Converging streams of national service to increase collaboration

Article icon

Abstract

Untapped potential for collaboration exists among the three major service initiatives of the Corporation for National and Community Service — AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve. Converging Streams: The power of collaboration among service groups by Sam Drew, Jr., outlines a process for collaboration that can strengthen existing services and create new and higher quality national service programs.

Back to top

Issue

Many of the problems national service programs were created to deal with are interrelated. Agencies and service programs that can work together to address community needs can more easily expand their resources and create a network of support.

Successful collaborations require leadership, commitment, hard work, dedication, and high level administrative support from within each organization. Some of the barriers to collaboration need to be addressed directly:

  • Many organizations believe that by collaborating, the identity of their organization will be lost in the identity of another, perhaps larger or more politically powerful, system. It is important to acknowledge any potential distrust of interests and intent among potential partners.
  • Agencies are generally not structured for collaboration. Strategic planning within the agency may focus on the agency's unique mission without looking holistically at the needs of the community and the many agencies that serve various aspects of those needs. It's important to build collaborative activities into an individual's or group's job description.
  • Often individuals or a group works to connect with other agencies without any formal recognition from the agency they represent. Incentives for collaboration should be built into agency policy.

Back to top

Action

Planning Effectively for Resource Collaboration: The PERC Process

To begin the process, select one person to act as a facilitator of the collaboration process. This person should not have a vested interested with any of the groups involved.

Assessment

  • Focus on an issue.
  • Assemble a small core group of representatives in the community/state focused on the issue.
  • Conduct an assessment of community needs and assets. Gather information by the following means:
    1. Questionnaires, surveys, and nominal group processes of the general community
    2. Meetings or interviews with other key human service and community leaders
    3. Surveys of human service and community leaders
    Analysis
  • Determine priority needs and perceived assets. Do not assume that just because some need is perceived as being met, that it may not be a priority need.
  • Construct a resource matrix. The matrix is a graphic compilation of the various service providers that have been identified as having a relationship with the issue.
  • Expand participation. The assessment should help to make the core group aware of other streams or agencies that should/could be involved.
  • Determine the target need. It is important to concentrate on a single goal, pursuing others once an initial success has been achieved. The core group should consider the following questions:
    • Which goals have a high degree of involvement from most streams/agencies?
    • Which goals do not appear to have been adequately addressed by the streams/agencies?
    • Are these goals of highest priority in addressing the major problems in the community?
    Fission
  • Determine services needed to achieve goal.
  • Have each steam/agency answer the following questions:
     
    • *What does my agency do now to address this goal?
    *What else could we do with no new resources?
    *What could we do better with additional resources?
    *What barriers keep us from doing better?

  • Outline services, and the barriers to improved services, of each agency. Share this information with one another to see where interrelation, duplication, and gaps in service delivery occur.
  • Build a service map. Use answers to the question "What are we doing now?" to build a map of the services each participant offers.
  • Reflect on the service map. Analyze services with the following questions:
    • What are the current positive and negative aspects?
    • What is duplicated or where are overlaps?
    • What is missing?
  • Reflect on agencies as they relate to the service map by asking:
    • What could we do differently to better fit into the overall picture?
    • Which activities do we have in common?
    • How can we better meet the needs by coordinating our activities with those of other streams/agencies?
    • What new structures, patterns, or collaboratives can be created to provide more/better services?
    Fusion
  • Develop a Collaborative Action Plan (CAP) based on the interconnection of resources across the programs. Some questions to consider:

    *How can we proceed collaboratively? (i.e. in-service training, technical assistance, hosting meetings)
    *What resources are we willing to provide? (i.e. personnel, equipment, facilities)
    *What are the barriers that will have to be crossed? (i.e. program policy, hours of operation, use of facilities, lack of trust on the part of decision makers)

  • Integrate CAP into the action plans of participating agencies. The CAP should support the goals of each agency, and each agency should alter their internal management plan to include the collaborative activities.
  • Evaluate CAP. Partners must be able to show that both the outcomes of the collaboration and the individual outcomes of the agencies involved are enhanced.


    • Back to top

    Context

    Collaboration strengthens each partner's work without sacrificing the uniqueness of a particular individual or group. Collaboration can integrate the unique characteristics of each partner to address a particular need in the community that no one organization, working alone, can adequately address. Through collaboration, systems are developed that can address problems in a more unique and comprehensive manner than if the individual partners were working alone.

    In any design for institutional collaboration, several key factors must be considered:

    • There must be fundamental change in how institutions relate to shared "customers."
    • There must be long-term commitment to systemic change.
    • Institutions need to learn about one another.
    • There must be leadership and top-level commitment to the process.
    • A common philosophy must be developed among the agencies or groups.
    • Staff from all levels must be involved and must feel "ownership" in the results.

    Back to top

    Citation

    Drew, Jr., Sam F. Converging Streams: The power of collaboration among service groups. South Carolina Department of Education, 2000.

    Back to top

    Outcome

    In 1994, Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute, the South Carolina Department of Education, the United Way of South Carolina, and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Aging came together with the common goal of creating capacity in South Carolina's communities to implement innovative, replicable intergenerational programs. Together they formed a statewide intergenerational project called LINC (Linking Intergenerational Networks in Communities). Further support came from the state's Learn and Serve Program, AmeriCorps members, and the National Senior Service Corps.

    In addition to the focus on the core goal of the LINC Project, the individual goals of each partner related to intergenerational programming were enhanced. Clemson University was able to expand its intergenerational research, as well as provide its students with "hands-on" experience. The Department of Education was able to expand its service-learning programs. The Office on Aging was able to increase participation of seniors in community improvement efforts. Finally, the United Way established a statewide database that included information on seniors.

    All of the agencies involved with the LINC Project had commitment from their senior staff. Each agency built CAP objectives into the job descriptions of their personnel.The partners held regular meetings to discuss progress and address barriers to the collaboration. Careful attention was given to building consensus, rather than voting, and this added to the feeling of ownership of decisions by each partner.

    At the end of the project, most of the local programs were continuing activities without the additional funds that were provided. A statewide intergenerational network had been established that did not exist before. The coalition established by LINC lasted beyond the life of the LINC grant.

    Back to top

    Posted On

    June 6, 2001

    Back to top

    Resources

    From The Resource Center library:

    Converging Streams: The power of collaboration among service groups

    Item number: R1669

    Related Practices

    Back to top

    Related sites

    Topic Areas

    Back to top