9.0 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

This section looks at issues related to the establishment of community partnerships, including the effectiveness of efforts to establish partnerships and levels of satisfaction with the process. Data was derived from Atlantic CAPC Regional Evaluation interviews and focus groups and from the National Evaluation Form A, B, and C.

9.1 PARTNERSHIPS

Successful partnerships were established between CAPC projects and many types of community organizations ranging from the Lion’s Club to the public library to the church on the corner. In a series of focus groups, representatives from these community agencies expressed their thoughts on how partnerships with CAPC projects were established and how they worked. Despite the diversity of backgrounds, a clear message came through _ partnerships work and were crucial to successfully meeting community needs.

9.1.1 CAPC Partners

Partners of the CAPC projects came from a wide array of agencies or organizations. CAPC projects established partnerships with local schools, libraries, department stores, day care centres, public health units, mental health associations, Family and Social Services, community centres, other community coalitions, Aboriginal elders, churches, civic groups, RCMP and local police forces, employment centres, housing agencies, colleges and universities, early child development programs,programs for children with special needs, hospitals, youth centres, women’s centres, breastfeeding support groups, nutritionists, agencies to prevent family violence, literacy groups, and many other types of groups or individuals in the community.

This diversity of CAPC project partners was also reflected in information from the National Evaluation Form C. This data described the different agencies or organizations that were involved in the delivery or management of the 485 CAPC programs in the Atlantic Region. Figure 7 depicts the percentage of different types of partners working with CAPC projects.

FIGURE 7: Organizations Currently in Partnerships with Atlantic CAPC Projects

9.1.2 Nature of Partnerships

The nature of the partnerships was as diverse as the kind of partner involved. Representatives from community agencies stated in the focus groups that they partnered in a variety of ways, beginning,in some instances, as early as collaboration on the writing of the funding proposal. Partners provided space, encouragement, referrals, and leadership. This was an interactive relationship characterized by mutual help and support.

9.1.3 Establishment of Partnerships

In some cases, partnerships were established before funds were available. In some instances, these groups viewed CAPC as a means to get needed partnerships underway:

I think the bringing together of all the groups was never a major problem, but actually having the resources, financial resources and other resources, to finally be able to do something that would make an impact, those were missing.

This view was supported by data from the National Form A in which projects reported the degree to which their ability to develop CAPC programs depended on the assets already existing in the community before CAPC was announced (see Figure 8). Fifty-six percent (56%) of projects reported that the development of the CAPC proposal depended on the strengths and assets already existing in the community before CAPC was announced.

FIGURE 8: Dependence on Community Strengths and Assets to Develop CAPC Proposal

In other cases, building partnerships was more challenging because fewer community connections had been established. This finding was also supported by the national evaluation results, in which projects reported that partnership development sometimes represented barriers with regard to their proposal’s development. Table 18, using the National Data for Atlantic Canada, describes some of the challenges reported by the projects regarding partnerships in developing the proposal.

TABLE 18: Challenges Faced in Developing CAPC Proposal

Challenges to Developing CAPC Proposal	Percentage (%)
Forming a partnership representing different points of view in the community	44%
Developing a consensus among project partners about community needs and priorities	37%
Identifying an individual, organization, or group to take primary responsibility for the proposal	27%

Staff Views of Partnership Development
Staff echoed these concerns in the interviews and said that establishing vital links within the community was often a difficult process, particularly during initial stages of project development. Potential community partners were wary of associating with, and lending support to the projects because little was known about their role and purpose or about their potential effectiveness within the community. Staff had to build the trust of the community. Staff also found it difficult, during the start-up phase, to go out into the community and "sell" their programs when these programs had not yet been fully developed. Staff further suggested, however, that as the community began to see the positive results in participants and as centres and programs expanded, the number of community partners grew and projects earned the respect and support of the community.

Community Partners’ View of Partnerships
Community partners spoke positively about relationships that had been established, mentioning that such partnerships were "excellent," and create "good rapport." They described a "very successful history of partnerships" and said that "collaboration is the key to our success." Community representatives also reported that the establishment of relationships "takes time" and was an 'evolving process." They spoke about the need to understand each other, to develop sound working relationships and communication, and to "just get comfortable with each other." Some of these issues of partnership development were discussed in one focus group:

I think they’re better at it [PARTNERSHIPS] now, but initially they weren’t very good at it. Like, at that point, I was with Child and Family and always had the sense that they wanted referrals, they wanted us to send people here, but they really didn’t want to be partnering with us initially. But I think we’ve come a long way.

It’s all about feeling a level of comfort, a level of trust, and that is not something that develops overnight. It probably develops better when there’s a sense on both parties of the understanding that I mentioned earlier.

For both staff and the community agencies, there was a recognition that good working relationships had to be based on open communication, trust, and a willingness to allow understanding of CAPC and its potential to develop. Overall, there was a strong commitment to the development of such relationships and a desire to nurture these connections.

9.1.4 Partnership Activities

Partners were involved in various and specific ways within CAPC. For example, civic groups were often mentioned for holding special children’s events for CAPC projects or for donating food, toys, or supplies to the project. Partners had supervised high school students when they built a playhouse for the centre. Department stores were also mentioned for donating toys. Community agencies recognized the importance of these types of partnerships:

They did things that raised awareness and had the community buy ownership of the Centre...Some groups donated when they were having an Easter party out there and other groups offset the cost of photocopying, so I think even those kinds of activities.... they may not be organizations or institutions, such as Social Services or Public Health, but it’s the businesses in the community and individuals who are also collaborating.

Community partners also worked with projects by donating space or providing funds. According to the National Data for Atlantic Canada, during the interval April to September 1995, sixty-nine percent (69%) of the projects used donated space (no rent was paid). Projects used this space (averaging approximately 2,364 square feet) for about 16 days per month. The space was provided by a variety of community partners, as outlined in Figure 9.

FIGURE 9: Community Partners Providing Space to CAPC Projects

Community representatives recognized the value of such donations and suggested that these supports were often necessary to keep the project operating. Agencies further recognized that they frequently benefited from these arrangements. A minister’s wife spoke about how donating space to a project has affected the church:

The very coming into our place and space, the whole, the centre has helped dispense with some of the myth that surrounds our place and space too , you know... It’s been a gift. It’s as simple as that. As we... probably felt like we were in the position to be the helper and we are the ones to be helped, you know. That’s, I mean, just spiritually enriched by the presence of people in the community, and I just see the centre as a catalyst for things like that. Not just as a place to be referred, but as a place that helps unite.

According to the National data for Atlantic Canada from April to September 1995, sixty-six percent(66%) of the CAPC projects received government funding (excluding CAPC funding) from either federal, provincial, or municipal governments. Forty-seven percent (47%) of the projects received small amounts of money from other sources. The average total amount of money received (for six months) was $2,788. Donated services included transportation, living expenses, special equipment,rent, utilities, and insurance.

Partners participated by offering their services as "resource persons" --ready and available when the staff needed to call upon them. Others served on the boards and/or acted in an advisory role. Still others developed and offered programs at the project facilities. Partners from government agencies spoke about offering information sessions that could reach a large number of people, including parents who likely might not contact an agency directly. Other partners used space at the centre to offer programs because the centre was a more "neutral space" than other settings. Partners also made use of the resources (books, tapes, and other materials) available at the centre in their own work and considered these resources an important aspect of the centre.

In approximately three-quarters of the focus groups, the importance of referrals was mentioned as a partnership activity. Community agencies and projects generally established an active two-way referral system that worked well and provided needed services or information for parents:

...if I’m looking for a parenting course or something like that, I’ll contact and say, when is the next one coming up, I have people that could really benefit from it and ...if you have clients that you think could really benefit right away, they could attempt to get them in...

For us in Public Health, I feel the centre has really helped us because we can't reach all the moms that we used to and now we are able to tell them "there's a place for you."

Staff perspective on referrals
Staff reported an enhanced sense of community when referrals were made between CAPC and community agencies, as the following comments illustrate:

...wonderful partnerships in the community, community awareness that, you know, I’m not saying that we are out there and everybody knows about us, but I believe the people who refer to us, who have the confidence to do that...

Another, I think, really significant event was when a mom came through the door and she had a doctor’s prescription pad with Family Resource Centre written on it. And this was the prescription the doctor had given to her.

9.2 COORDINATION AND AWARENESS

9.2.1 Coordination Between CAPC and Other Community Groups

As stated previously, many of the community partners had been involved with the CAPC project since its initiation. The vast majority of focus groups had at least one member who had been part of the original group applying for funds for the project. Thus, community partners had often had an active role in the development of the proposal and had been part of the planning of the centre. This development often involved long hours of meetings and work towards developing a vision of what the centre should be. As one group described this process,

When I first met [COORDINATOR], she had the Family Resource Centre in a cardboard box...I had just become the early childhood social worker, and I laughed with her because I said "Well, I’ll go get a file." So she had a cardboard box and I had a file, and we were in this new program. She was saying "What does a family resource centre look like?".... Well, she went to all the different organizations and just said "What do you want in a centre?" She asked the parents a lot as well. "What are you looking for?"

The finding that partners were involved in the project from the initiation was also evident in the results from the National Data (Form A) for the Atlantic Region. Figure 10 details the agency, organization, or group that took the primary initiative in developing the CAPC proposal. The strong involvement of the community in the Atlantic Region was evidenced by finding that fifty-one percent (51%) of the proposals were undertaken by either community agencies or coalitions of community groups. Also, fifteen percent (15%) were initiated by individual residents and ten percent (10%) were initiated by advocacy groups.

FIGURE 10: Organization that Took the Primary Initiative in Developing CAPC Proposal

Further, as is evident from the National data for Atlantic Canada, community residents and partners had an active role in deciding the key features of the CAPC proposals. The primary decision makers during the development of the proposals in the Atlantic Region were individual residents (83%), community agencies and service providers (80%), government agencies or departments (73%), and advocacy groups (59%).

The involvement of community partners often continued beyond proposal development as they were expected to be further involved in program management and delivery of programs at the centres. Figure 11 shows the percentage of programs the groups contributed to during proposal development(National Form A) and commencement (National Form B) and during the interval April to September 1995 (National Form C).

FIGURE 11: Partners during CAPC Proposal Development, Commencement, and On-going Phase

Results show that CAPC partners remained essentially the same from the time the project was conceptualized until September 1995. Partnerships with service clubs and religious groups increased during the start-up phase, while partnerships with community and government agencies and advocacy groups decreased over time. In community focus groups, some partners spoke about their continued involvement with the project and said that the projects needed their help less:

They [THE PROJECTS] will manage fine if we are not there. That’s how much they have grown. But they did need us at first.

9.3 ROLE OF CAPC IN STRENGTHENING THE COMMUNITY

Programs were also expected to have some direct benefits for the communities and neighbourhoods they served. According to the National data from Form B for Atlantic Canada, the expected benefits to neighbourhoods and communities of the 485 programs listed were primarily higher levels of neighbourhood/community spirit (reported for 65% of the programs). Improved safety or security (31%) and more resources, such as parks and playgrounds (14%), also were mentioned (see Table 19).

TABLE 19: Expected Benefits for Community

Within the focus groups, community representatives were asked how they thought CAPC projects had helped the community, and they spoke about many benefits to the community. Responses from community partners were often linked to specific activities accomplished through the projects and the impact such activities had had on the lives of individuals, families, and, ultimately, the community. In only one instance did a community member question the value of partnerships for the community.

Positive responses included benefits to families in terms of the opportunities for parental education and growth through the following: the activities offered at the centres and other resources; social networks and the opportunity to talk to others "in the same boat"; relief of parental stress by providing some time away from home and typical routine; and providing a place for children to play and acquire skills necessary for school. Other benefits included parents' increasing knowledge of the community and the many opportunities and resources that were present.

Community agency representatives took the long-term view of such benefits and suggested that "when you help the parent or the child, you help all of them" and that individual changes will ripple out "like dropping a rock into water," ultimately producing positive changes in the community. Partners also expressed the belief that as a result of participating in the projects, parents would "go into the community and become more involved." These beliefs are illustrated in the following quotes:

But any education of the parent reflects back on the child, and I am sure these parents who are here are much more knowledgeable of what the community is all about and the people who are in it, the service organizations, and who they naturally ask when they want something.

I think it’s empowering women. It’s empowering families. It’s helping families to identify strategies, number one, what issues or concerns they have - to identify with other people, like to try to look at strategies around those issues and concerns. And when they’re going back and talking this out within their own social circles, more and more people are coming in, and that’s what we’re really seeing in the centres that are working well. So it is going to improve parenting skills and is going to improve the skills of children and, with time, have a rippling effect within the school system.

9.4 CAPC IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE COMMUNITY

Programs offered by the centres were also expected to have benefits for the service delivery network. According to the National data for Atlantic Canada, these benefits included increased availability and accessibility of services (64%), higher levels of integration and/or coordination(58%), and improved quality of service (42%). Other benefits, cited for two percent of the programs, were increased information on, or awareness of, resources and services. (The service delivery network was not reported to have been directly affected for 15% of programs.)

Community partners also discussed the ways in which CAPC projects had an impact on service delivery in the community. Discussions centered around four areas: increased knowledge of services; filling a need in the community; the atmosphere of the projects; and the professional development of the partners as experienced through the project. These topic areas complemented the information found in the National data with the additional consideration of how involvement with CAPC produced benefits through influencing the service providers themselves.

9.4.1 Increased Knowledge of Services

Community partners suggested that the centre made other services more accessible because parents became aware of resources through information provided at the centre or by hearing a speaker from an agency. These contacts helped representatives of other organizations and agencies become more approachable for parents:

It makes it a lot easier to make that first contact, go over to the [AGENCY] if you ever need to call. It’s not a foreign place any more.

It just shows that, you know, that these people, who are supposed to be our helpers that are sort of on this plane up here, it brings them down to a level where the community [HAS ACCESS].

JMC/PAC respondents noted that projects became more proficient at tapping into community services on behalf of their participants. They used the partnerships that they had developed and zeroed in on what other partners or community groups could do and made the necessary linkages:

What they are saying is, okay, the Family Resource Centre, we’re doing enough programs. We’ve overextended ourselves in many cases; however, there is this organization, whether it’s the Red Cross, the school, a service group, community health, that can do that and because of the partnerships that have been developed, they connect with one another, and there’s a lot of that going on.

9.4.2 The Filling of a Need

Community representatives stated that the projects filled a significant "need," "void," or "gap" in services. They noted CAPC projects provided services that would not be available otherwise, either because such services had never been available or because services to families had been eliminated due to cutbacks in government spending:

...met a need in the community that would never have been met without it. Besides it’s unique in the way it is handled.

And because of the changes with government cutbacks and all those kinds of things and the way Public Health and the Department of Health are changing, I feel like I don’t do the job I was sent here to do any more... And working with CAPC, at least I know somebody else is doing the things that I feel like need to be done. Even though I’m not allowed to do it any more, somebody out there is doing it, and I can be comfortable with that.

9.4.3 Atmosphere

Community partners suggested that because of the atmosphere at the centre, people were more likely to seek services there than at other agencies. Community partners spoke about the "user friendly" environments that the CAPC programs achieved. Consequently, projects contributed to service delivery by increasing access to services for people who might not seek help in other places:

To try to put on a "Nobody’s Perfect" parenting group, I wouldn’t have anyone show up because we’ve got Mental Health, Public Health, and Health and Community Services. There is enough paranoia around this kind of institutional service that the clients are not going to line up to come into it.But that very same program being run just two miles down the road at the Family Resource Centre. [COORDINATOR] has run one and has a waiting list for another. These are the same people that we are seeing at our centre,but if we were to offer the service, we wouldn’t get any sign of these same clients. We have a lot of mutual clients, but when the service is offered here [AT THE PROJECT], the stigma is not attached, and they are lining up.

They offer what the others don’t and it’s a trust. The people trust this place. It is not being run by people who have high fancy degrees or have no idea what it is like to suffer. They know, they have hands-on, they’re aware of it. So, the group that’s coming here, the people who are coming here, feel that...So that’s comfort.

In some cases, the stigma associated with some services limited the ability of some community partners to work with the project:

I need clearance here. I need to make sure that it [work with project) does not conflict with my job. There are people that I’ve worked with in the past and are sitting in the group and Oh, no, they know who I am and I say [TO HERSELF] "Get out of here now, this ain’t gonna work!" My position here is getting a little tougher because I know more and more people and the more I know I’m not supposed to be here because I am a link with what scares people.

9.4.4 Professional Development

JMC/PAC respondents mentioned that CAPC had demonstrated the ways in which partnerships among parents, staff, and service providers can work. Involvement with CAPC provided a learning experience with regard to what real partnerships were and how they worked. Service providers were challenged to examine how they carried out their work and to look seriously at what they considered to be their "territory." The CAPC projects shifted thinking away from service provided solely by professionals and toward involvement by people who were able to deal with clients in a more comfortable way. For example, does a parent need a health professional to steer her toward a healthier diet?

CAPC challenged many systems and challenged many individuals. It certainly challenged the bureaucratic system. It certainly challenged federal/provincial relations. It’s challenged professionals to think in a whole different way...And it’s challenged communities and individuals in communities to see the power and potential that they have too...the parents.

And we wouldn’t have known what communities have the capacity to do; we wouldn’t have known the kinds of partnerships that can be created. It’s given us a lot. It’s taken a lot out of us, but it’s given us a lot. We’re still here...more committed than ever.

The community partners also noted a fourth way in which CAPC projects affected service delivery -- through the community providers themselves. CAPC partners commented that the projects served as a meeting place for professionals and helped to develop professional networks. Also, partners used project resources in their own work and, in some cases, the centres purchased books or other materials for community partners. Importantly, for some partners, partnerships with the project re-awoke beliefs in the capability and the basic good of people and parents, beliefs that had become dormant after many years of working in the system:

It helps me relearn, I guess, that in prior to becoming the early childhood social worker, I was in protection for six or seven years, and after you get into a situation like that or a field like that, eventually you begin to paint everyone with the same brush. There is no one good out there....I had to relearn it that people are basically good or inherently good and there are a lot of parents out there that, given the right opportunities, will develop further as parents...It has helped me relearn that regardless of our situation or condition in life, we want to do our best as parents.

9.5 CAPC CONTRIBUTION TO COMMUNITY AWARENESS

Parents comment on the role that CAPC projects have in helping make them aware of what is available in the community. Of the 151 parents interviewed, 60 parents (39.7%) suggest that their participation in the project has improved their knowledge of the community. Their responses are summarized below (Table 20). Parents who discussed their knowledge of community in focus groups also expressed the same types of responses.

TABLE 20: What Parents Learned about the Community

	Percentage (%)
General information about the community	19%
Information about specific programs or agencies	20%
View project as resource for accessing community	5%
Nothing learned	17%
Unknown	44%
n=151 (numbers may not add up due to rounding off)

9.5.1 General Information

Parents spoke of learning about the community in general by reading the bulletins, brochures, calendars, and notices posted in the centres. They stated that they learned about the "different things and different groups that go on." Parents who had recently moved into a new area were particularly appreciative of the information to be learned at the centres. Other parents suggested that they might not have known about activities in the community if they had not come to the centre. They described the centre as a critical information source:

A lot of things that happen in the community happen here. You’ll get the first call here, and while I’ve been coming here, I get to know more about it.

9.5.2 Specific Agencies or Programs

Parents also mentioned specific agencies or programs that they had learned about as a result of participating in the project. Parents reported that they had signed up for different programs at Family Services; participated in community activities and agency visits; and learned about resources for single parents, prenatal programs, clinics, women’s centres, the Mental Health Association, and Health and Community Services. One woman described the role of the centre in providing information about the community in this way:

Well, like for people who don’t know anything about Social Services and stuff like that, they’ll tell you all about that. They have these board signs and stuff, like for baby-sitters. If you need a baby-sitter or if you need an apartment. Clothes for kids or cribs or anything. They’ve got a lot of information.

Three parents said that as a result of activities at the centre, they knew more about how agencies function and understood the various roles of the individuals who work at them. Because of the project, parents spoke about having access to speakers and information that they would not otherwise have. In interviews (and parent focus groups), parents highlighted the value of meeting people from the agencies:

And met a lot of people in the human services...you know what I mean? You know, you’ve got a face to go to if you need whatever, right?

9.5.3 View of CAPC Project as a Resource

Parents viewed projects as an active resource working to resolve individual needs and help people make connections in the community by providing information and referrals and searching for the necessary information. In essence, these parents described the project as the key to opening up the community for them:

You didn’t know the centre was here to offer anything to the community, and once you find out about it, you realize that the community is out there to help as a whole. The departments are there to do something for you.

My stuff was how to be a parent....Today I know that I don’t need to call Social Services and talk to 10 different people and get a run-around to find out what I need to know. I can call the Centre and talk to the coordinator there and she can tell me exactly who I need to talk to or where I need to go, whereas I didn’t have that before. So that’s what it is supposed to be; it’s supposed to be a resource centre.

Twenty-six (26) parents stated that they had not learned anything new about the community. Approximately half of these parents clarified their response by saying that they were already familiar with what was available in the community or had not participated often at the centre. Only one individual made a strong negative remark, saying that the staff knew little about the community and had little to offer parents in that regard.

9.6 MAJOR FINDINGS ON COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Partnerships worked and so are crucial to successfully meeting community needs.

• Successful partnerships were established between CAPC projects and many types of community organizations ranging from the Lion’s Club to the public library to the church on the corner.
• Many successful partnerships began in the initial stages of developing a CAPC project proposal and continued throughout the project.
• Primary decision makers during the development of the proposals in the Atlantic Region included individual residents (83%), community agencies and service providers (80%),government agencies or departments (73%), and advocacy groups (59%).
• Good communication and information sharing are the most effective strategies for building partnerships. Regular meetings between the project and agencies facilitate this.

Partnerships benefit the whole community.

• CAPC brought different sectors -- parents, professionals, health, social services and education sectors, community groups and services -- together, helping all groups to better understand each other.
• Partnerships have increased families level of awareness regarding services in their communities and increased their willingness to access help and appropriate services. As well, projects helped link parents with the appropriate services and gave community agencies the opportunity to review their policies and to improve their services to children and families.
• CAPC projects served as a meeting place for other professionals in the community and helped to develop professional networks.
• Partnerships gave CAPC participants the opportunity to break through their isolation, increase their confidence, and participate in their communities in meaningful ways.

Partnerships help ensure that CAPC projects don’t duplicate existing services.

• Community representatives stated that the projects have filled a significant "need," "void," or "gap" in services. The projects provided services that would not be available otherwise.

Centre:   Sackville Family day Care Memory Lane Family Place Sackville, NS Artist:   Kendra Chisholm

 

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