Transcript Jumping the Planning Hurdles - Association of Nationally

Planning for Results
National Peer to Peer (NPtP)
ROMA Training Project
Goal 5 – Agencies improve capacity to Achieve Results
The OCS Monitoring and Assessment
Task Force
in 1994,
produced a National Strategic Plan
which endorsed a “results-oriented”
approach for CAAs.
In the Strategic Plan, the MATF identified
six national goals,
so that all CAAs could talk about
their results
using one or more of these goals.
The Six National Goals
Goal 1. Low-income people become more self-sufficient. (Family)
Goal 2. The conditions in which low-income people live are improved.
(Community)
Goal 3. Low-income people own a stake in their community. (Community)
Goal 4. Partnerships among supporters and providers of
services to low-income people are achieved. (Agency)
Goal 5. Agencies increase their capacity to achieve results. (Agency)
Goal 6. Low-income people, especially vulnerable populations, achieve their
potential by strengthening family and other supportive systems. (Family)
In 1998,
the CSBG Act was amended,
mandating implementation of a comprehensive
performance-based management system, “ResultsOriented Management and Accountability,”
or ROMA,
across the entire Community Services Network.
(Performance reporting, using ROMA,
from all partners in the Network
began October 1, 2001.)
So, we began to focus on results.
The focus for the past decade, for many Community Action
Agencies, has been on the identification, observation,
documentation and reporting of outcome data; rather
than just describing and reporting the services delivered.
We have been addressing these questions:
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What happened to the families we serve and the
communities in which we work?
How have our agencies changed?
How do we interpret our results?
Questions are growing out of the data that we have
been collecting, and we are now seeking to link the
results that have been identified to
family/community needs and to the strategies
we employ to meet the needs, such as:
 Do our strategies and services address the antipoverty mission of Community Action?
 What do our results mean in context of changing
community circumstances?
 How many people have actually moved out of poverty
(become self sufficient)?
 What are the strategies and services that have been
most productive in supporting these moves?
Looking at agency management
quality and effectiveness.
These questions point to basic principles of good quality
management practices and to using accountability
data to improve performance.
Do agencies have procedures and practices in place that
will enable them to analyze the “results oriented
accountability data” that they are now collecting?
Do they to embrace all of the elements and activities of
the cycle of Results Oriented Management and
Accountability?
The ROMA Cycle
Why ROMA?
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Sometimes agencies will talk about their
“ROMA report” or about the “ROMA
program.”
ROMA is, however, a complete
management and accountability
process that is focused on the results
supported by your agency.
Connecting strategies and
services to family and community
results can be a challenge
“I think you should be more explicit here in Step Two.”
How do we get more explicit about
what we do?
How do we decide what to do?
PLANNING!
Why plan?
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The act of “planning” provides an opportunity for an
agency or a community to step away from day to day
operations and consider a vision of the future.
It helps you identify where you want to be in 3-5 years.
It allow you to consider, in a strategic and comprehensive
way, how your agency will address its anti-poverty mission.
It allows you to remain competitive as needs and
community environment change.
A well thought out plan will help to unify agency staff
(from all programs) and board members around a common
vision and common outcome goals.
A different view:
Where do you start your planning activities?
We got the grant!
Now we need to
figure out what
to do with it!
Community Action Agencies are more
than service providers.
PROVISION OF SERVICES MODEL
STRATEGIC THINKING MODEL
Providing services because funding is
available can distract you from a more
effective selection of services and
strategies.
The development of strategies must be built
on a firm foundation that includes the
community outside your agency.
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What will the community be like if you are
successful in your work?
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Who do you want the community to say
you are?
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How can you develop Stakeholder
Involvement?
Failure to link activities together to form a
comprehensive set of services and
advocacy strategies may reduce your
effectiveness in helping the families
with whom you work to move out of
poverty.
Sometimes there are unintended
consequences doing the same
services you always have done -enabling the continuation of poverty.
You must be faithful to your mission and to
your “corporate identity” as an antipoverty agent.
A different view:
Where do agencies start their planning process?
-- Some begin looking at the services they currently provide.
-- Some look at the resources they have, or might be able to attract.
We propose that the “results focused” way to do planning is to first
articulate the vision for an improved community that is identified in the
agency mission – and use that mission to drive the identification of
results that the agency wants to achieve.
AFTER the results/outcomes are identified, THEN the agency can
identify strategies that would enable them to promote those results,
and FINALLY they identify the resources (existing and those that need
to be developed) that will support their delivery of these strategies.
Hierarchy of Planning
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Design & develop services and
activities based on the identified
outcomes to be achieved, priorities
established and resources.
Identify outcomes and indicators
that align with the agency priorities
and community assessment.
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Develop priorities to address needs - based on mission and vision.
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Identify needs and resources of the
community.
Services
& Activities
Outcomes
& Indicators
Agency Priorities
Community Assessment
Consistent with guidance from
legislation:
We have been charged with identifying community needs (as they
relate to the elimination of poverty) and resources, and then
creating strategies that use existing resources (and develop new
ones) to address needs.
(1964 OEO language, 1970 directive, 1998 recertification)
And we are responsible to develop a Community Action Plan that
indicates what we will do and what we will accomplish.
CSBG ACT 1998 - Sec.676(b)(11) -- The State will secure from each
eligible entity in the State, as a condition to receipt of funding by
the entity through a community services block grant made under
this subtitle for a program, a community action plan (which shall
be submitted to the Secretary, at the request of the Secretary, with
the State plan) that includes a community-needs assessment for the
community served, which may be coordinated with communityneeds assessments conducted for other programs.
More recent guidance from OCS:
Specific core activities are identified in Information
Memorandum 49 (2001), for Agencies and their
Boards:
Regular assessments of the Agency’s overall mission, desired
impacts and program structure including:
1.
Needs of community and residents,
2.
Relationship of activities supported by Agency to other antipoverty, community development services in community,
3.
Extent Agency activities contribute to the accomplishment of
one or more of the six national ROMA goals;
Use of these assessments to identify yearly or multi-annually
improvements or results it plans to achieve in the lives of
individuals, families, and/or the community.
Planning for Results
Curriculum
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In response to input from the NPtP Advisory
Council and Certified ROMA trainers from
across the country, CAAP commissioned the
development of a guide for CAAs to help
them improve their planning processes.
The result is a product that has been piloted
in PA, NY and CA.
It consists of four 2.5 hour modules that can
be combined in a variety of ways.
Planning for Results Modules
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Module I - Developing a Community Vision
explores a vision for the community and
assesses where the community is relative to
that vision
Module II - Setting Priorities and
Determining Outcomes examines
challenges and supports to the agency mission
and desired outcomes of community and
agency to help with setting priorities and
determining.
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Module III - Developing
Strategies examines existing and
new strategies for achieving the
outcomes aligned with priorities
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Module IV - Identification and
Development of Resources
reviews current and needed resources
for implementing strategies
In Module I we look at Vision
Your agency works in the context of a
community, and as such needs to be able to
ground its works in the visions of the
community.
In Module I, we suggest you include community
partners and recipients of service as you
begin the planning process.
In Module II we identify outcomes
We begin this module with a review of the
agency mission.
Once your agency has a clearly articulated
vision and mission, it is important to assess
the community supports and challenges that
will impact on the agency’s plan.
It is important to identify outcomes and to
identify the agency’s priorities in the early
stages of the planning process
In Module III we look at strategies
Once your agency has done its community
assessment, has identified the priorities that
you will adopt for the next 3 to 5 years, and
has identified the broad outcome areas that
you will address,
it is time to think in detail about what you will
do, what indicators you will be looking to
document, and how you will work towards
achievement of specific outcomes within the
outcome areas.
Identifying Strategies – Con’t
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Identify strategies and activities which will
achieve the outcomes identified
Evaluate current activities relative to their
strategic impact on those outcome
Determine which programs should be
continued to be supported, altered or
dropped
Determine potential new activities and/or
strategies
Identifying Strategies – Con’t
Identify areas to be discussed
 Focus on 4 or 5 areas
 Select domains that the agency will address
 Consider current agency efforts but broaden
the discussion to new areas.
Consider strategies:
Operating programs is one kind of strategy
but also consider community education,
volunteer engagement, advocacy and
partnerships .
In Module IV we look at resources.
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What is needed to implement the
strategy you identified?
There are many different types of
resources. What resources do you
have? What partnerships can assist?
What resources are needed to be
developed? How will you face this
challenge?