Community Services: Mapping Your Resources

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Community Services Mapping Your Resources

• Kelli Crane, Ph.D.
• Debra Martin Luecking, Ed.D.
• TransCen, Inc.
• NSTTAC Secondary Transition State Planning
  Institute
• Building for the Future

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Learning Objectives

• Define Community Resource Mapping
• Describe purposes for resource map
• Introduce the process for resource mapping
• Share examples of the process

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Resource Mapping Defined

• A system building process that links community
  resources with an agreed upon vision, goals, and
  expected outcomes.

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Resource Mapping Defined

• A system-building process that
• Leads to change
• Identifies resources and barriers to building a
  system
• Strategizes optimal uses of resources
• Identifies limitations and gaps in resource
  coordination
• Explores new resources
• Coordinates resources for strategic planning

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Purpose of Resource Mapping

• Comprehensive approach to
• build capacity
• sustain practice
• inform strategic action planning
• make informed decisions
• collect and analyze data
• share information that benefits all stakeholders

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Outcomes of Resource Mapping

• Improved post-school results for youth
• Competitively employed
• Enrolled in postsecondary school
• More collaborative partnerships
• More efficient and effective in delivery of
  services to youth and families
• Map of resource available for youth and families

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• If everyone is doing it,
• how come it NEVER gets done?
• Joe Marrone, UMass-Boston

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Four Step Process

• Step 1 Pre-Mapping/Assessment
• Step 2 Mapping
• Step 3 Strategic Implementation
• Step 4 Maintaining Mapping Efforts

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Step 1 Pre-Mapping / Assessment

• Establish a Coordinating Team
• Create a Vision/Goal
• reduce drop-out rates
• improve transition results (e.g., competitive
  employment postsecondary education)

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Establish a Coordinating Team

• New or existing team
• Consider self-interest
• What brings people to the table keeps them
  there?
• Common goal
• Diverse representation
• Significant ties to community
• Include rotating members to address particular
  issues and resources

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Potential Partners

• Secondary education staff (i.e., transition,
  general, special)
• Adult education representative
• Advocacy organizations
• Business-education partnership representative
• Community action agency representative
• Correctional education staff
• Drop-out prevention representative
• Employers
• Extension service representative
• Transportation representative
• Higher education representative
• Community-based organizations

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Create a Vision

• Break traditional thinking
• Provide continuity of purpose direction
• Prioritize issues concerns
• Promote interest commitment to action
• Create ownership of success

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Step 2 Mapping

• Know your organizing framework
• Develop tools to collect resource data
• Collect and map community resource data
• Identify existing limitations, gaps and overlaps
  in resources
• Determine implications of the findings

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Create an Organizing Framework

• Universal Resources- Resources available to all
  youth -- aimed at enhancing success and reducing
  barriers to the transition process
• Selected Resources- Supplemental resources
  provided to small groups of youth- to reduce the
  potential for increased difficulty and risk for
  long term failure
• Targeted Resources- Individually designed,
  intensive resources / interventions needed by
  very few youth

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Organizing Framework

• NASET Transition Domains
• Secondary Education Graduation
• Career Preparation Employment
• Family Involvement
• Youth Development Leadership
• Supportive and Adult Services

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Organizing Framework

• Taxonomy for Transition
• Student-focused planning
• Student development
• Family involvement
• Program structure
• Interagency collaboration

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Data Collection

• Determine what data to collect evaluate -
  vision goals will drive data collection
  decisions
• Use a variety of evaluation strategies (on-line
  surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups,
  public forums)
• Value the opinions/ideas of both stakeholder
  groups end-users

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Step 3 Implementing the Map

• The power of resource mapping comes with what
  happens after the resources have been
  identified.
• Develop a strategic action plan
• Facilitate access to resources
• Communicate disseminate information

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Strategic Action Planning

• Strategize how resources can be redirected
• Determine which needs exist after realignment
• Identify other community resources
• Plan to access additional funding or resources
• Build mutually beneficial partnerships
• Anticipate challenges, and solutions.

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Facilitate Access to Resources

• Consider a variety of possible formats for
  sharing and aligning resources
• Work to increase access and use of the resources

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Step 4 Maintaining Mapping Efforts

• Examine process
• Measure progress
• Maintain momentum
• Regular communication
• Sustain efforts
• Use of intermediaries

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Evaluate Process and Progress

• Survey stakeholders (especially end-users) to
  determine if resource mapping process has served
  purpose.
• Survey team members to determine if process was
  beneficial and meaningful.
• Analyze outcome data to measure effectiveness of
  realigning resources.

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• Improved outcomes are the ultimate indicator of
  effective resource mapping.

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Maintain Efforts

• Build your Case for Support
• Maintain flexibility
• Continue to increase and diversify resources by
  engaging community
• Evaluate and monitor progress periodically-
  report out to stakeholders
• Communicate both successes and challenge

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The Value of Reflection

• Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now,
  bump, bump, bump on the back of his head, behind
  Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the
  only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he
  feels that there really is another way, if only
  he could stop bumping for a moment and think of
  it.
• - A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

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Mapping Experience

• 4 Stages of Change
• Contentment
• Denial
• Chaos
• Creativity

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ExampleMapping for Sustainability

• 7 communities in California
• Goal to sustain program practice continue
  benefits services in schools
• Defined benefits services
• Collected and analyzed project data
• Looked for new ways to blend braid funds
• Determined who benefits
• Found new partners and new ways to do business

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Example-Mapping for Improved Results

• State of FloridaInteragency Services Committee
• Vision To develop strategies to eliminate
  barriers which will ensure successful transition
  to employment and further educational
  opportunities for youth with disabilities.
• Goals
• 1) increase number of youth transitioning to
  competitive employment
• 2) increase number accessing post-secondary
  education

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Example -- continued

• Mapping to gain baseline data on the resources to
  support transition to employment and
  post-secondary education
• Results provide the BIG PICTURE strategic
  direction
• Present the plan to the state legislature and get
  support in implementing the actions

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Lessons Learned

• Purpose driven clearly defined goal
• Action plan must follow the data collection
  (e.g., map)
• Engage a champion or champions
• Inform those contributing to the map of the
  results
• Build come language and purpose across all players

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Resources

• Essential Tools Improving Secondary Education
  and Transition for Youth with Disabilities-Communi
  ty Resource Mapping. (2005). Crane, K., Mooney,
  M.
• http//www.ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/
  mapping
• Early Ongoing Collaboration and Assistance-
  Resource Mapping A Toolkit. (2006). Sanetti,
  L., Kratochwill, T., Volpiansky, P., Ring, M.
  http//www.eocaschools.org

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• Kelli Crane, Ph.D.
• TransCen, Inc.
• kcrane_at_transcen.org
• 240.418.2684

• Debra Martin Luecking, Ed.D
• TransCen, Inc.
• dluecking_at_transcen.org
• 301.424.2002 ext. 245