[Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment

Irene Chalek ichalek at necc.mass.edu
Sat Feb 23 08:40:49 EST 2002 

Good morning

I am thoroughly enjoying this lively and honest discussion.  I agree 
that the timeframe is proscriptive and needs to be adjusted based on 
characteristics of the community.  However,I never felt discouraged 
from working with other agencies.  When we did our assessment in 1999, 
we were encouraged to initially call together reps from all 
constituencies (residents,education, housing, welfare, fam literacy 
social service,poiticians, health, mental health,cbo's).  We gathered 
anecdotal info and verifiable stats (from participants) that gave us 
an accurate picture of the health and resources of the community.  Our 
survey and focus groups, supported what we already new. We were 
fortunate that Amesbury stakeholders welcomed the opportunity to 
participate.

Hi Anne. Feel better Alan.
Have a good weekend.

Irene
Gone shopping!

 

> Here, here. In fall River, the School Libnked Services community 
planning
> process (which has very minimal requirements) has merged with the 
adult
> literacy community planning proces. A big benefit to both.
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <aserino at mindspring.com>
> To: <abrick at channel1.com>; <aserino at mindspring.com>; 
<cgannon at qcc.mass.edu>;
> <partnerships at lists.literacytent.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 5:03 PM
> Subject: RE: Re: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n 
assessment
> 
> 
> > O.K., I agree and I would like to add that we may be missing out on
> opportunities to leverage other resources for community planning and
> coalition building, if the process is too prescriptive.  For 
example, every
> Community Action Program is required to do communtiy planning every 
three
> years.  It would be great to coordinate with them and combine our 
talents.
> > Perhaps, there are other groups in the community (School Links 
Programs,
> Health Centers, Housing Coalitions) that do some form of community 
planning
> that we could work with.  If we had enough flexibility, we would be 
in a
> better position to maximize our resources and the community's 
resources.
> >
> > Anne
> >
> > Sorry to hear that you are fighting a cold.
> > I'm fine.
> >
> > Original Message:
> > -----------------
> > From: Alan Brickman abrick at channel1.com
> > Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 16:42:26 -0500
> > To: aserino at mindspring.com, cgannon at qcc.mass.edu,
> partnerships at lists.literacytent.org
> > Subject: Re: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n 
assessment
> >
> >
> > Hi Anne:
> >
> > See what happens when you respond to these list serv questions 
when you
> > fighting a cold and feeling grouchy....? There are several ways in 
which
> the
> > "cookie cutter" dynamic in terms of the DOE requirements doesn't 
work for
> > me.  The calendar, as you say, will be different in different 
communities.
> > Also, the human resources: communities with only one funded 
literacy
> program
> > have only a limited number of people who can work on this, and 
those
> > communities sometime find it difficult to bring in other agencies 
and
> > individuals who don't have the DOE requirement and have their own 
worries
> > (especially now with the funding situation as it is). Also, if you
> believe,
> > as I do, that a comprehensive "PhD-level" assessment of community 
assets
> and
> > needs is beyond the capacity of the programs (and certainly way 
beyond
> what
> > is possible with the funding that has been made available for this
> process),
> > then communities need to pick their shots in terms of the data 
gathering,
> > and should, for example, identify assets that are relevant to 
successfully
> > implementing specific initiatives or plans that the partnership can
> > preliminarily identify as relevant to the communtiy's needs.  Some
> > communities should focus their assets assessment on social service
> > resources, others on employment training and job placement 
resources,
> others
> > on available classroom space or computer labs, others on vehicles 
for
> > communication and community outreach, ..., eveyone can't do 
everything.
> > Remember, they also have to get census data, labor market data, 
learner
> > focus groups, key informant interviews, etc. for the needs 
assessment part
> > of the process. The DOE requirements, and all the communication 
from DOE
> on
> > this, does not allow for community uniqueness in designing and
> implementing
> > the assets and needs assessment process. People need to be allowed 
to do
> > what is meaningful and feasible in the context of their unique 
community
> > circumstances.
> >
> > Am I ranting?
> >
> > BTW: How are you?
> >
> > -- Alan
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <aserino at mindspring.com>
> > To: <abrick at channel1.com>; <cgannon at qcc.mass.edu>;
> > <partnerships at lists.literacytent.org>
> > Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 4:22 PM
> > Subject: RE: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n 
assessment
> >
> >
> > > Hi Alan,
> > > Don't hold back - tell us what you really think.  Can you talk a 
little
> > bit more about why your groups think that the needs assessment is
> frivolous?
> > > Do you think that part of the problem is that the DOE is using 
the same
> > schedule for every community - even though the capacity to do 
community
> > planning and the "timing" of doing the steps in different 
communities
> might
> > be very different.  Maybe this is an opportunity for communities 
to take
> > more control of the process and invent their own "calendar" of 
steps.
> > > Anne Serino
> > >
> > > Original Message:
> > > -----------------
> > > From: Alan Brickman abrick at channel1.com
> > > Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 15:11:26 -0500
> > > To: CGannon at qcc.mass.edu, partnerships at lists.literacytent.org
> > > Subject: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi Cathy:
> > >
> > > I am working with two groups on their community assessment. The
> > postponement
> > > reinforces for people that this is basically a frivolous
> > > exercise/funder-hoop-to-jump-through that is unconnected to the
> > development
> > > of the partnership. They'll do it, but give it a lesser priority 
for
> now,
> > > and the pushed back due date just means that people can focus on 
other
> > > things for a while. There are not sufficient resources to 
conduct the
> > > assessment the way that DOE describes it, anyway. May 2003 is so 
far
> into
> > > the 5 year funding cycle, that by the time the data will be 
available to
> > > support the strategic planning at the community level, the 
funding cycle
> > > will be over.  Another example of how community planning was a 
wonderful
> > > idea that was ruined in the way it was implemented.
> > >
> > > -- Alan
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Cathy Gannon <CGannon at qcc.mass.edu>
> > > To: <partnerships at lists.literacytent.org>
> > > Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 2:33 PM
> > > Subject: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment
> > >
> > >
> > > > Hi Community Planning Coordinators et al,   I am wondering 
what effect
> > the
> > > > postponement of the community planning assessment of assets 
and needs
> > has
> > > > had upon the work of your partnership.    Are you progressing 
as you
> had
> > > > originally planned?  How have you changed your assessment plan 
because
> > of
> > > > the extra time available?  Has everything gone on the back 
burner?
> Does
> > > the
> > > > extra time necessarily mean a better assessment ?
> > > >
> > > > We (all of us on this list!) are interested in how you are 
handling
> > this.
> > > >
> > > > Cathy Gannon
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
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> > > http://literacytent.org
> > >
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