Case study - strengthening social cohesion in the City of Humethrough supporting parents - developing children project
Contents
Project summary
1. Identifying information
2. Background and impetus for the establishment of the project
3. Assessment of the project against each draft guiding principle
Project summary
Through the collaboration between philanthropy and Federal, State and Local government, the Supporting Parents – Developing Children Project, provides funding to support programs in Southern Hume which will assist parents from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds (CALD) to help their young children get ready for school. The funding is being directed to programs that support early childhood development, literacy, community engagement, social cohesion and the development of pathways to employment and training for parents.
The funding is being provided for four programs, including:
- Bilingual playgroups, building on the existing program through training of newfacilitators and extending into additional suburbs within the municipality
- Establishing new early years hubs, based in primary schools across the municipality
- English language/playgroup programs for mums and children in six new locations and will include speech and occupational therapy to provide intensive pre-literacy and speech/language early intervention activities for teachers and parents to support child development.
- Bilingual story time sessions at libraries and through outreach at places such as preschools and playgroups. Funding will increase the number of outreach story time sessions and train new bilingual storytellers, many of them parents of the children in the sessions.
1.Identifying information
1.1 Lead agency
Hume City Council
1.2 Key drivers
The Scanlon Foundation has been instrumental in driving the program from the beginning and has continued to play a major role chairing the Program Governance Steering Committee, as well as building and leveraging relationships with all levels of government.
The City of Hume has also been a strong driver as the body responsible for all aspects of the management of the collaboration, including the appointment of a dedicated project co-ordinator and chairing the Local Hume Governance Committee.
Collaboration with Philanthropy
Case study - strengthening social cohesion in the City of Hume through supporting parents - developing children project1
1.3 Partners in the Project
Philanthropic Trusts
Scanlon Foundation
Commonwealth Government
- Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations(DEEWR)
- Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FAHCSIA)
- Department of Human Services, Commonwealth Rehabilitation Services
- Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Victorian Government Departments
- Department of Education and Early Childhood development (DEECD)
- Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Victoria Multicultural Commission
Local Government
Hume City Council
1.4 Date commenced
The collaboration formally began in January 2009. The first meeting of all partners was in March of that year.
1.5 Purpose of the project
The collaboration began with a broad focus on improving social cohesion in Hume, through developing local area programs to engage and build the capacity of families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and in particular mothers with children 0-5 years.The specific objectives of the overall Program are to:
- increase participation of CALD families in innovative early years development and engagement programs focused on literacy, language and learning
- foster social cohesion through the engagement of CALD families in early years’ service programs
- build a partnership approach to strengthening social cohesion in southern Hume
- create training and learning pathways for parents/carers involved in programs
These objectives are being implemented through four funded early years projects across the City of Hume.
Collaboration with Philanthropy
Case study - strengthening social cohesion in the City of Hume through supporting parents - developing children project1
2. Background and impetus for the establishment of the project
2.1 History and background
The collaboration was initiated by the Scanlon Foundation which had commissioned an earlier National Benchmark Survey of five local government areas on social cohesion. The aim of that study had been to identify areas where the Foundation’s input might assist in building social cohesion.
As a result of this work, Hume City, particularly the southern part, was identified as a municipality that could benefit from a major initiative and in 2008 the Scanlon Foundation approached the Council to look at approaches to building social cohesion in the municipality.
Once the nature of the collaboration had been agreed on, The Scanlon Foundation contributed funds of $1 million over three years to Hume City. It then approached the Federal and State Governments and a series of meetings were held with all three levels of government to obtain ideas and a further commitment of funds. From the outset it was recognised that the funding commitment from the Scanlon Foundation would act as an effective lever to attract additional government funding.
2.2 Nature of participation of other partners
All the partners have contributed funds and/or in kind support. They have also committed to participating in a Program Governance Steering Committee over the three years of the Program.
From the beginning all partners clearly understood that this was a formal collaboration, based on shared values and a commitment to remain involved over the life of the Program. This commitment goes beyond funding to ongoing participation in the collaboration process and involves staff at senior, manager and operational levels.
This sense of ownership of the Program by partner organisations has proved particularly important, as many of the issues that have arisen have only emerged once the Program was underway. There needed to be, and has been, a collective commitment to address these.
Establishing clear communication protocols early in the collaboration to guide the involvement of potential partners and the engagement of local agencies and service providers was essential to the development of trusting relationships between the partners.Maintaining regular communication with program partners has been a key role of the program co-ordinator.
The State Government has played a key role and has been champions for the collaboration.
The Federal Government has been involved, particularly in the initial stagesand has had an interest in the region through other employment creation projects. They are very interested in the outcomes of the four funded projects, as the collaboration fits in with their policy and program directions, including a greater focus on place based funding and alternative service delivery models.
From the outset it was recognised that no one agency could do this work by themselves as it is too complicated and the issues being addressed are too complex.
2.3 Process for the development and work of the project
The Scanlon Foundation funded an extensive scoping exercise, in addition to the $1million they committed over three years. The scoping process was very inclusive, with participants feeling that they were listened to and able to make a genuine contribution to the outcomes. While it took considerable time and resources, everyone felt they were very much part of what eventuated.
Part of this process involved an Ideas Symposium to discuss which projects could most effectively strengthen social cohesion in the Hume City.The Ideas Symposium attracted approximately 200 people from over 40 agencies and service providers. Attendees agreed that while the community was already on the right track, there was a need to broaden out its reach to incorporate people who had slipped through the net of existing services and to engage new families. The four specific Program objectives and the four projects which were funded by the partners evolved from this process.
A critical factor in establishing the formal collaboration was that a number of organisations had been working together over a period of years and that a partnership already existed between many of the schools and the community. This had connected early childhood development and schooling. It meant that there was already a process for people to work out how to get on with each other and be productive; so in some ways the collaboration already existed. There was a level of trust in the community prior to the formal collaboration commencing. It has always been seen as a whole of community approach to tackle a significant issue.
The importance of getting in at the right level of each partner organisation and harnessing the relevant expertise was seen as critical to the collaboration.
Collaboration with Philanthropy
Case study - strengthening social cohesion in the City of Hume through supporting parents - developing children project1
2.4 Major milestones and relevant timelines
Table 1Major milestones and relevant timelines
Date / Milestone2008 / Initial meetings were held between Hume City Council and the Scanlon Foundation.
March 2009 / The initial meetings were followed by a meeting with executive managers from all levels of government and community organisations to explore opportunities for improving social cohesion in Hume City
May 2009 / Consultants, who were already known and trusted in the region, were contractedtoundertake an initial project scoping exercise and to develop a Strategy and Action Plan
September 2009 /
- The Strengthening Social Cohesion in Hume City Ideas Symposium was held. It involved consultation with early years networks and agencies, Council staff, multicultural workers and other community services in Hume City. The aim of the Symposium was to shape the social inclusion programs.
- A reference group was established to oversee the project and a proposal was developed for five projects to be funded.This was later reducedtofourprojects.
November 2009 / A proposed funding plan for additional resourcing of “The Proposal” was developed and presented to participating State and Federal Government departments for further funding support.
2010-2011 / As a result, in the second half of 2010and the first half of 2011 both State and Federal Government funding was received.
September 2010 / The first official meetingof theProgram Governance Steering Committee took place.
February 2011 /
- A full time Project Coordinator commenced, based at the City of Hume. This position is responsible for managing all aspects of the work of the collaboration and relevant processes, including funding and accountability, co-ordination of the 4 projects and human resource management and co-ordination of three staff.
- The collaboration was officially launched.
2.5 Governance arrangements
Two governance bodies have been formed to oversee the collaboration.
Chaired by the Scanlon Foundation, the Program Governance Steering Committee consists of senior representatives from all the funding bodies. Its responsibilities are to oversee the Program, monitor and review outcomes and report back to funding bodies. It meets bi-annually, and is responsible for the stewardship of the funding, but has little day to day involvement with the operations of the collaboration. A recent tour of the project sites by this group has ensured that they see at first hand the outcomes of the program and feel engaged in the collaboration.
The Local Hume Governance Committee oversees the day to day operational aspects of the collaboration. It is made up of eight local service delivery agencies with considerable early childhood experience. The Committee was formed once the collaboration was formally established and meets every 2-3 months. It is responsible for implementation and operational issues, funding accountability and provides advice to the City of Hume. This Committee also focuses and sharpens the understanding of the roles each community organisation plays in the City and helps each party to the collaboration better understand these interconnections. The funding partners are not represented on this Committee.
The collaboration partners agree that this model of governance is a good one and involves the right number of people with the appropriate expertise.
Collaboration with Philanthropy
Case study - strengthening social cohesion in the City of Hume through supporting parents - developing children project1
2.6 Status of the collaboration
The Program has been operational for 12 months and funding continues at this stage until the end of 2013.
2.7 Success factors
One of the major success factors identified was gaining support, from the outset, of senior government officials and/or ministers, as well as senior local government personnel who believed in the goals of the collaboration and were willing to make a commitment to ensure it happened. Also ensuring that the relevant Federal and State Government program managers were engaged in helping to shape the project proposals and had the opportunity to play a prominent role in developing and shaping the collaboration was critical to gaining their active involvement.
As important, was the fact that there was a shared vision for the collaboration.
"It was critical and fundamental that all the partners shared a common understanding that the relationship between mothers and their children is critical to early childhood development. It was mind blowing that the collaboration partners got this simple fact from the beginning and hence embraced the vision". Ton\y Fry, Scanlon Foundation
The fact that from the outset the partners developed a funding plan and that there has been a dedicated Program Co-ordinator to manage the process and co-ordinate the implementation of the four projects, have both been seen as critical to the success of the collaboration.
Clear protocols for communication, taking the time to undertake the scoping exercise and the building of trust and respect through community consultation and involvement are also considered clear success factors.
An added bonus has been the fact that the collaboration also complements the work of the Hume Global Learning Centre and the Life Long Learning Initiative. This has meant that learning has come to be seen across the community as a driver for change. It was stated that the importance of this connection cannot be under estimated.
2.8 Major challenges
Changing government department representatives throughout the initial project planning phase was a major challenge. With the change of personnel, new participants were not made fully aware of the project’s history and context, resulting in confusion and misunderstanding about project expectations.
Issues associated with turnover became most evident as the project flowed down through the participant organisation’s senior management to an operational level. One participant stated that “communication was sketchy. I was not clear what my department’s expectations were”. In some instances, due to lack of clarity at the time of handover, confusion and misunderstanding led to some assumptions being made by collaboration partners about the types of resources and the amount of time they would provide to support the program initiatives.
It took about 2 ½ years for the Scanlon Foundation to establish the collaboration.The time it took pulling the collaboration together was an additional challenge. There was an incredible amount of work and frustration securing agreement from Prime Minister and Cabinet and other government departments, as funding was being sought outside the normal budgetary processes. It was however agreed that in the end the time it took became a strength as it enabled an inclusive process and was certainly worth the effort.
A further major challenge has been the number of accountability requirements generated by the collaboration. Contract management and governance has required considerable resourcing. The manager of the collaboration has needed to constantly communicate with funders and write reports to various government departments.
One of the learnings to date has been the importance of involving the operational people in the relevant organisations in the collaboration. It was felt that this could have been handled better, as at times some program managers had felt a bit disconnected.
2.9 Evaluation
A commitment of funds towards the evaluation of the Program has been made by government departments and the Scanlon Foundation. Evaluation guidelines have been developed and approved by the Steering Committee. The evaluation will include an action research approach.
In addition, the Scanlon Foundation has funded a separate evaluation of the collaboration’s governance arrangements. It is being undertaken in two separate parts over the life of the program and involves an appraisal of the approach taken to develop the collaboration and an assessment of its implementation governance arrangements. Insights drawn from this evaluation project will be applied by the Scanlon Foundation to their practice in building community partnership projects with the government sector, business and other philanthropic organisations. It is anticipated that the learnings derived from the project may be of value to other organisations engaged in community building projects where a multi-agency approach is required.