Project Specific Design

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GROUP ONE: CULTURAL CENTER

The integrated services system will be guided by issues of culture and language. Develop a model of a Cultural Center as part of a system of integrated services in White Center/Boulevard Park. Use the following questions to stimulate your conversation and help you to develop your model:

How would a cultural center strengthen families and communities in White Center/Boulevard Park? We talked about domestic violence as a way to show an example of how the culture center approach might work. Cultural differences and lack of understanding influence this circumstance. In the example we talked about the man needs to learn appropriate behavior through the lens of his own culture.

How do you foster cross-cultural collaboration? What would programs look like? All cultures have art, music, stories, poems that speak to families. A cultural center could use all of these materials to support healthy families. There are inexpensive ways to include multicultural emphases within the building structure itself; for example, a gallery, or designated areas in the building for art and artifacts from all of the cultures. There are ways that you can make the community aware of what the structure reflects and make them feel included. You foster cross-cultural sharing with food, festivals, and an annual calendar of cultural events. You ensure that service providers have more knowledge and information about the many cultures.

How do you address inter-generational issues within cultures? This is also a culture issue. Computers can help to bridge this gap—have kids teach the adults. Have grandparents or parents teach the kids their own language.

How do you capitalize on the cultural assets within the community? When you support the culture and heritage, you strengthen the family.

How would you ensure that the Center was multi-culturally client driven? The board must be multicultural and representative of the community. We have many villages — they need to understand both their differences and their commonalities. It's important to bring them to the forefront for greater understanding.

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GROUP TWO: MULTI-SERVICES CENTER

As part of an integrated service system:


Group 2: Multi-Service Center-s...	Group 2: Multi-Service Center..

How do you make the process of obtaining services seamless to customers across the whole system (across projects)?

What specific changes are you planning to make to improve outcomes for families?

The multi-service center will be moving into a former Safeway building. We call it “The Safe Way.” There are two givens: it is a 2-story building, and employment security and DSHS will be co-located there on the second floor.

How is the DSHS / Safeway Project going to do business differently? How are services created and delivered in a way that is client-focused? Make it obvious that it is a welcoming place for diverse groups and cultures. Make the visitor's center visible from the street. Have a multilingual staff. Incorporate an initial screening process involving people from the customer's culture who can do the triage. Provide drop-in child care. Take a strength-based approach to services. Don't start with the deep end of the system—focus on immediate needs and build capability. Provide after-school activities in the building.

How does your project bridge public and nonprofit agencies, formal and informal organizations? What is the identity of this space and its relationship to other spaces?

We don't want each place to be all things to all people but we want “No Wrong Door” there. What should we provide at Safeway and what should we connect to? We wrestled with the questions but did not provide answers.

How does your project improve access to services for your clients?

How are services delivered in a culturally competent and relevant manner? We sketched two versions of the first floor: one—a traditional office space; two—a more open, versatile concept. The greeter desk is more visible as are the multicultural capabilities of the services and staff. All of the staff could serve as greeters and would be prepared by cross-training to do that.

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GROUP THREE: MIXED INCOME HOUSING


Group 3: Mixed Income Housing...	Group 3: Mixed Income Housing...

As part of an integrated service system:

How is the Hope VI project going to do business differently? All of the past systems have had flaws in the process of displacing current residents. This time they will educate and provide information. Residents will have a voice in the services needed and offered. There will be integrated services for the entire community. The goal is to become a mixed income community with a heavy emphasis on opportunities for home ownership. Attention will be paid to environmental and safety issues.

How do you make the process of obtaining services seamless to customers across the whole system (across projects)? We use information-sharing and common intake. People who receive services do not see the back room. Services are seamless and connected. All agencies are represented.

How does your project improve access to services for your clients?

How are services created and delivered in a way that is client-focused? There are multiple language resources and shared data through technology. We seek waivers in terms of confidentiality. We encrypt medical info for HPPA compliance. Services are customer-based. Governance is clearly articulated and includes residents.

What specific changes are you planning to make to improve outcomes for families? They will have to services not previously available. There will be a reduction in transaction costs. Services will be culturally appropriate. There will be quicker access to services and movement through the system. The system focuses on prevention and the use of existing services.

How are services delivered in a culturally competent and relevant manner? We operate with respect, appreciation, and preservation of cultures and educating youth in the culture's values. We seek community involvement in a culturally-responsive system.

How does your project bridge public and nonprofit agencies, formal and informal organizations? There is a bridge between agencies and organizations that is something like this process. There are consistent conversations. Leaders are committed and serve as champions. The partners complete tangible projects together. There is time for celebration. Co-location builds integration across the community.

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GROUP FOUR: INTEGRATED SYSTEM OUTCOMES


Group 4: Outcomes...	Group 4: Outcomes...	Group 4: Outcomes...

The integrated services system will be created based on a set of desired outcomes. Tell us what outcomes are most important to the community, and how the integrated services system works in White Center / Boulevard Park to attain these outcomes. How does White Center operate? There is an internal set of integrated services using shared data. Beyond the internal set is an external system that can be called upon as needed. A governance system, including evaluation, connects all of the components. There is a community accountability board, shaped by citizens.

What strategies will be applied to achieve these outcomes? We will implement cross training and cross cultural training for providers. There will be an advocacy body that leads to systems change. There will be action plans for integrated, holistic services and a team approach to case management. We will educate families about the integrated services system, help them develop trust in the system, and engage communities in a design role.

What are the key outcomes? How will we know that these outcomes have been achieved? Families are happy; they report they are meeting goals; they can spend time together. The family achieves economic success measured by such things as home ownership and money in the bank. The children's school attendance is good and they graduate from high school. Young children are ready for school when it is time for them to enroll. The parents learn English and can communicate with the children. Typically, there is a role reversal and parents lose control and their role is diminished if they do not learn English. More efficient and effective services are provided, and agencies spend time preventing not reacting. There is more collaboration and shared resources, such as bilingual staff. There is a successful neighborhood — free of drugs and violence and capable of joint decision-making. We measure by a customer satisfaction survey.

Assuming self-sufficiency is a desirable outcome, describe self-sufficiency from the perspective of the family. Parents can meet their own needs, save money, and get ahead. Describe it for the community as a whole. The community can provide opportunities for employment and access to higher education. The community has the ability to advocate for residents. People want to stay and raise a family.

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GROUP 5: INTEGRATED SYSTEM OUTCOMES


Group 5: Synthesis...	Group 5: Synthesis...

The integrated services system will be created based on a set of desired outcomes. Based on the work done by teams 1 — 6 in Round 4c, explain how the integrated services system works in White Center / Boulevard Park to attain these outcomes.

What strategies will be applied to achieve these outcomes? Families partner with agencies to achieve economic self-sufficiency, although cultural differences among families make it challenging to come up with an answer to this question. We hope to improve communication, strengthen social networks, increase connections between providers and natural networks, and increase the capacity of community-based organizations, including their financial capacity.

What are the key outcomes? The outcomes include a stronger, more stable community, with more home ownership and financial services, more affordable and more desirable housing, and an increase first-time buyers' programs.

How will we know that these outcomes have been achieved? Outcomes will be measured by goal attainment; economic indicators, health, and the school readiness of young children.

Assuming self-sufficiency is a desired outcome, describe self-sufficiency from the perspective of family. Describe it for the community as a whole. There is less isolation and more community participation. There is less mobility, leading to reduced turnover in schools, which improves educational outcomes for youth. Community self-sufficient means increased community participation in decision-making and providing services to one another.

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GROUP SIX: PREVENTION

Group 6: Prevention...

Your assignment is to describe an integrated services system that has prevention as an underlying fundamental principle in White Center / Boulevard Park that recognizes and uses the strengths and assets of families in the community.

Use the following questions to stimulate your conversation and help you to develop your model:

What activities would most help strengthen families?

What programs are most needed to address those areas?

What prevention efforts already exist and how would you integrate them into your plans?

What role does culture play in the program?

The system starts where integrated services and natural supports meet.

What prevention areas are most needed? If we are going to do prevention, one of our greatest resources is natural supports in the community. They need to be connected to the formal system. Natural supports include neighbors, schools, MAAs, extended families, faith-based organizations, informal leaders, and trusted advocates. As we pictured it, we need to strengthen both the natural supports and the connections. There is structure involved—training in referral skills and training between the formal systems and the natural systems on how to work together. The way of work of the formal system changes as a result.

How would you leverage many programs to increase the effectiveness of all? Capacity-building is important—if we don't build capacity in the natural supports, they will be the weaker partner because many are volunteers. They have knowledge and determination but may not have sufficient time or energy. There will be an expectation, understood by both systems, that these partnerships are essential to our work. The people in the natural support system, those who are in the communities 24 hours a day, are the ones who know what is really going on.

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GROUP SEVEN: SCHOOL BASED FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER

Group 7: Family Resource Center...

As part of an integrated service system:

How is the community school going to do business differently?

How do you make the process of obtaining services seamless to customers across the whole system (across projects)? We are barrier-busters, bureaucracy busters. We are in schools and generally working with families. We want to be community-based and driven by the community's governance, feedback, and wishes. What professionals think families need is not what families say they want. We focus on what families want rather than “what we think they need.”

What specific changes are you planning to make to improve outcomes for families? The programs will be strength-based, comprehensive, and holistic. There will be a team approach revolving around the comprehensive services management center. The center will be very user-friendly. Families will come there as a community center.

The teams will be multidisciplinary teams and family driven. Services include a health clinic and after school programs.

There is a single “point of responsibility” for follow-up and accountability. A group of advocates or facilitators insures that the family receives its services.

How are services delivered in a culturally competent and relevant manner? There is an interagency team of experts with the ability to provide culturally appropriate services in the family's language. Other agencies redirect their multi-lingual staff to schools as needed.

How does your project improve access to services for your clients?

How are services created and delivered in a way that is client-focused? There are formal systems and procedures to use for all of our processes. All service providers are accountable to one another, and families are partners accountable to the team.

How does your project bridge public and nonprofit agencies, formal and informal organizations? We host a variety of community engagement events — leadership, events, cultural activities. We want the community to say “we love our schools” The outcomes are increased access, improved coordination, improved school success, increased parental involvement, greater community engagement, focus on cultural issues identified by the community and improved relationships among cultural groups.

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GROUP EIGHT: CAREER ONE-STOP CENTER


05_team8_career_...	Group 8: Career 1-Stop Center...

As part of an integrated service system:

What specific changes are you planning to make to improve outcomes for families?

How does your project improve access to services for your clients?

How are services delivered in a culturally competent and relevant manner?

How are services created and delivered in a way that is client-focused?

How does your project bridge public and nonprofit agencies, formal and informal organizations?

How is the YMCA / CDC going to do business differently?

How do you make the process of obtaining services seamless to customers across the whole system (across projects)?

We talked mainly about people relationships, knowing who's who in the community. We focus on services that address immediate impediments to employment—such as lack of transportation or inability to show up on time.

We are now in a co-located space. We have a memorandum of agreement related to how we collaborate with other organizations. We share web-based data. There is a close proximity to Safeway and Hope VI. The career development system is an entry-way to other services— staff are culturally competent and bilingual. Translators are on call.

We need solutions to the information and data sharing problems. Today there are 15 funders requiring 15 different data systems for reporting. How can we coordinate data to get a good holistic picture of what's going on with the family? We have multiple systems right now—all of the workforce people are putting in lots of data but we can't get the reports that we want. It is one of the great challenges. In the midst of all the reporting we have to meet the contracts. Swipe cards will be introduced — it would be nice to have one swipe-card system for the integrated services system.

Meetings create a barrier to getting work done. Each of these program initiatives requires meetings. Don't lose sight of this problem.

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GROUP NINE: GOVERNANCE


Group 9: Govenance...	Group 9: Govenance...

This group was asked to drill down into governance issues.

A partners group was formed a couple of years ago. Its first work was to bring together a community forum two years ago to get input from the broadest cross-section of the community and to respond to a community survey. There were four major components: Hope VI, Safeway, Community School, Public Safety and Health. Those four work groups met over the course of six months and identified a series of tasks that should flow from those areas. Many have been implemented

The heads of state, county, and local government agencies comprise the Partners Group. The Deputies Group makes the programs operational.

How were decisions made in these groups? What holds them together is that for the first time they would allow decision-making to be driven by community interests and stated needs. They made a deliberate decision to behave in this fashion.

How could we improve upon the process? We need to learn how to formalize community advisory groups. We try to reach out to large numbers of the community in major day-long events, but that may not be the best way to get continuing feedback. How do we know who speaks for and represents the community?

What are the operating assumptions? There are at least four modules of service that are going to happen. We need to know how exactly the sites will come into being and how they will relate to the community on a continuing basis. There is value to making the decision-making process more transparent—but we need to consider what are the costs and the benefits. The clearer the decision-making process is, the more risk that the organizations will not participate. Handled properly, transparency will generate more informed decisions that can last for a long time.

What is needed? We need more consistent involvement from some of the players; predictability on the part of the Casey Foundation; improved communications leading to improved decision-making. This is a strength-based model. Where there are non-county-based sites, they only work with a strong commitment to doing this integration of assets. The question is how to take governance to the next level. Your perception depends upon where you sit.

Possibly we should go to the Deputies Group and ask explicitly what their processes are and how they are making decisions. There are processes in place, but they are different for each project — is it okay to leave it like that or should you try to make the processes more uniform?

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