2006-2014 Impact Summary

The School of Social Work Technical Assistance Center (TAC) has been diligently catalyzing community change processes since 2006. The Center has been funded by the Skillman Foundation to deliver tactical technical assistance to six target neighborhoods in Detroit. These neighborhoods were selected because they were home to significant numbers of children and because they possessed assets that offered a solid foundation for neighborhood changemaking.

The TAC’s interventions were deployed to empower and inform residents, strengthen community based organizations, and improve conditions and opportunities for children. Over the years, extensive support was delivered to organizations and residents in the neighborhoods. The impact of these interventions resulted in dynamically trained residents, better equipped governance boards, and more sustainable organizations. In addition to neighborhood based work, the TAC also partnered with the Skillman Foundation as they implemented their comprehensive community change initiative. The TAC is a thought partner to the Foundation, supporting in areas of best practice research, strategy recommendations and evaluation.

The TAC used quantitative and qualitative evaluation strategies to determine merit, worth, value or significance[1] of identified program or activities. The evaluation of TAC sponsored or facilitated programs, community meetings and governance board self- assessment forms the core of the TAC’s continuous quality improvement strategy. The evaluation processes generated answers to the following three key questions:

Did the program/activity achieve its goals?
How can the program/activity be improved?
Should the program/activity continue?

The TAC operates in a mode of critical inquiry, striving to achieve impact at the neighborhood level. The values of the social work profession - equity, economic empowerment and social justice - guide the methodologies and activities of the center, towards the improvement of conditions and increased opportunity for individuals, families and communities.

Below is a listing of metrics and outputs that represent the historic work of the TAC. Also reflected are testimonials from community speaking to the impact of its efforts.

Metrics:

Technical Assistance Services

Thousands of hours of individual and group technical assistance (TA) were provided since the Center was launched in 2006. Assistance was provided at the foundation and neighborhood level. In neighborhoods, organizational leaders, governance boards, community organizers, and neighborhood residents benefit from tactical support that empowered changemaking efforts.

Resources were deployed to support action in the following domains:

Workshops/forums: 101 total workshops/forums and 2767 total attendees

Grant Writing Workshop, 10/18/2007, 21 Attendees
Grant Writing Workshop, 12/18/2007, 54 Attendees

Economic Development Forum, 1/11/2008, 100 Attendees
Food Deserts Forum, 3/10/2008, 110 Attendees
Community Partnerships with Local Law Enforcement Workshop, 4/17/2008, 35 Attendees
How to Run an Effective Meeting Workshop, 6/28/2008, 29 Attendees
Grassroots Fundraising Workshop, 7/15/2008, 33 Attendees
Advanced Grant Writing Workshop, 8/6/2008, 40 Attendees
Fundraising Workshop, 10/15/2008, 25 Attendees
Block Clubs Workshop, 11/10/2008, 22 Attendees
Technology & Communications Workshop, 11/12/2008, 11 Attendees

Grant Writing Workshop Series 1, 1/3/2009, 39 Attendees
Grant Writing Workshop Series 2, 1/10/2009, 29 Attendees
Grant Writing Workshop Series 3, 1/24/2009, 33 Attendees
Grant Writing Workshop Series 4, 2/7/2009, 33 Attendees
Cross Neighborhoods Governance Dialogue Workshop, 2/14/2009, 31 Attendees
Photo Voice (community voice through photography), 6/1/2008, 37 Attendees
Financial Stability/Grant Writing Workshop, 3/25/2009, 61 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 1 Reunion, 4/6/2009, 13 Attendees
Facilitation Skills Workshop, 4/22/2009, 37 Attendees
Social Networks Workshop, 5/6/2009, 29 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 2 Reunion, 5/11/2009, 4 Attendees
Event Planning Workshop, 6/3/2009, 12 Attendees
Summer Youth Employment Program 2009, 7/1/2009, 60 Attendees
Community Collaboration Workshop, 8/26/2009, 22 Attendees
Creating Financial Sustainability Workshop, 9/16/2009, 46 Attendees
How to Work with Youth Workshop, 10/14/2009, 28 Attendees
Social Networking Workshop, 11/4/2009, 29 Attendees
Community Education Workshop, 12/18/2009, 13 Attendees
Governance Board Orientation-Northend/Osborn, 12/12/2009, 46 Attendees

Governance Board Orientation-Cody Rouge/Brightmoor, 1/23/2010, 20 Attendees
Governance Board Orientation-SW/Chadsey Condon, 1/30/2010, 41 Attendees
Creating Community Collaborations Workshop, 2/10/2010, 22 Attendees
Good Neighborhood Leadership Academy Reunion-Cohorts 1, 2, and 3, 2/22/2010, 18 Attendees
Grant Writing Workshop, 3/3/2010, 75 Attendees
Detroit Parcel Survey Workshop, 4/13/2010, 39 Attendees
How to Engage Youth in Your Community Work Workshop, 4/28/2010, 29 Attendees
Summer Youth Employment Program 2010-KidSpeak, 7/12/2010, 22 Attendees
How to Reach Your Potential as a Youth Board Member Workshop, 7/14/2010, 21 Attendees
Financial Literacy for Adults, 7/24/2010, 16 Attendees
How to Engage Youth Board Members Authentically, 8/11/2010, 20 Attendees
Is College Right for Me? Workshop, 8/25/2010, 23 Attendees
Young Money! Wealth Keys for a New Generation, 10/28/2010, 25 Attendees
Young Money! Wealth Keys for a New Generation 2, 11/20/2010, 18 Attendees

Grant Writing Workshop, 1/8/2011, 9 Attendees
Forming and Sustaining Diverse Community Partnerships Workshop, 2/23/2011, 17 Attendees
Sustaining Community Organizations: Funding Sources and Strategies Workshop, 3/23/2011,

35 Attendees

Increasing Community Impact Through Evaluation, 4/20/2011, 26 Attendees
Northend New Member Orientation, 4/12/2011, 5 Attendees
Project Management Workshop for Good Neighborhoods Board Members, 6/2/2011,

18 Attendees

Grant Writing Series, May 7, 16, 25, 2011, 14 Attendees
Increasing Community Impact through Evaluation Follow-Up Workgroup, 5/18/2011,

3 Attendees

Building Stronger Neighborhoods through Timebanking, 6/7/2011, 10 Attendees
SW Congress of Communities Governance Retreat, 6/25/2011, 14 Attendees
Business Entrepreneurship-How to Start a Business Workshop, 6/25/2011, 32 Attendees
Teaching Young People to Address Local Issues Workshop 1, 7/16/2011, 45 Attendees
Teaching Young People to Address Local Issues Workshop 2, 7/23/2011, 32 Attendees
Teaching Young People to Address Local Issues Workshop 3, 7/30/2011, 36 Attendees
How to Run an Effective Meeting Workshop, 7/28/2011, 9 Attendees
Community Safety Workshop, 8/4/2011, 14 Attendees
Community Safety Issues for Board Members Workshop, 8/11/2011, 7 Attendees
Good Neighborhoods Economics Panel, 9/8/2011, 18 Attendees
How to Fundraise in Your Community, 9/12/2011, 39 Attendees
Diversity Dialogues 1 Workshop, 9/26/2011, 22 Attendees
Osborn Grant Writing Series 1 Workshop, 9/28/2011, 24 Attendees
Osborn Grant Writing Series 2 Workshop, 10/19/2011, 31 Attendees
Cross Neighborhoods Blight Workshop, 11/3/2011, 28 Attendees
Diversity Dialogues 2 Workshop, 11/7/2011, 8 Attendees
Foreclosure Workshop I, 11/28/2011, 4 Attendees
Governance Retreat, 12/3/2011, 35 Attendees
Data Driven Planning Workshop, 12/8/2011, 16 Attendees

Blight Reduction Advisory Group, 1/10/2012, 13 Attendees
Cross Neighborhood Blight Meeting, 1/18/2012, 17 Attendees
Home Boy Industries Event (gang member intervention), 1/19/2012, 21 Attendees
Diversity Dialogues Session 3, 2/21/2012, 14 Attendees
Program Planning and Evaluation Workshop, 3/7/2012, 29 Attendees
Strategies to Avoid Losing Your Home to Taxes, 3/21/2012, 20 Attendees
Avoiding Tax Foreclosure, 3/28/2012, 9 Attendees
Avoiding Home Foreclosure, 3/28/2012, 18 Attendees
Don’t Lose Hope-Save Your Home Foreclosure Workshop, 12/5/2012, 12 Attendees
Blight on the Block Workshop, 4/12/2012, 37 Attendees
Community Builders Learning Institute Session 1-2012, 4/13/2012, 14 Attendees
Evaluation Workshop 2, 5/2/2012, 32 Attendees
Should I-Could I Workshop (entrepreneurship content), 5/16/2012, 16 Attendees
GN Youth Advisory Council Training Session 1, 5/12/2012, 27 Attendees
Avoiding Home Foreclosure, 5/23/2012, 18 Attendees
Grant Writing Workshop, 6/20/2012, 47 Attendees
GN Youth Advisory Council Training Session 2, 6/16/2012, 22 Attendees
GN Youth Advisory Council Training Session 3, 7/14/2012, 15 Attendees
Should I Could I Workshop (entrepreneurship content), 9/26/2012, 29 Attendees
How to Start a Nonprofit, 10/10/2012, 41 Attendees
Avoid Home Foreclosure, 10/24/2012, 16 Attendees
Evaluate my Program Workshop, 11/14/2012, 23 Attendees
Youth Council Meeting, 12/1/2012, 16 Attendees

How to Facilitate a Meeting Workshop, 1/31/2013, 33 Attendees
Youth Entrepreneurship Workshop, 2/6/2013, 68 Attendees
Being College Bound Workshop, 3/27/2013, 43 Attendees
Safety Panel Workshop, 4/10/2013, 40 Attendees
Neighborhood Health Workshop, 5/1/2013, 12 Attendees
Alumni Leadership Academy Training 1, 10/12/2013, 22 Attendees
Alumni Leadership Academy Training 2, 10/19/2013, 21 Attendees

Workshops/Forums-Data

Workshop/Forums Evaluation Data

Two common questions asked in the evaluation form given to workshop attendees that were consistently answered affirmatively included:

1) Did you learn information that would be “not useful”, “useful”, or “very useful” (a response of “useful or very useful was considered an indicator of satisfaction) and

2) Was the facilitator “not informative”, “informative”, or “very informative”? (A response of informative or very informative was considered an indicator of satisfaction)

(Data Sources: Workshop/Forum data=TAC Capacity Building Database/CTools, Evaluation Data=CTools)

Leadership Academy: 9 total cohorts and 299 total attendees

Leadership Academy Cohort 1, 8/9/2008, 24 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 2, 2/21/2009, 30 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 3, 8/15/2009, 41 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 4, 2/6/2010, 36 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 5, 2/5/2011, 34 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 6, 9/10/2011, 24 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 7, 4/14/2012, 51 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 8, 11/17/2012, 35 Attendees
Leadership Academy Cohort 9, 3/9/2013, 24 Attendees

Please note: During the outer lying years as well as 2010 there was only one cohort; all other years had two cohorts

Leadership Academy Evaluation Data

A common question asked to Leadership Academy Participants was if the learning goals they set at the beginning of the Leadership Academy had been met. This question was answered affirmatively the majority of the time.

(Data Sources: Attendance information=TAC Capacity Building Database/CTools); Pre-post test information (binder and flash drive))

Learning Community Administration

Transportation Learning Community: 2009-2011, 92 official members

Focused on identifying barriers to transportation equity access across the Good Neighborhoods with a specific target on options available to young people needing routes to afterschool and/or summer employment opportunities. The participants included residents and stakeholders across the six communities. This group, in partnership with the Technical Assistance Center, produced a business plan for a youth transit model for the Good Neighborhoods. This document was used as a reference for the current Youth Development Alliance transit system being piloted in Southwest Detroit.

Ready to Work/Ready to Hire Learning Community: 2009-2012, 127 official members

This learning community was formed in 2010 in an attempt to learn from employment initiatives occurring across the Good Neighborhoods and throughout the City of Detroit and to troubleshoot how to increase the number of employable job seekers and the number of employers who would commit to hiring Detroiters. This group produced a resource manual for seekers of employment and job placement services which was circulated throughout the region. This work merged with efforts initiated by the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce and Focus: Hope in 2013.

Community-Campus Partnership

The TAC staff is committed to maintaining authenticity in relationships with community and is diligent in the pursuit of respectful and responsive interactions with community organizations and residents. The intents of these efforts are to respond to community identified needs and facilitate positive impact at the neighborhood level.

Participation in Community Meetings

Bridge building efforts include participation at regularly occurring convenings, which include:

Community Meetings, Governing Board Meetings, Foundation Meetings, Stakeholder Meetings, and Issue Forums in the six good neighborhoods

(Data Source: Foundation Reports)

Student Interns Deployed in Neighborhoods:Number of intern hours from 2007-2014 = 12,400

Market value: $161,200 ($13/hr)

Hours per neighborhood:

Brightmoor: 2700
Chadsey Condon: 600
Cody: 2700
Northend: 600
Osborn: 3100
Southwest: 2700

From 2007 to 2014, a total of 33 interns have been recruited and deployed to the Technical Assistance Center and the Good Neighborhoods. These macro practice students from both Wayne State University (4 students) and the University of Michigan Schools of Social Work (29 students) have had concentrations in evaluation and policy, management of human services, and community organizing. Their contributions to neighborhood organizations include: research on best practices; group facilitation; youth council organizing; grant writing; program development; evaluation design, implementation and analysis; volunteer recruitment; Photo Voice; and policy advocacy.

(Data Source: CTools)

U-M in the D Partners

The initiative to engage University partners who conduct work in the Good Neighborhoods and throughout Detroit was coined “UM in the D” in the fall of 2013. To date, there are staff and faculty across several schools of the University who are involved with the TAC’s commitment to improving communication and collaboration among UM partners and programs occurring in Detroit. Long term goals of this effort are to increase efficiency, effectiveness and impact of University engagement efforts in Detroit. As of June, 2014 there are 31 partners engaged in the effort.

Youth Employment VISTA Project:

The TAC has been administering the Building Wealth in Detroit VISTA program since 2012. This VISTA initiative deploys up to seven VISTA members to serve in community organizations located in the six targeted neighborhoods. This initiative intends to enhance the system of support for youth employment at the neighborhood level by building the capacity youth employment providers, introducing innovative programming, increasing the employability of neighborhood youth, increasing the willingness of employers to hire youth and facilitating the placement of youth into subsidized and unsubsidized jobs.

VISTA members serving in the neighborhoods: 14

Total number of hours of service: 29,120

(Data Source: VISTA progress reports)

TAC Scholarly Products:

Publications: 4

Briefs/Unpublished technical reports: 19

Literature Reviews: 3

Conference Abstracts: 13

Neighborhood Retrospectives: 5

Youth Employment Data: 11

Publications:

Effects of Photo Voice: Civic Engagement Among Older Youth in Urban Communities, 2009
Using the Miracle Question in Community Engagement and Planning, 2009
Embedded Foundations: Advancing Community Change and Empowerment, 2011
Take a Second Look at Detroit, 2013

Technical Assistance Briefs:

Dreams and Strategies from the Brightmoor and Osborn Residents: Themes and Implications for Technical Assistance, 2006
Communication: A Brief Highlighting Ideas and Examples, 2006
Governance Part I (2006) and II (2007)
Communication Part II, 2007
Capacity Building, 2007
Comprehensive Youth Centers and Youth Development Programming, 2007
Developing a Community Resource Directory, 2007
Leadership Development, 2007
Neighborhood Housing Improvement, 2007
Strategic Communication, 2007
Strategic Communication II, 2007
Sustainability, 2007
Framing a Developmentally-Based Community Service Network for Children and Families-Presentation, 2008
Summer Employment Programs for High School Youth, 2008
Community-Maintained Parks, 2010
Children’s Savings Accounts
Neighborhood Revitalization
Scan of Leadership Development Programs

Literature Reviews

Community Seeds: Building Community Through Gardening, 2006 (revised 2008)
Lessons Learned from Comprehensive Community Initiatives, 2007
Youth Photo Voice Project, 2008

Conference Abstracts

Taking HB&SE to the Streets: A Case Study in Community Planning, 2007 and 2008
Designing and Evaluating Approaches to Bring Economic Development to Low-Income Communities, 2008
Framing an Evidence-Based Youth Development Services Network: Poster, 2008
It Takes a Shared Vision: Community Planning Through Family Lenses, 2008
Linking Interpersonal Practice with Community Planning, 2008
Using Theory of Change and Logic Models in Comprehensive Community Initiatives, 2008
Capitalizing on Policy: Designing Youth Employment and Service Programs with an Emphasis on Positive Development, 2009
Effects of Photo Voice: Civic Engagement Among Older Youth in Urban Communities (Conf Abstract), 2009
Global to Local: Community Responses to the New Environment (Panel Discussion), 2009
Social Workers as Technical Assistance Providers in an Urban Community Change, 2009
Deploying Triangulation Mixed Methods Study Designs in Community Practice, 2010
Models of Community Governance in the Good Neighborhoods: Authentic Community Participation, Community Well Being and Social Justice, 2010
The Detroit Good Neighborhoods Community Based Initiative, 2010

Neighborhood Retrospectives

Brightmoor Retrospective of the Community Planning Process
Southwest Retrospective of the Community Planning Process
Cody/Rouge Retrospective of the Community Planning Process
Northend Retrospective of the Community Planning Process
Osborn Retrospective of the Community Planning Process

Youth Employment Data

Results of Employer and Youth Employee Exit Surveys from 2009
Results of Employer and Youth Employee Exit Surveys from 2010
Brightmoor Exit Survey from 2012
Chadsey-Condon Exit Survey Report from 2012
Southwest Exit Survey from 2012
Cody Rouge Exit Survey Report from 2012
Northend Exit Survey from 2012
Osborn Exit Survey from 2012
Northend Central Woodward Case Study
Good Neighborhoods Youth Employment Program Evaluation Report
Detroit Summer Youth Employment Program: Raw Data from Youth Employment Exit Surveys

Data Source: Publication Database/CTools

Community Impact:

The technical assistance and support that has been delivered to neighborhoods was done with the intent of helping neighborhood residents effect the change they want to see at theindividual, community and systemic levels. The TAC team members worked closely with neighborhood organization executives, governance boards, stakeholders and residents to organize the community towards change, while at the same time organizing for broader social reform. Activities centered not only on building capacity of individuals, governance groups and communities, but also involved responding strategically to community problems.

The TAC engagement occurred over a sustained period of time, whichpromoted cohesion and allowed for the development of trust and mutual respect between the TAC team and neighborhood leaders. This type of imbedded, authentic relationship with communitiesproduced transformational results. Below are testimonials that speak to the impact the Technical Assistance Center has had on Detroit neighborhoods.

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[1]What is Evaluation? From American Evaluation Association Blog, extracted June 20 2014.