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Click Here for the Community Solutions Plan
User
Guide and Call For Action
(Plan Development and
Implementation)
5/20/08
BACKGROUND
A 2004
community needs assessment conducted by WSU Tri-Cities for
United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties revealed that Benton
and Franklin Counties needs better linkages and coordination
among local health and human service providers. The Community
Leaders Summit was held in October 2006 at which time the
foundation for Community Solutions was established. United Way
was asked by community leaders and donors to facilitate this
process. The first cut of the Community Solutions Plan was
developed in 2007 through a wide-scale community planning
process involving 200 community leaders and residents in the
bi-county area with the purpose of improving community
conditions and people’s lives.
Health and
human services affect every individual in Benton and
Franklin Counties. Progress towards achieving the Plan’s
outcomes and ultimately realizing the vision can only occur
through comprehensive community engagement and participation by
all.
PLAN DEVELOPMENT
200
community leaders, representing all segments of the community,
devoted over 1,000 hours in 2007 to collecting, exchanging and
analyzing information about health and human services. Their
hard work, expertise and passion culminated in the development
of the first-ever Community Solutions Plan in December 2007.
THE
PLAN
The
Community Solutions Plan is outlined in the form of a strategy
map and was developed by starting at the top with the
identification of the vision and major outcomes and then working
downward with identification of the essential community
processes, behaviors and actions that need to be in place. The
Plan is implemented from the bottom upward realizing that strong
community processes, behaviors and actions are essential for
achievement of the outcomes and ultimately the vision.
VISION: Improve people’s
lives by creating lasting change in community conditions.
1. Kids Matter
Value Statement:
We value a community where
all infants, children, and teens are nurtured physically and
mentally and are provided with opportunities to succeed in
school, develop functional life skills, are safe from harm, and
reach their maximum potential.
2.
Families
Matter Value Statement:
We
value a community where all individuals and families have
opportunities for education and life-long learning, remain
self-sufficient, access needed community resources to meet
healthcare and basic needs, have support for healthy lifestyles,
and live in a safe environment.
3. Community
Matters Value Statement:
We
value a community that is unified through
community life, maximizes and shares resources and
information,
promotes volunteerism and civic involvement, embraces
diversity,
education, health and wellness, and is a safe place to live.
OUTCOMES: What needs to be
accomplished to achieve the ultimate Community Solutions Vision?
1.
Self Sufficiency:
People will have access to basic needs such as food and housing,
and individuals who are able to work are self-sufficient through
gainful employment with livable wages and other assets.
a. Increase the number of people who reside in stable and
affordable housing.
b. Increase the number of people who are financially
self-sufficient.
c. Increase the number of people who consume adequate and
nutritious food.
2.
Education:
People will have access to and benefit from early education,
high school graduation, basic skills training, post-high school
education and life-long learning.
a. Increase the number of
children ready for kindergarten.
b.
Increase the number of people who graduate from high
school.
c. Increase the skills and
competencies of adults.
3.
Health:
People will live healthy lives through emphasis on prevention,
as well as access to needed healthcare.
a. Increase the number of
people who practice preventative healthcare.
b. Decrease the number of
people treated for preventable diseases.
c. Increase the number of
people who have access to quality, affordable
and timely healthcare.
4.
Safety:
People will be safe in their homes, schools and neighborhoods,
and live in a community free of abuse, neglect, violence,
and crime.
a. Decrease the number of
neglect and abuse incidents.
b. Decrease the number of
violent crimes against people.
c. Increase neighborhood
safety.
COMMUNITY PROCESSES: What
essential processes must the community excel at to achieve the
outcomes and ultimately the vision?
To deliver
the Plan’s outcomes, the community must excel at four community
processes:
1.
Regional
Planning – Emphasis on Prevention and Root Causes
Addressing the underlying causes
of our community’s health and human service problems is
critical. Two hundred community leaders,
representing a broad cross-section of the bi-county region, are
convening to effectively address
local issues by identifying community solutions that will create
lasting change in community
conditions to improve people’s lives.
a. Expand and refine the
Community Solutions Plan
b. Engage a broad segment of
the community for Community Solutions planning and
implementation.
c. Increase service recipient
input.
2.
Resources
Structured for Effectiveness and Efficiency
It is essential that financial
and non-financial resources be identified and leveraged in a
manner that results in increased effectiveness and efficiency in
the delivery of health and human services. More significant
impact can then occur in responding to unmet and emerging needs,
as well as addressing the wide-array of issues that currently
exist.
a. Increase the dollar amount
saved among the organizations of
Community Solutions team members and Blue Ribbon Advisors as a
result of partnerships formed for the achievement of a Community
Solutions outcome.
b. Increase the dollar amount leveraged among the
organizations of Community Solutions team members and Blue
Ribbon Advisors as a result of partnerships formed for the
achievement of a Community Solutions outcome.
3.
Formation of
Partnerships and Strategic Alliances
New and emerging community-wide
alliances and partnerships between organizations, programs,
government entities, policy makers, etc. should be formed when
appropriate. Strategic alliances foster cooperation, increase
benefits to recipients and avoid duplication and unnecessary
competition.
a. Increase the number of
partnerships and strategic alliances among
organizations.
4.
Availability/Awareness of Community Resources
Community resources must be
available and accessible to all individuals through a highly
coordinated health and human services system
in which community organizations collaborate and communicate so
that limited resources are used effectively and efficiently.
a. Increase usage of 2-1-1 and
other information resources designed to increase community
awareness of services available.
Strong
community processes will result in an increased likelihood that
the community will deliver on the intended outcomes and realize
the vision.
COMMUNITY
BEHAVIORS AND ACTIONS: What needs to be changed or strengthened
to achieve the community processes above?
To support
the essential processes, there are key behaviors and actions
that must occur:
1.
Education about
Local Needs
Education among community
organizations, businesses, government, persons needing services,
volunteers and all other stakeholders regarding local needs and
issues is critical to promoting understanding and compassion.
a. Increase awareness of the
community challenges in relation to the 4 Community Solutions
outcome areas.
b. Increase the number of
advocates or spokespersons for Community
Solutions.
2.
Wide-Scale
Collaboration and Mobilization
Collaborative approaches are
crucial to the success and sustainability of community change
efforts because they reduce duplication of services, provide
integrated services, help achieve program outcomes and decrease
costs. Efforts should be made to pool resources, embrace best
practices and proven success, while encouraging ingenuity and
innovation to address unmet needs.
a. Bridge the communication and
collaboration barriers caused by the Health Insurance Portabilility and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1996.
3.
Communication
and Coordination among Service Providers
Multiple forms of
communication among services providers are needed and should be
developed to insure cooperation,
effective and efficient planning and implementation of selected
strategies and to avoid duplication.
a. Increase communication and
coordination among service providers in
Benton and Franklin Counties.
b. Increase the work scope or
depth of communications that Community Solutions team member
service providers and Blue Ribbon Advisor service providers have
with other service providers.
4.
Diversity and
Inclusiveness
The community values diversity
as an asset and must seek to fully integrate and engage all
groups in creating and supporting
initiatives that embrace inclusiveness. No human resource
should be untapped or wasted because of prejudice based on race,
age, gender, religion, disability and sexual orientation.
a. Increase the number and
percentage of minority groups who are in
leadership positions, as staff or board members of
organizations.
5.
Promotion of
Community Involvement
All people should be
inspired and have the opportunity to participate and share their
talents in the vast abundance and
variety of community services.
a. Increase the number
of volunteers and hours of service.
Effective
community behaviors and actions will result in strong community
processes, which therefore result in outcomes and the vision
being achieved.
IMPLEMENTATION
The entire
community owns the Community Solutions Plan and has a
responsibility for implementing it. Health and human services
affect every individual in Benton and Franklin Counties.
Progress towards achieving the outcomes and ultimately realizing
the vision can only occur through the full involvement and
participation by everyone. The following are examples of
actions that each of us can do:
- Study
the Community Solutions Plan and supporting material;
- Share
this information with family members, friends, co-workers,
other associates;
- Use
this information as basis for personal or group
decision-making, action and commitment;
- Use
this information in planning for the next year and for the
next 10 years;
- Get
involved in your neighborhood and the community;
- Improve
community conditions and people’s lives.
COMMUNITY INFORMATION
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