Stacy Carruth's blog
Sustainability seems to be on the agenda for many local coalitions. In fact, funders have long been asking for groups to include sustainability plans when they apply for funding.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines sustainable as: 1: capable of being sustained 2 a: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.
People have lots of different definitions of what sustainability means to them. The Webster definition of sustainable is interesting because it speaks to “using a resource so that the resource is not depleted.” In fact, for many people, when they think of sustainability they think solely of funding, which DOES get depleted. Unless you’re very lucky, you can count on your funding ending at some point in time. Which brings us to a definition of sustainability from the Sustainability Toolkit, put out by the Center for Civic Partnerships (by the way, we have this available in our library):
“The continuation of community health and quality of life benefits over time.”
We like this definition because it puts the emphasis on the ultimate goal – community health and quality of life benefits. Using the principles from the Sustainability Toolkit, we have worked with groups in creating sustainability plans. There are several key steps:
1. Create a shared understanding of sustainability.
It’s critical to articulate this from the beginning because people may approach the process with very different definitions. If the entire group defines sustainability solely as funding, your process is going look very different from the steps we have listed below.
2. Explore the current work of your group (create a list).
3. Choose criteria for determining what to continue.
For example, criteria might include: there has been a measureable impact in community health because of this work, we have the resources to do this, etc.
4. Decide what to continue
Here you apply the criteria that you’ve selected in step 3, and actually rate each activity based on it (you can use a simple 1-5 scale, with 1 being doesn’t meet the criteria at all, and 5 being meets the criteria). Rating all your activities this way doesn’t necessarily determine what you will continue but it certainly gives you a sense of what your priorities might be.
5. Apply PEARS activity for things you want to continue
PEARS stands for: P – pass it on, E – Earn, A – Ask (e.g. fundraising), R – redevelop, S – share.
P: Pass it on – Find a “happy home” for your program elsewhere
E: Earn – Generate revenue through selling products or services; combine with job training
A: Ask – Request funds from institutional donors or from individuals
R: Redevelop – Reconfigure program elements internally; redistributes costs and leverage new support with updated services
S: Share – Share costs/responsibilities with other organizational partners.
We encourage you to check out the Sustainability Toolkit if you are interested in learning more about this process, or applying the tools and ideas to work with your group. Also, the Metrowest Regional Center will be hosting a state-wide conference call on the topic of sustainability on January 20th, 2010 from 11:00-noon, with a brown bag lunch follow-up discussion at our office in Central Sq. Cambridge for those who will be in the area. See the Calendar Section of our website for details and registration information.
Happy planning!
About a year ago, we hosted a training by Cynthia Bargar of Development Consulting Services, called “Finding Foundations that Fit and Engaging them in Lasting Relationships.” It was well received, and the following are some notes from the training that might be of interest to those of you looking to build relationships with foundations that might support your work.
Identifying foundations to fund your work:
• When identifying foundations, look at annual reports and organizations similar to yours to see who is funding them.
• Go to meet the grant-makers events, meetings at your local community foundation; look at your board of directors and everyone you know to see who they know on a board of a foundation; look at directories, and websites of foundations.
• When researching foundations, look at their funding guidelines; follow their website and see what they’ll fund.
Answering the question “Do we qualify?” Does the foundation:
• Make grants in our geographic area?
• Make grants that are approximately the size we need?
• Fund the type of support that we need: capital, operating, program/project, matching/challenge, capacity building?
• Have a program area that addresses the issues we address?
Think like a detective, and find out everything you can before you approach them. Develop and keep in relationship with them. You need to have someone you can trust to maintain this relationship – ideally a mid to senior level person. Find opportunities to call with smart questions. Try to get in with a smaller grant and then work your way in from there.
And if they fund you, thank them on your website!
Below is a list of resources. The Foundation Center is a great resource, as is the Associated Grantsmakers of Massachusetts. Some functions on the website are free, others require a subscription. Let us know if you’d like to hear more about these resources (the RCHC has a subscription to both).
Foundation Center
Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts
Council on Foundations
Guidestar
Association of Fundraising Professionals
Chronicle of Philanthropy
Grants Management Associates
Last August a law was passed that strengthens the Massachusetts state-wide prescription monitoring program; the changes will go into effect on January 1, 2011 and are being piloted now. Massachusetts has one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the country and the rates have been on the rise in recent years. The Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) is one of many efforts to stem this epidemic which has touched communities across the state. The PMP will collect prescribing and dispensing information on Schedule II-V drugs and will be used to identify prescribing and dispensing trends. This will help to address “doctor shopping” which is when individuals see multiple providers and pharmacies to access medications. Providers who enroll in the PMP will be able to review the prescription histories of patients on line, and receive unsolicited reports from the PMP on patients who meet established program criteria. Only authorized providers will be able to request and receive program reports and reports will include only the information the provider is authorized to receive. There are severe penalties for misuse of the program. The changes in the program include: change of information collected from schedule II only to Schedules II-V; requires customer ID for all schedules (II-V) (pharmacists will need to ask every customer for identification); requires reporting of out of state mail order pharmacies; increases reporting from pharmacies from monthly to weekly (in an effort to make the information more up-to-date and useful); clarifies requirements for solicited provider reports, and other changes. Learn more at: www.mass.gov/dph/dcp
More people die from opiate overdoses than from motor vehicle accidents in Massachusetts. The statistics are alarming. Several communities across the state have been funded through a grant called Mass CALL II to reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Other unfunded communities with high overdose rates are also working to save lives. In Metrowest, Cambridge and Quincy were among the communities funded to reduce overdoses. Both communities are doing innovative work in reaching out to people who are at risk for overdose and their loved ones.
Impact Quincy will hold its second Opioid Conference on June 10. 2011 8:30 am – 2:00 pm at the Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy. The focus will be on policy change to support overdose prevention. The event is free and is open to anyone interested in learning more about this critical issue.
This year's event will include the following speakers and topics:
Keynote Speaker: Former U.S. Congressman William H. Delahunt
Presentation on the MA Prescription Monitoring Program: Grant M. Carrow, PhD, Director, Drug Control Bureau of Safety and Quality, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Panel Presentation on Policy Promotion and Creating Permanent Change: Michael Morrisey, Norfolk District Attorney, D. J. Wilson, Tobacco Control Director, Public Health Liaison, MA Municipal Association John Gatto, Senior V.P. of Programs, AIDS Action Committee Alejandro Rivera, Program Director, Impact Quincy
To register, please contact Arlene Goldstein, Program Coordinator at Impact Quincy at agoldstein@baystatesc.org
We had a request a while back for some examples of coalition operating principles. This got us thinking about all of the tools and processes that we have that relate to capacity building. With this in mind, we've created a new "Capacity Building" page for the RCHC toolbox on our website. It includes an excellent community planning process, meeting agenda templates, workplan templates, and lots more. Take a look, and tell us what you think about it, what you liked and how it can be improved. And be sure to tell us if you use any of the tools, and how it goes! You can email me with any feedback you have at scarruth@healthier-communities.org.
Social host liability law has been a topic of interest for many local substance abuse prevention coalitions over the past couple of years. While social host laws vary state to state, in Massachusetts the law is intended to address those who furnish alcohol, as well as those who allow the consumption of alcohol for those underage. Reducing access is key to reducing underage drinking, and very often young people access alcohol at home. Social host laws can help to address this issue. Several coalitions in Metrowest have brought in experts to speak on the topic, conducted social marketing campaigns to make people aware of the laws, and some Massachusetts communities have even passed their own local ordinances that impose fines to address the issue (there are links below to ordinances passed in the cities of Melrose and Chelsea).
The following is the definition of social host from the website of Campbell, Campbell, Edwards & Conroy, a local law firm that has provided speakers to several coalitions on the topic of social host and its implications.
Who Is a Social Host? The definition of a Social Host varies from state to state, but generally a social host is one who:
• Furnishes alcohol as an act of hospitality with no motive of pecuniary gain (is not a commercial enterprise, such as a bar or restaurant)
• Has no special relationship, such as an employer, with the guest
• Serves alcohol or condones the consumption of alcohol on property that the host controls. For example, in Massachusetts, simply allowing the consumption of alcohol is sufficient.
Campbell, Campbell, Edwards & Conroy has additional information on social host on its website: www.socialhostliability.org/law/
Melrose City Ordinance: www.healthier-communities.org/files/City_of_Melrose[1].pdf
Chelsea City Ordinance: www.healthier-communities.org/files/Chelsea_City_Council[1].pdf
The World Café is a global phenomenon and conversation methodology that communities, corporations and organizations in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America have embraced to create better futures through collective dialogue and inspired co-creation. From the World Café website: “As a conversational process, the World Café is an innovative yet simple methodology for hosting conversations about questions that matter. It’s a technique that youth and adults can use to engage people in their communities about issues that are important to them.” For more information see: http://www.theworldcafe.com/ This training is open to youth and adults (youth should be accompanied by the adult with whom they work, for example, with a coalition coordinator). This is a great leadership training for young people.
Come experience a World Café with a master host and get guidance on how to host a World Café conversation in your own community or organization. In this 3 hour learning program, you will:
1) Learn about the various ways the World Café is being used around the World
2) Become familiar with the hosting etiquette, guiding principles and fundamental assumptions of the World Café
3) Experience a World Café first hand with a master host
4) Get ideas and feedback on how to host a World Café in your own community or organization, and do small group work to begin planning your own World Café.
Training Pre-work: Before the training, please think about: i) Why do you want to participate in this World Cafe Learning program? ii) What community or group of people might you like to host a World Cafe conversation for after this program and what kinds of topics might you want to discuss? iii) What do you find most interesting about the World Cafe website and why? See www.theworldcafe.com
(see our training calendar page for details and registration information)
News on obesity seems to be everywhere, and the statistics are really alarming. For example, 26% of Massachusetts high school students are overweight or obese, and obesity rates have more than doubled in the past two decades. At the RCHC, we were all really excited to see that the Massachusetts statehouse recently passed a school nutrition bill, and we know this will go a long way towards starting young people off on the right foot towards a healthy life. Here are some of the main points of the bill:
* Healthy standards for snacks and beverages sold in vending machines at schools (standards will encourage greater consumption of water, low- and non-fat milk, juice, reduced fat and sugar in snacks, and increased consumption of fruits and vegetables).
* Easier purchase of produce from local farmers
* Establishes a Commission on Childhood Obesity to create a state-wide plan * Requires DPH and Dept. of Early and Secondary Education to set guidelines for training school nurses to help children with diabetes and eating disorders (and to collect data and evaluation these conditions).
A link to the bill: www.mass.gov/legis/laws/seslaw10/sl100197.htm
*From: Protect Our Children’s Health, a fact sheet created by the Massachusetts Public Health Association 2010
The Regional Center has a directory of diversion and restorative justice programs in Metrowest that was researched and created last year by Sarah here at the center. I realized that although we publicized it at the time it was completed, I don't think it's getting much use, so I thought I'd blog about it...
The National Center for Juvenile Justice defines diversion as "the practice of officially stopping or suspending a case prior to court adjudication and referring the juvenile to a community education, treatment, or work program in lieu of adjudication or incarceration."
"Restorative justice is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations, in order to heal and put things as right as possible." - Howard Zehr, The Little Book of Restorative Justice
One example I remember hearing of restorative justice is about a young person who spray-painted a five and dime store in a local town. As part of the restorative justice and reparation process, he worked in the store, and went on to become very good friends with the owner of the store (it was a long-time family business). It's a nice example of how these programs can help mend the fabric of a community, and it highlights how this can also help young people to grow and learn from mistakes.
Take a look at the directory and see if there's a diversion program near you!
www.healthier-communities.org/files/Diversion and restorative justice directory FINAL 4.6.09.pdf
The Obama administration recently released its new Drug Control Strategy, and we thought it would be great to give a short summary of the key points. If you read the highlights from the strategy (the link is listed below) you’ll see that prevention is recognized as being a “cost-effective, and common-sense” way to build healthy communities, which is nice to see! It’s also great to see an emphasis on early intervention, and to see that treatment for chronic drug-using offenders is built into the plan. The strategy calls for a 15% reduction in youth drug use over 5 years.
The key objectives of the strategy include:
Strengthening efforts to prevent drug use in our communities: This emphasizes the importance of federal and state agencies adapting and remaining sensitive to the needs of communities (versus having communities adapt to the governmental agencies).
Seek early intervention opportunities in health care: Stresses the importance of (and documented success of) brief early intervention by primary care providers as a “more humane and less costly” way to intervene in addiction.
Integrate treatment for substance use disorders into health care, and expand support for recovery: The strategy calls for an expansion of addiction treatment in community health centers and the Indian Health Service.
Break the cycle of drug use, crime, delinquency, and incarceration: The strategy supports law enforcement in reducing availability, and “promoting alternatives to incarceration, and mandating treatment and court monitoring for chronic drug-using offenders.”
Other key objectives include: disrupting domestic drug trafficking and production, in part by “interdicting the southbound flow of currency and weapons”; strengthening international partnerships, which includes promoting alternative livelihoods for coca and opium farmers; improving information systems for analysis, assessment, and local management, which includes enhancing data systems.
National Drug Control Strategy Goals to be Attained by 2015
Goal 1: Curtail illicit drug consumption in America
1a. Decrease the 30-day prevalence of drug use among 12–17 year olds by 15%
1b. Decrease the lifetime prevalence of 8th graders who have used drugs, alcohol, or tobacco by 15%
1c. Decrease the 30-day prevalence of drug use among young adults aged 18–25 by 10%
1d. Reduce the number of chronic drug users by 15%
Goal 2: Improve the public health and public safety of the American people by reducing the consequences of drug abuse 2a. Reduce drug-induced deaths by 15%
2b. Reduce drug-related morbidity by 15%
2c. Reduce the prevalence of drugged driving by 10%
For more information about the Office of National Drug Control Policy, or to view the full text of the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy, visit: www.WhiteHouseDrugPolicy.gov
