ABC Strategic Plan 2007-8
ALLIANCE FOR BUILDING COMMUNITY (ABC)
Our VISION
A healthy community built on natural community supports* that are complemented by formal services.
*families, neighbors, friends, churches and synagogues, associations, etc.
Our MISSION
To facilitate an ongoing community forum where participants mobilize community strengths and resources to address community needs.
Our PRINCIPLES
- To promote positive change and conditions of well-being.
- To be actively inclusive.To foster collaboration.
- To objectively identify community strengths and needs.
- To support community actions around identified needs.
Planning Categories
Resources: Physical and Human
Operations
Community Development
Community Education
Turning the Curve on outcomes and indicators of social well-being
Financial
How we get the money to proceed with our work.
Marketing
How we sell ourselves to the community-at-large.
Goals related to each Planning Category
Resources: Physical and Human
RESOURCES GOAL 1 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Exploring potential co-leadership opportunities to meet Diana's goal of a 20 hour work week.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Discussion with Board and Development Committee
Operations
Community Development
Community Education
Turning the Curve on outcomes and indicators of social well-being
OPERATIONS GOAL 1 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Expansion of ABC’s Focus on Poverty – Incubation work
Poverty an extremely broad demographic indicator – we need to break it down into workable parts. These are the specific topics in the long run we may wish to address:
I. Need for More Expansive Mental Health Services
II. Isolation and Compartmentalization of Services/Improved Case
Management Support
III. Transportation
IV. Raising the political consciousness of people in poverty and the
larger community
Throughout our planning process, it is important to differentiate between population accountability and performance accountability
POPULATION ACCOUNTABILITY
Community Partners: Police, EES, SEVCA, HCRS, BMH, BADIC, AHS, Morningside
Identify The Population
The first priority is to focus on people in Poverty needing mental health support, especially those in crisis who do not receive services.
PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY
Getting from Talk to Action for Programs, Agencies and Services Systems
Performance accountability: With performance accountability, a manager or group of managers takes responsibility for the performance of a program, agency or service system to impact a particular population.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Year 1:
Research best practices– Research national and state programs. In collaboration with SEVCA, organize a visit to find out what works in other parts of our State or region. Invite all who participated in the March 26 Board meeting to come – these are the providers who will collaborate on a community-wide plan. In advance, develop listing of research questions including what indicators are used to measure success.
Part of this piece is researching the Vermont regulation and definition of “imminent harm” – there seem to be many different interpretations.
Data Development We need to have consistently available indicators to measure our progress (or lack of it). We also need to be careful to not let the data development need suck up all the energy. Keep focus with all data on those people with mental illness who are on Medicaid or uninsured. Designate 3 or 4 population indicators to measure success after completing research and visits. Create a baseline. Differentiate between population accountability and program performance accountability. The work with providers on their individual performance indicators will unfold in Year 2.
Propose utilizing the following indicators as guides for the strategy to improve mental health support for people in poverty:
Affirm our catchment area – Town of Brattleboro?
# community members who are in mental health crisis by:
a. Age
b. Gender
c. Disposition – their discharge status - acknowledge that mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse co-occur.
d. Referral source
e. Uninsured
f. Insured by Medicaid
g. Other insurance (not as much our focus)
h. General Practitioner
Initially, we will pool the information we receive from the following sources to develop the population indicators from:
• BADIC data from their Homeless at Risk with Chronic Mental Illness Program
• BMH data on their ER – the percentage of patients coming into the ER who have a mental health crisis with additional information on Medicaid coverage or not insured. Report on new repeat patients, including frequency of repetition. Report on runaways or remained to receive service.
• HCRS Emergency Contacts
• Morningside Shelter
• Public Inebriate Program
• Youth Services
Create Link to Statewide Chronic Care Initiative – Blueprint for Health
We want to align with this State initiative. Presently this initiative only involves 50% of the State. If there is an opportunity to link with the prevention efforts in the future, ABC should get involved.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Year 2:
Develop strategic actions related to policy, program development or resources.
Develop partnership with providers to address needs of people in poverty needing mental health support. Examples could include connecting with the primary care physicians’ offices who serve the people with mental illness who repeatedly appear at the ER. Could also include the hospital outpatient offices, Planned Parenthood, Free Clinic. With these new partners develop program performance indicators.
Involve faith communities in working with people in poverty who are mentally ill.
There is a need for flexibility in our transportation system to respond to the needs of this population. Ask specific community partners to focus on transportation issues related to poverty.
OPERATIONS GOAL 2:
Expansion of ABC’s Focus on Poverty – Incubation work
Raising the political consciousness of people in poverty and the
larger community
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Year 1: Work in collaboration with the Brattleboro Community Justice Center and the Restorative Justice Project at Youth Services to organize a community dialogue on poverty issues. The target audience will be people who are themselves in poverty and the people who serve them. This event will take place during Restorative Justice Week in November.
Specific actions:
1. Planning meetings with core planning group
2. Interviews conducted by core planning group of community associations whose members live in poverty
3. Consideration of Study Circle dialogue guide entitled “Thriving Communitites”
OPERATIONS GOAL 3 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Explore the possibility of producing a comprehensive community assessment that is linked with our annual report.
Background commentary: Presently there are many individual programs or coalitions that are required to produce a community assessment regarding social conditions. They include the Early Childhood Council, Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition, Deerfield Valley Community Partnership, Maternal Child Health Coalition, Windham Regional Commission (for elders), both area hospitals. Why not pool our funding and combine our efforts? The goal would be to have one comprehensive community assessment that would report on all populations.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
1. Meeting with United Way
2. With United Way, approach Brattleboro Memorial Hospital to explore possibilities.
3. Review completed elder assessment.
OPERATIONS GOAL 3 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Evolution from work groups to 3 tiers of action - guidance on how to deal with each of the three tiers
In the past, ABC has used the single term “work group” to describe projects and coalitions with which we have had differing degrees of involvement. We are re-defining our work as three tiers of action, plus a new category for groups that have evolved into programs and no longer need regular assistance from ABC but wish to maintain their affiliation.
THE THREE TIERS OF ACTION
1. Incubation/Development: How to Get Going
Problem-solving groups that are are just forming will receive results-based accountability support from ABC. ABC will call the meeting, create the agenda, and facilitate the meetings.
Examples: the housing coalition and our recent work on poverty issues
2. Coaching/Support: How to Progress
Upon invitation, ABC will work closely with particular initiatives, projects or former work groups to assist them in fulfilling their goals. Support will include providing outreach and education, assisting in the organization and publicity for events, sponsoring grants or offering fiscal agent support.
Example: Community Justice Center
3. Networking:
ABC will continue to collaborate closely with sister coalitions in our region. We will ask for an annual status report. Their work will be reported in the ABC annual report.
Examples:
Maternal Child Health Coalition
Windham County Long Term Care Network
Deerfield Valley Community Partnership
Building Bright Futures
Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition
WELLAC (Wellness Action Coalition for Windham Southeast
Supervisory Union)
AFFILIATED PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:
This category will include former work groups and, as we move forward, other groups that have moved beyond the need for coaching and support.
Examples:
Community High School of Vermont
Infant Child Guidance Program
What are the steps to get to our goal?
1. Meet with each former work group to explain the evolution to the three tiers of action.
2. Revise format of annual report to focus on three tiers of action.
OPERATIONS GOAL 4 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Improve Board meeting process/facilitation
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Marketing
How we sell ourselves to the community-at-large.
MARKETING GOAL 1(Where do we want to be in three years?)
Production of an annual report to the community on the ten outcomes of social well-being reflecting the three tiers of action.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
1. Receive feedback from Mark Friedman in statewide RBA training June 27-29
2. Coordinate efforts with United Way community assessment and community impact process. (also refer to page 3-4)
3. Revise layout of annual report to focus on three tiers of action.
MARKETING GOAL 2 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Need to engage faith leaders more effectively – we ask ourselves how we can become organizationally involved with faith leaders? This is Incubation work.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Year 1:
Use existing connections: Assess existing ABC Board members’ link to faith communities. Include Quaker and Buddhist faith communities.
Ask Board members to describe ABC to each faith community they are involved with.
Board member will communicate ABC’s vision and activities. Update the ABC Fact Sheet to use as a discussion tool with each faith community.
Refine outreach based on mutual interests of ABC and each faith community: e.g. asking faith communities to recruit volunteers to assist in the Community Justice Center ex-offender program.
Develop action steps based on advice from each Board member involved with that faith community.
At year’s end, review progress to determine next steps
Year 2: Act on action steps, one faith community at a time.
Financial
How we get the money to proceed with our work.
FINANCIAL GOAL 1 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Keeping abreast of AHS' intention to support the regional partnerships.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Diana's role as a statewide coordinator of the Vermont Association of Regional Partnerships puts her in a position to learn about AHS developments. Part of her responsibility is to negotiate the regional partnership contract with AHS.
FINANCIAL GOAL 2 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
The Youth Initiated Grants federal SDFSC funding is being reduced each year.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Work with VARP, the statewide grantee network, AHS and potential funders to develop a sustainability plan.
FINANCIAL GOAL 3 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
The Windham County Youth Council will continue to exist and host an annual Youth Summit.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
ABC Board will consider acting as fiscal agent for the Youth Council.
Explore funding possibilities with foundations and corporate sponsors.
Explore having a home for the Youth Council at BAPC, Youth Services or the UVM Extension Service.
FINANCIAL GOAL 4 (Where do we want to be in three years?)
Exploring potential co-leadership opportunities to meet Diana's goal of a 20 hour work week.
What are the steps to get to our goal?
Discussion with Board and Development Committee
ALLIANCE FOR BUILDING COMMUNITY (revised 7-9-06)
Action Plan evolving into long term strategic planning process
In response to the Board's emphasis on turning its one year action plan into a longer term strategic plan, we propose a sequence of steps - this parallels the present work of the Brattleboro Area Community Team - it is the context for the individual challenges we are working on:
1. Complete a macro-environmental scan - what are the trends we observe that relate to our vision/mission in the following areas:
External categories:
Societal - refer to our indicators
Political
Technology
Environmental
Economic
Internal Categories:
Culture - work group management
Resources: marketing, R&D, Human Resources
Financial - sustainability
Information/Communication systems
Operations
2. SWOT process - identify our strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats
3. Define the issues we need to address and set work priorities
4. Design and implement a strategic plan utilizing the following planning categories:
Resources: Physical and Human
Operations
Community Development
Community Education
Turning the Curve on outcomes and indicators of social well-being
Financial
How we get the money to proceed with our work.
Marketing
How we sell ourselves to the community-at-large.
5. Monitor progress
a. Define an evaluation procedure for each objective
b. Population Indicators: selecting accurate predictors of success regarding the population we are impacting
c. Community Team performance evaluation for our strategic planning process
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