Building Blocks
October 16th, 2009
Present: Josefina Alvarado Mena (Safe Passages), Kay Adams (ACPHD), Ayannakai Nalo (CHO), Susan Greenwald (CHRCO/EIS), Lynn Chung (ACPHD), Pam Brett (ACPHD), Dynell Garron Lewis (Brighter Beginnings), Kathleen Paulo (ACPHD), Allison Pulice (ACPHD), Kathryn Horsley (Cal Family Health Council), Nancy Frank (Community Financial Resources), Dana Harvey (Mandela Marketplace), Ellen Strunin (ACPHD), Debra Richardson (ACPHD), Mylene Cahambing (ACPHD), Toby Furash (ACPHD/Centering Healthcare Institute), Relda Robertson-Beckley (ACPHD), Yvette Leung (Health Care Services Agency), Rona Renner (Interactive Parenting Media), Dani Taylor (ACPHD), Marge Deichman (ACPHD), Anita Siegel (ACPHD), Elizabeth Hales (East Bay Regional Park District), Deborrah Bremond (First 5 Alameda County), Bina Patel Shrimali (ACPHD), Olis Simmons (Youth Uprising), Sean Heron (Oakland Housing Authority)
Recorder: Allison Pulice
Item / Discussion / Outcome/ActionWelcome / Anita Siegel, Interim Director of Alameda County Public Health Department, welcomed the group and announced that the health department is currently working on a planning grant.
Introduction / Marge Deichman gave a brief introduction to our work together, expressing urgency about the 7,000 babies born into poverty every year in AlamedaCounty. She emphasized that together we can change the circumstances and improve the odds for these children to reach their full potential.
All group members were asked to respond to the following question: If you could do one thing right now to improve the lives of these young children & their families, what would that one thing be? (Responses in Exhibit A)
Framework: Life Course Model / Bina Patel provided a context for the group by explaining the Life Course Perspective & the “Puzzle Piece” model. Handouts were distributed.
Focused Conversations / The facilitator led the group through a series of questions that shaped a focused conversation around what our partnership can do to ensure that all children start life with more equitable opportunities.
(See Exhibit B for full answers & Exhibit C for themed answers)
Activity: All group members were asked to place colored dots on the Life Course Perspective graph that correspond to services they provide and the targeted age groups.
Next Steps & Closing / This group will continue to convene. / Next meeting: December 4th
Exhibit A
Q: If you could do one thing right now to improve the lives of these young children & their families, what would that one thing be?
Community
Ensure that each child has one caring adult in their lives
Ensure each child felt loved
One caring, loving adult
Strong communities that children & families can be a part of
Helping parents be whole & complete
Increase support services to support growth & development of children
Build on support systems
For young people to know they have options
Education
Start a baby college
Keeping kids in school
Good public education
Be read to every day
Support parents as their children’s first teacher
Increase high school graduation rates by 20%
Each child has education that teaches them to think
Physical Environment
Safe places for children to be
Safe, affordable, sustainable housing
Safe neighborhoods (a place to play)
Neighborhood safety
Economics
Families have economic opportunity to sustain their needs
Equal distribution of wealth
Help families feel less isolated, use microfinance
Money & a system of accountability
Policy
Paid maternity leave
Livable wage for parents
Easy access to medical & mental health care
Services
Ensure linkages between services so things don’t fall apart or fall through the cracks
Spread group perinatal care
Other
A successful project in AlamedaCounty
Exhibit B
Responses to focused conversation
(flip charts)
Q: What do you need clarity about (with regard to this collaborative)?
Responses:
Funding sources create silos and are short in their vision (short funding cycles). How do we sustain ourselves for the long haul? How do we educate our funders?
What expertise is needed?
What are the strategic points to intervene?
(Michael Lu responded to this saying that it may be beneficial to look at known periods of accelerated growth and development – e.g. Pre-conception, Pregnancy, 0-5, Early adolescence/puberty)
……………………………………………………..
Q: What can we do in this broader partnership that is at the heart of this effort to ensure that all children start life with more equitable opportunities? How might this framework contribute to our efforts?
Responses:
In program development bring parents to the table & ensure that approaches are covering the life course
Identify who is here and our capacity/expertise
Identify centers that encompass all of these services (comprehensive)
Need a combination of centralized & decentralized services
Must think about integration from the beginning
Define our services and how they are linked to other services
Where can we have critical impacts?
Need to solidify linkages
Address immediate needs while maintaining focus on the social movement aspect of this work
Division of labor: 1) Here & Now, 2) Long term vision
Allow families to speak to elements that would transform their lives
We need capacity to do our day jobs, but also work on the future (human capital deployed/dedicated to work on the future)
We can do things differently in our day jobs & transform our organizational culture to work on the future
Need to do things at all critical steps & connect to other interventions (best practices)
Should we look for funds for data system?
……………………………………………..
Reflections on “Dot Grid”
CBOs rely on Public Health to take care of “health”
Opportunities to distribute our resources more broadly
Need for collaboration & connectivity that we need to serve clients
CBOs need Public Health Department to leverage resources
Opportunities for mutuality or combined work
Need to broaden our perspective
Should be talking about policy & shaping society
Moving beyond “patients” Helping people move beyond being consumers of health care
Barriers to linkages – agencies serve same people but not linked
Excited by broad vision and brining in community
Expand how we think about service delivery
Need to build community capacity
Need to rise above the day-to-day work to envision & strategize
Many different groups are looking at equity from different lenses
Are the “abundant” services really accessible to everyone (e.g. undocumented)
There is a disconnect between needs and services
Policies that help families thrive
Need to engage public
Missing community voice
There are partners not yet at the table
Allow ourselves to be open to criticism/feedback from the community or partners
Need to build trust
Need to tie into other efforts
Process of collaboration is important
Need to “connect the dots”
Decision-makers need to be at the table
A lot of collective experience in the room; need to use it
………………………………………..
Q: What are the critical areas of need?
Responses
Reducing barriers to our work together
Lack of awareness of how to work in all sectors
Raise awareness of interconnectedness of domains
Need to connect “dots”
Articulate vision and short-term projects
Get to work on short term projects to deep people engaged
Know impact of programs
Develop common indicators
Identify critical points of intervention/outcomes and focus work there (e.g. reading by 3rd grade)
Places where people live
Pull together resources that are more concentrated and purposeful to get a positive effect
Think long-term
Build interconnected relationships
………………………………………….
Q: Intention of this group
Responses
Clarify a unifying vision, mission & goals
Identify short term projects that are connected to the larger vision
Work on both levels (short-term & long-term) and connect the two
Share data (i.e. universal chart)
Connect to other members (website, e-mail, blog)
Create relationships by doing & achieving success
Develop a logic model
Exhibit C
Themes from focused conversation
(flip charts)
Funding
Funding sources create silos and are short in their vision (short funding cycles). How do we sustain ourselves for the long haul? How do we educate our funders?
Should we look for funds for data system?
CBOs need Public Health Department to leverage resources
Service Linkages
Identify centers that encompass all of these services (comprehensive)
Must think about integration from the beginning
Need a combination of centralized & decentralized services
Define our services and how they are linked to other services
Need to solidify linkages
Need for collaboration & connectivity that we need to serve clients
Barriers to linkages – agencies serve same people but not linked
Expand how we think about service delivery
Are the “abundant” services really accessible to everyone (e.g. undocumented)
There is a disconnect between needs and services
Tension between “Services” and Broader Vision for Social Change
Address immediate needs while maintaining focus on the social movement aspect of this work
Division of labor: 1) Here & Now, 2) Long term vision
We need capacity to do our day jobs, but also work on the future (human capital deployed/dedicated to work on the future)
We can do things differently in our day jobs & transform our organizational culture to work on the future
Need to broaden our perspective
Should be talking about policy & shaping society
Moving beyond “patients” Helping people move beyond being consumers of health care
Need to rise above the day-to-day work to envision & strategize
Policies that help families thrive
Think long-term
Working Together
Identify who is here and our capacity/expertise
Reducing barriers to our work together
Lack of awareness of how to work in all sectors
Raise awareness of interconnectedness of domains
Need to connect “dots”
Know impact of programs
Develop common indicators
Pull together resources that are more concentrated and purposeful to get a positive effect
Build interconnected relationships
CBOs rely on Public Health to take care of “health”
Opportunities to distribute our resources more broadly
CBOs need Public Health Department to leverage resources
Opportunities for mutuality or combined work
There are partners not yet at the table
Need to build trust
Process of collaboration is important
Need to “connect the dots”
Decision-makers need to be at the table
A lot of collective experience in the room; need to use it
Share data (i.e. universal chart)
Connect to other members (website, e-mail, blog)
Work on both levels (short-term & long-term) and connect the two
Intervention Points
What are the strategic points to intervene?
(Michael Lu responded to this saying that it may be beneficial to look at known periods of accelerated growth and development – e.g. Pre-conception, Pregnancy, 0-5, Early adolescence/puberty)
Where can we have critical impacts?
Need to do things at all critical steps & connect to other interventions (best practices)
Identify critical points of intervention/outcomes and focus work there (e.g. reading by 3rd grade)
Places where people live
Community Engagement
In program development bring parents to the table & ensure that approaches are covering the life course
Allow families to speak to elements that would transform their lives
Excited by broad vision and brining in community
Need to build community capacity
Need to engage public
Missing community voice
Allow ourselves to be open to criticism/feedback from the community or partners
Other Health Equity Activities
Many different groups are looking at equity from different lenses
Need to tie into other efforts