PolicyForResults.org - Accountability through Community Decisionmaking

Accountability through Community Decision-making and State/Local Structures

A shared state/local responsibility for children and families is served by the development of community-decision making collaborations where local residents partner with agency representatives to address identified community needs. [1] Washington state recently demonstrated that counties with state-supported collaboratives experienced decreases, or stability, in child and family problems such as child maltreatment or youth substance abuse. [2] Vermont focused on community-based planning designed to improve outcomes for children and families and subsequently experienced improvements in the rates of adolescent parenting, juvenile delinquency, and child abuse.[3]

Community collaboratives are effective at:

· Developing new and innovative services and strategies,

· Improving access to services,

· Providing information and connecting residents to services, and

· Facilitating public agency system connections to natural helping systems.[4]

[1] Bruner, C. 2006. Social Service Systems Reform in Poor Neighborhoods: What We Know and What We Need to Find Out, In Community Change: Theories, Practice, and Evidence . edited by Karen Fulbright-Anderson and Patricia Auspos. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute

[2] Longi, D and L. Porter (2009) Community Networks – Building Community Capacity, Reducing Rates of Child and Family Problems Trends among Washington State Counties from 1998 to 2006, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND TECHNICAL PAPER

[3] Vermont Communities Count: Using Results to Strengthen Services for Families and Children. 2000. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation

[4] Working Together to Improve Results: Reviewing the Effectiveness of Community Decision-Making Entities. August 2006 Revised. Washington, DC: Center for the Study of Social Policy

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Customer Satisfaction used by market industries to gauge and improve customer service can be used by government and non-profit service delivery systems. [1] Organized, engaged and educated residents become effective advocates for more valuable, equitable, and family-supporting social services and policies. [2]

[1] Customer Satisfaction- Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods. 2007. Washington, DC: Center for the Study of Social Policy

[2] Bannister, W. 2007. Evaluation of the Piccard Integrated Service Delivery Pilot. Washington DC: Center for the Study of Social Policy.