support for fathers as well as mothers. As these issues are identified, collaboratives can seek out other groups or organizations working on those issues in the community.

514 Is the collaborative doing joint planning with related human services reform, housing and economic development efforts?

Effective collaboratives are always looking to build bridges with other groups and initiatives that share their focus on improved results for children, youth families and neighborhoods. The synergy between and among these efforts can have important impacts at the service delivery and policy levels. For example, as welfare reform becomes a reality new linkages are necessary among initiatives dealing with employment, transportation, education/training and children and families. With continuing reductions in public investment for housing low- income families, child and family groups should seek common ground with community development corporations concerned with housing, with educators worried about increasing rates of student mobility and community organizations focusing on public policy.

To be effective in building these bridges, collaboratives must be knowledgeable about what is happening in the policy environment, and in the development of different initiatives in their community.

515 Is the collaborative identifying and working to change policies and practices that are obstacles to the achievement of its goals?

By this time the collaborative should have in place working systems which a) identify policy issues where emerge from their experience in working with children and families; b) identify practice barriers within agencies/organizations and systems.

Policy issues might include: a) how managed care providers are working school-based health centers so that centers can access managed care funds; b) whether sufficienT child care is available to low-income working parents at a time when there is great pressure to place welfare mothers in work; c) how data is shared across agencies and systems.

Practice issues might include: a) problems in the manner in which front-line workers are being trained; b) difficulty in implementing a strengths/asset-based strategy in work with youth, families and neighborhoods; c) inadequate information systems.

Regardless of the particular policy or practice issue, by this point the collaborative not only needs a working system to identify these challenges, but a strategy to follow up on them. The collaborative body itself must devote significant time to this topic in order to broaden and deepen its work.

STAGE ONE: GETTING TOGETHER

112 Do members have access to financial and in-kind resources?

As individuals form a collaborative group, members must consider how they will carry out the planning process. At the outset, members may be able to share the work among themselves, but they should be clear about their responsibilities to one another. Staff who can coordinate activities, are obviously useful at this point, but not necessary.

STAGE TWO: BUILDING TRUST AND OWNERSHIP

217 Do members have resources from within and outside their organizations to continue planning?

As planning proceeds, other organizations in the community may have resources which can be mobilized for data collection and analysis, conducting focus groups and community assess ments, reviewing promising practices and other tasks. Regional planning associations, councils of government, centers and institutes at local colleges and universities are among possible sources of support. Where partner agencies have planning arms, planning staff could support the collaborative's work as well.

218 Does the group know what funding sources for children, youth, families and neighborhoods are now available in the community?

Many collaborative participants do not realize the range of different sources which finance services, supports and opportunities for children, youth, families and neighborhoods. By generating a picture of funding sources across the community or in a particular target area, group members can begin to see potential relationships between funding sources and how resources might be connected or integrated to create more effective services and supports. Focusing this task on neighborhood or school boundaries narrows the scope of the effort. It also enables the collaborative to identify community organizations and associations with whom it might cooperate.

219 Has the group explored financing and resource development strategies to support new efforts? (e.g., redirecting existing funds and personnel, tapping community assets, securing new public funds, obtaining corporate or foundation support)

To strengthen their relationships, group members should explore alternative ways they might generate funds and other resources to support new types of services, supports and opportunities. At this point, the objective is to consider alternative approaches to financing and resource development that other states and communities are pursuing so members understand the options to be considered during the strategic planning process.

STAGE THREE: STRATEGIC PLANNING

319 Has the collaborative developed a plan for funding its work which collaborative members consider to be sufficient to achieve the results desired?

Clear commitments from partners about how they will finance their new plans are essential. Written commitments and memoranda of understanding may be useful at this stage to ensure accountability and to inform future leaders about the obligations that partner organizations have made. Partners should also be aware that the resources they have available are sufficient to achieve the desired results. If they are not, then expectations will exceed capacity, leading to disappointment among partners, policy makers and the public.

320 Have planning, budgeting and contracting staff from key institutions been involved in strategic planning?

Generally, agency leaders and program directors participate in the collaborative process, but individuals in staff functions, such as planning, budgeting and contracting are not included. These individuals often are in "gatekeeper roles," and their support for changes in program and administrative policies and practices will be necessary. Involving these persons in strategic planning, if not earlier, can help facilitate the collaborative's agenda.

321 Has the group agreed to pool resources to support the effort?

Pooling resources is one important strategy for creating new forms of services and supports. Agencies at the state level can pool resources to offer local community collaboratives flexible funds; many counties and cities which invest their own resources in health, human services, neighborhood development and related activities also can establish such a flexible pool.

322 Does the funding plan tap into various public and private dollars and build upon non-financial resources from grassroots organizations, community groups and families?

To the extent possible, financing plans should incorporate public funds (e.g. child welfare, Medicaid, child care), private sources (United Way, foundations, corporations), and in-kind resources (school facilities, community organizations and parent and community volunteers). By using multiple sources, collaboratives create the flexibility to respond to the range of problems and needs that may emerge.

STAGE FOUR: TAKING ACTION

415 Does the collaborative have the flexibility to shift how funds are spent in order to meet changing needs?

Innovations in the delivery of services, supports and opportunities are dynamic activities, requiring swift action to address emerging problems. Some of these problems will require adjusting the manner in which funds are spent. To respond to these circumstances, partners should consider granting significant latitude to the collaborative to make necessary changes in how shared resources are used. In some instances, this will mean structuring a process of continuous negotiation between the state and the collaborative and within the collaborative itself.

416 Is there a continuing effort to tap and use community and neighborhood resources?

Incorporating community and neighborhood resources into new strategies to improve results is an ongoing task. Some potential resources may not be apparent during the planning phase. Therefore, during implementation, program directors on the ground should be expected to identify and mobilize these assets on a continuing basis. They also should have the flexibility in their program design and budgets to take advantage of these resources when they become available. For example, the possibility of creating a bartering system for services among residents may emerge; or senior citizens may indicate interest in working with young children. Staff and funds for program development and training may be necessary to mobilize these resources. Identifying and taking advantage of these opportunities is part of building a community's capacity to deal with some of its problems.

417 Are enough resources committed to leadership development for staff as well as parents, consumers and other neighborhood residents?

Innovations in service delivery strategies require significant investments in staff development and leadership development. Staff development is necessary to: 1) help workers function in new ways with families; and 2) help them understand how they can contribute to the de velopment of neighborhood resources.

Leadership development for parents, consumers and neighborhood leaders help to equip them to represent their community's interests. Funding for these activities can come from city, foundation, corporate, private agency and some corporate funding sources.

STAGE FIVE: DEEPENING AND BROADENING THE WORK

516 Is the collaborative developing a long-range plan for financing the essential and most successful elements of its strategy?

As the collaborative learns more about strategies that improve results, it must concentrate on ways to finance those services, supports and opportunities. Generally, funding for innovations from government and foundation sources ends after a demonstration period, and collaboratives are left to find continuing financing. In a time of fiscal constraints, especially on budgets affecting children and families, this is a difficult challenge.

Meeting that challenge requires a clear plan, which 1) clearly defines what the collaborative believes works to achieve the desired results including hard data where possible; 2) identifies existing funding streams that can support new systems of support, giving particular attention to major funding streams such as Medicaid, Child Welfare and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (welfare reform); 3) outlines how to explain the strategy to policy makers and the public; and 4) details linkages with other groups that have similar interests.

517 Is the collaborative developing a plan for getting new public and private money needed to achieve desired outcomes in the community?

Additional public and private resources may well be needed. If the collaborative's goal is more youth development activities, access to child care that will enable children to enter school ready to learn while their parents work, affordable housing for low-income families, new resources may well be necessary. Collaboratives should not shrink from strategic advocacy for such resources even in the face of budgetary constraints and seemingly negative public attitudes. With a carefully crafted plan, alliances with other groups with similar concerns and a clear focus on results, it is possible to make the case for such investments.

518 Are the budget decisions of member agencies being influenced by the collaborative's progress towards achieving its priority results?

The success of particular strategies in making progress toward results should drive the budget decisions of the group. If collaboratives find that new and perhaps less costly, services are more effective, or if they find that there are some more costly approaches that achieve better results, their budgetary decisions should reflect that knowledge. Collaboratives must be prepared to push people for change within their own agency. If school-linked services, family centers, youth development activities, comprehensive early childhood programs or other strategies are getting better results or are more responsive to families, why not change how funds are used to do more of what is working?

519 Is the collaborative working to influence major budget decisions of public and private institutions?

Sometimes agency-driven collaboratives do not have access to political decision-making process -- in the city, county, state, United Way or other institutions. A more diverse group that includes participants from business, civic, religious, community and neighborhood groups is more likely to have more access and credibility with these decision-makers. In either case, the collaborative should develop a clear plan to influence budget and policy decisions of key financing institutions. Data based on the collaborative's experience and the voices of parents, consumers and neighborhood leaders are important tools in this process.

STAGE ONE: GETTING TOGETHER

113 Does the group include people who have the skills and relationships to engage members who reflect the diversity of the community?

One of the tasks of leaders is to work to create inclusive groups -- inclusive in terms of race, ethnicity, language, gender, ideological perspective, or other factors relevant to a given community. As an initiating group begins the task of expanding itself, it must consider whether it has leaders involved who have credibility with diverse groups and can engage them in the collaborative effort. If not, finding such leaders should be among the first tasks of the initiating group.

STAGE TWO: BUILDING TRUST AND OWNERSHIP

220 Has the group discussed why it is import to have on-going leadership and professional development for staff and participants?

Changing systems means changing people -- in leadership, management and service delivery roles. Changing people can leverage other changes in systems over time. Sharing perceptions about leadership and professional development at this early stage of the collaborative process can set the foundation for creating a coherent leadership and professional development plan in the strategic planning stage.

221 Has the group identified the skills and talents that each individual or organization brings to the process, as well as their leadership needs?

An effective group draws on the talents of all its members; and given the many tasks that a collaborative must carry out it needs to tap all of those talents. As part of getting to know each other personally, collaborative group members can share with each other the assets and talents they bring to the process. Written personal inventories, sharing of personal journeys and experiences, and simply asking are all useful methods to identify assets and talents.

222 Has the group developed a plan to inform new members about its work and processes?

Effective groups agree on ways to involve new group members. Over time the collaborative membership will change. New people will come on board from different constituencies; people will move to new jobs. These transitions can have a significant impact on the long-

term success of the initiative. Methods for informing new members might include: 1) a buddy system; 2) formal orientation; 3) site visits to services and supports established by the collaborative; and 4) a revisiting of the vision, mission and principles by all members.

223 Has the group developed a list of available leadership and professional development opportunities? (e.g. staff development in public and non-profit agencies, leadership development for parents and neighborhood residents, community college courses)

Knowing what ongoing leadership and professional development exists is the first step toward creating a new strategy to support the collaborative's work. Such an inventory might lead the collaborative to advocate for greater investment in this area, or for redirecting training to new areas, e.g., cross-systems/training, building on family strengths, mobilizing neighborhood assets, or service delivery in neighborhood settings. The collaborative might consider establishing a separate committee to work on the inventory and the creation of a leadership and professional development plan. People outside the collaborative who have expertise in this arena could participate in the process.

STAGE THREE: STRATEGIC PLANNING

323 Has the collaborative agreed upon a leadership development plan for all of its members, including parents, consumers and other residents?

Collaboration Is a vehicle to reform systems requiring people who have the ability to lead that change. This is the task and the responsibility of collaborative members. To carry out this work, the collaborative should develop a plan to strengthen the leadership skills of all of its members. There may be a tendency to focus only on parents, consumers and neighborhood residents in this regard. Clearly, some of them must learn to operate in new situations, but leadership development is equally important for other collaborative members such as policy makers and agency directors. They too must often acquire new skills in order to be effective. Changing systems requires taking on new challenges such as working collaboratively with other agencies, building support for reforms within organizations and constituencies, develop ing new forms of financing and accountability and learning how to work in partnership with parent and neighborhood residents.

324 Has the collaborative developed a plan to help staff develop the knowledge and skills needed to implement the proposed strategy?

Workers from different disciplines, institutions and cultures need a new kind of training program in order to work together effectively. Training should help people to: 1) build a common language; 2) learn about the regulations and approaches of their respective agencies; 3) create a shared understanding and strategy for how they will work with families; 4) identify how they will draw upon each other's knowledge and talents; 5) learn about the community where they will be working; and 6) identify continuing training needs.

325 Has the collaborative connected with people and organizations who can a) get, manage and use data for planning and accountability b) analyze existing policies affecting children, youth, families and neighborhoods and develop better alternatives?

Building adequate staffing capacity is essential to developing a solid strategic plan. Two areas where capability is needed include data management and policy analysis. Data analysis and data management are essential for the collaborative to formulate and implement a results- oriented accountability system; data is also crucial if the collaborative is to know where to focus its resources. Policy analysis capability is needed to address the complex array of legislative, regulatory and administrative issues associated with many public programs. In addition, as discretion increases at the local level, expertise in an array of policy and service delivery alternatives will be increasingly important to the collaborative. Welfare reform and managed care are just two examples of major ongoing policy changes with implications for collaboratives.

Some of this policy expertise might be provided by personnel of a partner organization, or another community entity. The collaborative will need clear agreements with organizations offering staff support to ensure mutual understanding of expectations among the collaborative, the organization and the staff person.

STAGE FOUR: TAKING ACTION

418 Is leadership and professional development changing the way people do their work?

Collaboratives should assess the results of new leadership and professional development, just as they focus on the results of their services and supports strategies. Surveys and focus groups with front-line workers and more formal evaluations and journals, are possible tools for determining whether people are changing the way people do their work.

419 Is the collaborative using its experience to identify additional leadership and professional development needs?

If systems are to change, then leadership and professional development activities must also change. The collaborative can use its initial experience to develop a more comprehensive plan for leadership and professional development. Depending on the local circumstances, there may be a need to decentralize training functions, pool training resources across agencies, or design more in-depth cross-agency training experiences. The collaborative's experience also may lead to beginning work with higher education institutions which prepare most education and human services professionals. This work focuses on changing initial academic preparation so it is more consistent with the needs of a revised system.

420 Is the collaborative helping to increase employment and career development opportunities with its member organizations for neighborhood residents?

Jobs and income are essential to helping families and their children achieve positive results. One way to achieve this objective is to increase employment opportunities for neighborhood residents of partner organizations. Today, all too many individuals working in low-income neighborhoods do not live in those neighborhoods; thus, their jobs and income are not con tributing to neighborhood economic development. Human services organizations, as part of systems reform, should consider how job requirements can be amended to create employment opportunities. Some Medicaid managed care organizations are hiring residents to conduct outreach and consumer education activities; community-based programs are training parents to function in numerous paraprofessional roles including home health assistants, child care assistants, and parent educators. There will be tension in this process, since professional jobs may be eliminated. However, achieving greater effectiveness and efficiency, and improving results demands that the collaborative rethink established roles and responsibilities.

STAGE FIVE: DEEPENING AND BROADENING THE WORK

520 Is the collaborative evaluating how effective its leadership and professional development activities are and determining ways to improve them in order to move its agenda forward?

For collaboratives to move toward systems reform they will have to implement effective leadership and professional development agendas. Many collaboratives may reach the deep ening and broadening stage without having devoted significant effort to leadership and profes sional development, other than training for the staff of their specific service delivery initia tives. If so, then this is the time to begin focusing in this arena.

521 Is the collaborative expanding its leadership and professional development strategy so that more staff and community residents can be included?

As part of broadening and deepening its agenda, the collaborative will have to find ways to include more staff and community residents in its leadership and professional development activities. Given financial constraints, agencies and organizations will have to look at ways to pool their training resources, and target their training in priority areas for systems reform. Collaboratives should keep in mind, however, that leadership development does not always occur through formal training programs. Often, leadership can be nurtured though informal strategies such as mentorships and buddy systems which may not require financial support.

522 Does the collaborative have the staff capacity to successfully implement its agenda throughout the community?

Sufficient staff capacity is required for a collaborative to pursue its decision-making, public engagement, service delivery, accountability, financing, leadership and professional develop ment functions. There is no single formula for accumulating this staff capacity. As collabo ratives mature and grow, however, they should pay close attention to whether they are developing the staff capacity -- within the collaborative and among the partner agencies -- which can sustain and expand activities and programs.