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Strategic PlanningMidwest Child Welfare Implementation Center

Tribal ConveningAugust 27-28, 2009

Steven PreisterNational Child Welfare Resource Center

for Organizational ImprovementA Service of the Children’s Bureau,

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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Elements of the Strategic Planning Process

• Strategic planning is a continual process for improving organizational performance by developing strategies to produce results.

• Planning is strategic when it focuses on what the agency wants to accomplish (outcomes) and on how to move the agency towards these larger goals.

• Strategic planning involves engaging all stakeholders.

• Strategic planning communicates to the public what the agency’s mission and goals.

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Benefits of Strategic Planning

• Improve outcomes• Increase accountability for child welfare agencies • Focus purpose • Strategic allocation • Provide direction and meaning to day-to-day work • Adapt to change • Capitalize on strengths • Integrate multiple plans • Coordinate efforts and avoid duplication

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Stages of Strategic Planning

1) Prepare 2) Plan3) Implement 4) Revise

Stage 1: Prepare

• Visioning

• Assessing

• Developing and implementing a planning process

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Stage 1: VisioningDefinitions – Mission and Vision• Mission: The purpose of the agency and

why it exists• Vision: An ideal and unique image of the

future• Core Values and Principles: Define what

they are, needed to guide the work of the Agency

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Value of Mission and Vision Statements in Strategic Planning

Provide the framework for the rest of the strategic planning process:

• Expresses where the agency is going• Helps guide choices of what the agency wants to

accomplish and what it will do to move in that direction

• Points toward indicators that can allow the agency to know when it has achieved its purpose

• Affords a common context for others who serve the same population

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CFSR Outcomes as Mission and Vision

• SAFETY OUTCOME 1: Children are, first and foremost, protected from abuse and neglect.

• SAFETY OUTCOME 2: Children are safely maintained in their homes whenever possible and appropriate.

• PERMANENCY OUTCOME 1: Children have permanency and stability in their living situations.

• PERMANENCY OUTCOME 2: The continuity of family relationships and connections is preserved for children.

• WELL-BEING OUTCOME 1: Families have enhanced capacity to provide for their children’s needs.

• WELL-BEING OUTCOME 2: Children receive appropriate services to meet their educational needs.

• WELL-BEING OUTCOME 3: Children receive adequate services to meet their physical and mental health needs.

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Why Core Values and Principles to Guide the Agency’s Work

• Form the foundation on which we perform work and conduct ourselves. 

• In an ever-changing world, core values are constant. 

• Underlie our work, how we interact with each other, and which strategies we employ to fulfill our mission. 

• About how we operate, rather than how we orate.

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One Core Principle:Cultural Responsiveness

• Recognize and value the multiple and diverse worldviews of internal and external stakeholders.

• The people who are involved in developing plans should reflect the people for whom the plans are developed.

• Relationship is a critical component.• The goal is to support empowerment by increasing

personal, interpersonal and political power in order to change a situation. Empowerment cannot occur in the absence of mutual respect and trust.

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How Core Values Operate

• Govern personal relationships• Guide business processes• Clarify who we are• Articulate what we stand for• Help explain why we do business the way we do• Guide us in making decisions• Underpin the whole agency

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Definition – Core Values and Principles

Core Values and Principles: The standards and ideals that guide the agency in what agency services and systems look like and in how services are delivered (how the agency interacts with other systems, i.e., families, agencies, communities).

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Example - Alaska• There is a respectful relationship between the agency staff

and the consumer (resource family or birth family). We view both the birth family and the resource family as experts on the needs of the child. We rely on this expertise and we solicit their perspectives in case planning.

• We assess situations fairly. We do not enter meetings with pre-judgments about anyone’s motives.

• We support and encourage the relationship between the resource family and the birth family to meet the needs of the child.

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Example - MississippiGuiding principles:• a unified service system organized around the needs of the

community;• mutually agreed upon roles and responsibilities;• use of natural and community supports;• the development and use of local services; and• a quality service system to protect vulnerable children and adults.

Basic values and beliefs:• permanency—children have the right to live in a permanent family

setting with the opportunity to form lifetime relationships;• safety—children have the right to live in an environment free from

harm and/or the sense of impending harm; and• well-being—children have the right to be reared by primary caretakers

who display sincere, dedicated responsiveness to the child’s educational, developmental, psychological and physical needs.

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Example - Utah

Seven principles• protection,

• development,• permanency,

• cultural responsiveness,• partnership,

• organizational competence, and• professional competence.

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Example – El Paso CountySystem of care must:• be family-driven,• protect the rights of families,• allow smooth transitions between programs,• build community capacity to serve families,• emphasize prevention and early intervention, and• be effectively integrated and coordinated across systems.

Services must be:• culturally respectful;• continually evaluated for outcomes;• delivered by competent staff;• accessible, accountable and comprehensive;• individualized to meet the needs of families; and• strengths-based and delivered in the least intrusive manner.

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Developing Core Values

• To be successful in ensuring the outcomes of safety, permanence and well being, as an agency we must believe in these fundamental values about families and children…

• To be successful in meeting the needs of our external stakeholders, as an agency we must believe in these fundamental values about community. . .

• To be successful in meeting the needs of our internal stakeholders, as an agency we must believe in these fundamental values about employees…

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Stage 1, Assessment

Assessment - the product developed by gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing information to identify resources, strengths, motivation, functional components and other factors at a point in time that can be used to enhance functioning and promote growth. (Zastrow)

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Assessment Steps

• Gather information on agency operations and performance

• Analyze and synthesize the information

• Draw conclusions

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Stage 1: Develop and Implementa Planning Process

• Be inclusive and engage major actors

• Establish planning structure

• Establish process for collecting input to develop plan

• Clearly define roles and responsibilities

• Determine training needs of work group

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Stage 2: Plan

• Develop Plan• Draft Plan: Goals, Action Steps, Tasks,

Intended Effects of Action Steps, Timeframe, Who Is Responsible

• Finalize Plan: Sequence and Prioritize

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Stage 3: Implement

• Communicate the Plan

• Manage the Plan

• Supervise Implementation

• Monitor and Report Progress

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Stage 4: Revise

• Review Progress

• Reconvene and Revise

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Benefits of Integrating Plans

• Provide the “big picture” of strengths, needs and resources across departments and divisions

• Coordinate efforts & reduce duplication• Target specific areas of program

improvement • Focus serious, sustained efforts on

improving outcomes • Prioritize goals/outcomes

Source:www.nrcoi.org

Strategic Planningfor Child Welfare AgenciesElizabeth Frizsell, Mary O’Brien, Lynda ArnoldNational Child WelfareResource CenterFor Organizational Improvement

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Contact Information

Steven PreisterAssociate DirectorNRCOIspreister@usm.maine.edu202.723.0320

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