One City / One Community |
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The One City/One Community pilot is in the final weeks of its three-year timeframe. As a result of the service coordination and case conferencing work carried out by One City we have learned some valuable lessons. The evaluation report written by Brandeis University is being finalized and will be available for review on this website in the near future. |
Highlights of One City's Accomplishments: |
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- Since December 2004, with support and interagency case management from ten partnering city agencies and several non-profit organizations, One City served over 275 clients. Many of these families were involved with multiple city agencies.
- One City advanced six policy/practice changes that will impact several city agencies.
- One City designed a training curriculum for front-line workers on navigating city agencies, building resources and delivering holistic case management to clients. Over 120 front-line and managerial staff were trained in five half-day pilot sessions.
- The creation of a client informed consent tool (with leadership from the City's Law Department) that will support interagency client information sharing and holistic case management practices.
- Provided recommendations to improve the utility of technology for front line workers to access resources and information across city agencies.
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| Sustainability: |
| To advance the City's efforts of increasing collaboration among health and human services agencies it is our goal to build upon the collaborative efforts begun by One City by designating a One City/One Community Liaison within selected human services agencies who would have responsibility for facilitating interagency collaboration amongst front-line agency staff and management. These individuals would work to increase and sustain interagency collaboration among front-line agency staff and their managers by assisting in accessing resources within other city agencies; facilitating communication among agency staff from various city agencies; tracking improvements of service delivery as a result of interagency collaboration; and continuing to build interagency collaboration tools. Primary areas of focus would include: Case management assistance; Interagency coordination, communication and collaboration; Outcomes setting and tracking and; Developing and implementing system-wide opportunities that facilitate inter-agency collaboration. |
In addition, Agenda for Children Tomorrow has partnered with ACS's CRADLE project to build upon the collaborative efforts begun by the One City/ One Community Project. The partnership will focus on One City's training component, which will result in the execution of trainings on the following topics: navigating City systems, case conferencing, casework practice/use of holistic case management and service coordination. These trainings will be offered to city agency and community based organizations' staff.
These and other ideas are being discussed and will be formalized over the next few months. |
| Why Neighborhood Service Integration? |
- To improve service delivery and coordination of assistance for clients
- To create an institutional response to addressing unintentional bureaucratic barriers
- To maximize the effectiveness of the City's resources
- To promote client self-sufficiency and responsibility
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| Operating Principles |
- Individuals and families deserve to have their issues resolved in a timely manner with minimal logistical, policy and communication barriers
- City-funded community-based services should be provided in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible
- Lessons learned from the community should inform system-wide policy changes to improve how families receive services
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| The Model |
| Systems-Change. This project was designed with the premise that systems level change can be achieved through bottom-up work. This was achieved through an Oversight Board comprised of City agency Commissioners and their designees who resolved system wide service delivery obstacles identified by the One City staff. |
| Governance Structure & Participating Agencies |
| The oversight board, comprised of participating City commissioners and their designees articulated the direction of the project, including making final policy and program decisions. The commissioners designated agency staff to serve on a local management team, charged with managing the project in the community. The local management team served as a liaison between the project staff and the oversight board. Oversight member agencies included: |
- Administration for Children's Services
- Department for the Aging
- Department of Education
- Department of Juvenile Justice
- Department of Homeless Services
- Department of Housing Preservation and Development
- Department of Probation
- Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- Department of Small Business Services
- Department of Youth and Community Development
- Housing Authority
- Human Resources Administration
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| The project staff received its mandates from the Local Advisory Team, which met on a monthly basis to discuss any key issues and review data regarding project outcomes. ACT provided supervisory and coaching support to the project staff. |
| Staffing Structure |
| The project operated out of the Agenda for Children Tomorrow and was supported by private foundation dollars and additional public funds in the last year. Staff occupied office space in Bedford-Stuyvesant. |
| Staff |
- Dale Joseph - Project Director
- Winette Saunders-Halyard - Director of Case Conferencing
- Maritza Villa - Administrative Assistant
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| Funders |
- The Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Booth Ferris Foundation
- Independence Community Foundation
- The Rockefeller Foundation
- The Sirus Fund
- United Way of New York City
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One City/One Community Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
"I never thought that a lot of different agencies would be able to get in one room to resolve things for me and to think of things that may come up in the future. I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my chest. As a single parent, I'm struggling. To have these agencies in my corner really means a lot."
~ OneCity/ One Community client. |
"If you don't have decision-makers or individuals around the table who can engage in team problem solving, things won't change for community residents."
~ One City/One Community Project Director Dale Joseph. |
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