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More Questions and Answers from our Community's
Health and Human Service Stakeholders
Following are additional questions about the United Way of Greater Cleveland Core Services Planning process. Most of these questions were collected from our partner agency executive directors. If you have a question that we have not addressed, please email your question to communitycoreservice@uws.org.
1. Is Core Services Planning a process that other United Ways are implementing or have implemented? How has the process gone?
Other United Ways around the country have moved to a community impact model focused on solutions to ongoing health and human social problems. This is a shift from the federated fund raising model of the past. However, no other United Way in the country is implementing Core Services Planning in the same way as United Way of Greater Cleveland, therefore it is impossible to do a comparison.
2. What specific populations are included in the research?
The Core Services Planning research includes all ages, from birth to elderly populations that could be affected by one or more of the 82 core service areas that United Way has identified for funding consideration.
3. What are the sources for the research gathered?
The primary information sources used for this report are:
- Results of 20 focus groups with 159 direct service staff of United Way member agencies and non-members and key informant interviews with 93 experts in the respective service areas (February 2005). Participants were asked about consumer populations that were increasing and those that had unmet needs; they provided insight about specific service gaps and duplication, as well as services they perceived to be outdated or under-utilized.
- United Way Program Report data for FY 2004 (July 2003 to June 2004). Each year United Way member agencies submit information to their respective Investment Committees on each funded core service they provide. Among other things, this information includes a demographic profile of the consumers served, the zip codes where the consumers reside, and all revenue sources that support the service. The research team has aggregated this information for each core service.
- First Call For Help call data (2000 to 2004) -- First Call For Help provides a 24/7 information and referral service through its 211 telephone line. The research team analyzed data from its large database that includes the names of service providers for most core services, the activities they provide and the zip codes in which they are located and those they serve, number of calls received, and whether the need was met or unmet. Unmet needs are those for whom there was no resource to refer to.
- Literature reviews on service trends and issues as well as best practices, i.e., what works/what doesn't work in service delivery, including impact on the individual/family as well as the community.
- Searches for information on public policies that are currently impacting consumers or service delivery.
- U.S. Census and American Community Survey data for various time periods.
- Data from funders on actual consumer populations and funding levels.
4. How can I learn more about Core Services Planning and become more engaged in the planning process?
We will continue to post information updates and ultimately the 82 Core Service Reports on uws.org/coreservicesplanning. If you have an interest in this project, please contact Judy Simpson at jsimpson@uws.org.
5. Will Core Services Planning consider government policy, advocacy and funding?
The questions addressed are:
- What are the environmental influences, including public policies, that are impacting both service consumers and the capacity for service delivery?
- Who are the service consumers? What are the factors that lead to a need for services? How many consumers are there? How many have there been in the past several years and what factors influenced the historic trend line? What are the projected numbers for the future? What is their demographic profile? Where do they reside? How many are receiving services funded by government and/or United Way?
- What is the philosophy that drives service delivery? Has it changed? What does the service consist of? Who provides the service?
- What are the funding sources? What are the annual revenues from government sources, federated fund raising organizations, foundations, and United Way of Greater Cleveland? What are the historic government funding trends and what is projected for the future? What is the reimbursement amount?
- What works and what doesn't work in service delivery?
- Are there service gaps, duplications, under-utilization?
In addition, one of the 82 Core Services is "Advocacy" and it will be researched using the above outline.
6. How will various populations and services be impacted? Seniors? Youth? Homelessness? Preschoolers? Education?
In their deliberations, Community Investment volunteers will formulate community impact strategies for the consumer populations, and then choose Core Services which can most effectively accomplish those impact strategies. All populations and services currently funded by United Way will be examined; it is not known, until the process is implemented, which services will be chosen and what the consumer impact will be.
7. How will funds be allocated in consideration of the Core Services Planning process?
Each of the Investment Committees will review the core services research reports in their areas and use this data to make funding decisions. Throughout the process a skilled facilitator will guide them in their decision-making and bring them to a consensus. Their final decisions will be presented to the Board of Directors for approval and impact the 2009 fiscal year.
8. Is it possible that some agencies will not receive United Way funding? What will the impact on smaller agencies be?
It is possible that United Way volunteers may choose not to fund a Core Service that was funded in the past. Program funding decisions will be well thought out and data-driven in consideration of the needs in our community as well as available funding from all sources. There is no preconceived preference in the process for larger vs. smaller agencies or vice versa.
9. How are you defining diversity?
In the research, we are identifying any patterns that are unique to different racial, ethnic, gender and age groups.
10. In making the determination to implement Core Services Planning, have we reviewed the proposed method and are we using a successful process? Was the old model scratched or what worked in the old model that we will continue?
Our plan has always been to use the Core Services Planning process to enhance our allocation process. With the extensive research on core services, our community and population trends, the community investment volunteers and other health and human services stakeholders will have the information they need to make data-based funding decisions. So the old model is not scratched, it is improved upon.
11. Who prepares the "application of research framework"? There is a disconnect between contributing factors and the stage two and stage one services (mental health is first cause and last intervention).
The research team is developing a Consumer Snapshot for the primary consumer groups who are current or possible users of community safety net services. The document identifies services that are considered important to consumers at the stages of need: at risk/vulnerable; in crisis; stable; safe/self-sufficient. In their deliberations, Community Investment Committee volunteers will discuss the Snapshots and make their decisions appropriately.
12. Regarding trajectories: measuring positive change is straightforward. Has anyone tackled the issue of stabilizing what was previously a downward trajectory? In other words how do you demonstrate that not getting worse is a positive outcome?
See Question 11. Stabilization is one of the consumer stages. This may require different approaches to measurement yet to be determined.
13. How do we know that the data collected for the specific groups is comprehensive and reflective of the county residents?
The research needs to be viewed as a work-in-progress. At the end of this phase of the research, there will be much knowledge about what data it is possible to obtain and what is not. All attempts have been made to obtain accurate, comprehensive, reliable, county-wide consumer data from reputable sources. The research team recognizes that there is not a perfect method for assessing either realized or unrealized access to Core Services. However, they opted to use an imperfect method rather than no method to demonstrate both the complexity and the usefulness of quantifying realized and unrealized access to services as a first step toward a more rigorous methodology. In the business sector this would be a form of market analysis. The team also recognizes that actual consumer numbers are not unduplicated across funders, nor across Core Services. Thus, there is much work yet to be done to gain realistic estimates of both met and unmet needs.
Return to Core Services Planning Overview Page
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