Local officials and staff play a vital role in the wellness, health and safety of California’s children and families. To address health and social disparities, cities are looking to build upon innovative methods to maximize finite economic and human resources. Specifically, agencies and staff are using collective impact approaches, which provide a framework for making collaborations work across sectors, to create healthier and more vibrant communities. By leveraging collaborations and partnerships for shared services, joint use or proactive program planning, cities and other public agencies can achieve results greater than any one agency could achieve on its own.

The Institute for Local Government (ILG) has developed an online Community Health Partnerships Resource Center (www.ca-ilg.org/healthpartnerships) with tools for local officials and staff interested in using collaborative approaches to address community challenges, particularly in the areas of healthy eating/active living, violence prevention and safety.

As part of this work, ILG updated and revised the Stretching Community Dollars Guidebook (www.ca-ilg.org/stretchingcommunitydollars), a publication that provides a framework for collaboration and partnerships. The guidebook’s purpose is to inspire, encourage and support local governments throughout California in achieving focused, sustainable intergovernmental collaboration.

City officials and staff can find the guidebook in ILG’s resource center as well as a variety of other tools to help them pursue collaborative approaches to vexing community challenges. Case stories and webinars highlight California communities that have successfully collaborated with other public agencies and community-based organizations to improve community wellness. Agencies candidly share the benefits, challenges, lessons learned and best practices in collaborating with others. City officials and staff also can learn more specifically about the collaborative process, including essential elements for starting, maintaining and scaling up projects. The resource center offers a spectrum of examples from small-scale projects to more substantial projects, such as facilities and alignment of staffing resources. Topics and materials provided in the resource center include:

• The Stretching Community Dollars Guidebook;
• Examples of collaborative efforts focused on healthy eating/active living, violence prevention and safety;
• Information about the benefits of a collective impact approach; and
• Practical examples and tips on how to pursue leader-to-leader meetings between city, county and school officials.

The Community Health Partnerships Resource Center was made possible through a community benefit grant from Kaiser Permanente.

Additional Resources on Safety and Violence Prevention

ILG will conduct the last webinar in a three-part series about “Achieving Positive Outcomes for Safety and Violence Prevention Through Collaboration” on Oct. 19 at 11:00 a.m. Panelists from the Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership will discuss their experiences in partnering with multiple agencies and organizations to address gang violence and safety. To register, visit www.ca-ilg.org/violencepreventionwebinar. Read more about the Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership in “Santa Rosa’s Violence Prevention Efforts Lead to Success.”

This article appears in the October 2016 issue of Western City
Did you like what you read here? Subscribe to Western City