Introduction
The key word in the planning process to develop the community plan is the
word "community" - it's a plan for the community, by the community.
Mary Lou Adams,
Assistant Professor
UT School of Nursing
Member of the CAN Planning Body
INTRODUCTION
Like many communities, Austin and Travis County are faced with multiple issues that affect health, academic achievement, employment, and other factors which impact individuals and families. Over the years, service providers and planning committees have developed various plans and strategies to address these issues. What the community lacked however, was a coordinated and comprehensive health and human services plan which brought together the best approaches to achieving significant impacts in the community.
The Community Action Network, a partnership of health and human service providers, funders, business leaders, community representatives, and educators, took the lead in combining the planning efforts to develop this community plan. It represents the work of over 1000 people who joined their efforts over a 12 month period. Eleven planning bodies were organized to gather and study data about community problems and trends. The planning bodies then developed a list of coordinated strategies that, if implemented, will have significant impact in each of the six issue areas identified in this plan. As the reader will note in reviewing the community plan, each section, while interconnected with others sections, was developed independently by each planning body. Each is unique in its style and approach to addressing specific issue areas.
What is in the Plan?
The plan contains information on six priority issue areas as identified through a series of community meetings. The issue areas are not presented in any type of priority order, nor is the information within the issue areas prioritized. The issue areas are:
- Early Education and Care
- Education and Workforce Development
- Health
- Housing, Homelessness and Basic Needs
- Mental Health, Mental retardation and Substance Abuse
- Public Safety, Violence and Victimization
Each issue area is divided in the following manner: a vision statement, executive summary, critical conditions (which affect the specific issue area), desired community impacts, strategies and outcomes. This document also contains three appendices which highlight recurring themes, a glossary of terms and an index of those volunteers who enabled this Plan to become a reality.
How to use the Plan
The Community Action Network (CAN) recognizes the autonomy of community resource holders in the allocation of funds and programs. However, it is CAN's intent to allow resource holders to use the Plan as a guide in identifying the priority health and human services issues in the community and allocating resources to key strategies for achieving positive changes.
Its various sections should be consulted as needed to focus the use of resources in achieving the desired community impacts identified in this report. It is intended to serve a broad audience of users such as community leaders, local government, funders, planners, policy makers, neighborhood groups, agencies, and many others.
Where do we go from here?
The courageous people who developed this plan have found that it, in and of itself, is not an end. In fact, it is a new beginning for Austin and Travis County. The real work now begins as people and organizations commit themselves to achieving the impacts identified in the plan.
As with all plans, its usefulness will be determined by those who decide to commit their resources, their programs, their time, and their energies towards achieving common goals outlined in the plan. As changes occur, as new resource become available, and as desired impacts are realized, the plan will continue to be shaped and molded along the way.
The strategies within the community plan all support the development of a truer sense of community. By rallying broad-based community involvement and the notion of shared responsibility, the enclosed strategies have the ability to act as a springboard from which improved accountability and achievement of significant community change can occur.
Recurring Themes
What are Recurring Themes?
As stated in the Introduction, the overall purpose of the Community Plan is to address the critical conditions that exist in our community. The eleven planning bodies have attempted to do this for each of the six issue areas. The Planning Oversight Committee reviewed the work accomplished by each of the planning bodies and identified recurring themes which surfaced, on multiple occasions, in many of the issue areas. These themes are arranged in outline form below.
Why are these Recurring Themes included in this Plan?
The existence of these recurring themes emphasizes that the six issue areas are interconnected rather than independent silos and that what impacts one, affects the others. For example, the positive and negative conditions in the Early Education and Care issue area affect learning capabilities, preparation to the workforce, physical and mental health, homelessness and public safety. If we are to find ways to respond to the conditions that exist in our community we must identify the common threads that connect them. These recurring themes also indicate potential areas of collaboration that can facilitate sound responses to the needs in our community.
How can I find and use the recurring themes in this Plan?
Appendix A contains a Recurring Themes Index, arranged in the same way as the outline below. It shows where each theme occurs within the body of the Plan. For example, "access to services" is a recurring theme - simply go to Appendix A, locate "access to services" and it will list where the desired community impacts and strategies are for each issue area.
An Important Note
The Recurring Themes Section does not negate the importance or uniqueness of a planning body's work and the themes shown in this Plan are not all inclusive. In some instances an issue or concern of great importance within one planning body may not have been listed as a common theme but it in effect impacts all six issues areas.
The recurring themes and issue areas are like the interconnecting fibers of a tapestry, both are required to create a fabric that is durable, useful and in this case large enough to cover the families and individuals in Austin/Travis County. Because the recurring themes and issue areas are interwoven, they cannot be unraveled or solved, quickly or in isolation. It is our hope that the Plan will make it easier for users to weave together solutions, which in the long term will respond to our community's critical conditions.
Outline of Recurring Themes
Outcomes
I. Individuals obtain optimum level of development and self-sufficiency
A. Enhance opportunities
B. Remain in school, work, training
C. Coping/resiliency skills, e.g., parenting
D. Training
E. Education
F. Independent living, e.g., residential stability/housing
G. Attain personal goals
Strategies
I. Community Awareness and Involvement
A. Education
B. Understanding of Issues
C. Norms/Standards
D. Advocacy
E. Volunteerism
II. Continuum of Care
A. Descriptors
1. Identified Populations
- a. High Risk
- b. Special (Elderly, Disabled, Children and Youth)
- c. Family Focus
2. Comprehensive and Holistic System of Services (6 issue areas)
- a. Early Education and Care
- b. Education and Workforce Development
- c. Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Substance Abuse
- d. Housing, Homelessness and Basic Needs
- e. Public Safety, Violence and Victimization
- f. Health
B. Prevention
1. Education
2. Healthy Lifestyles
C. Access to Services
1. Increased Service Capacity
2. Inventory of Available Resources
3. Barrier Free
4. Crisis Intervention
5. Support Services, e.g., basic needs, transportation, child care
III. Collaborative Systems Improvement (Infrastructure)
A. Service Coordination
B. Linking Individuals and Families to Services
C. Assessment
D. Data Gathering
E. Best Practices/Quality
F. Evaluation
G. Tracking Outcomes
H. Training for Providers
I. Technology (managed information system, client utilization)
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