#HELPExpo2017

Thank so much for your interest in my Expo presentation!

A few notes: We provide a trimmed version of my presentation that includes the

vast majority of slides presented at Expo. Not included are a few of the more detailed social network visualizations, because I prefer to share these with some additional contextualization and interpretation. The overall patterns of the results remain depicted.

With the time available, I was only able to provide selected, research findings with you during Expo. I look forward to sharing additional findings with you in the future! If you have any particular interests or questions about my talk, please do get in touch.

Best wishes,Brenda Poon, brenda.poon@ubc.ca

#HELPExpo2017

Early Years Service Systems and Collaborative Planning Structures in BC

Acknowledgments

Institute for Health System Transformation & Sustainability

BC Provincial Office for the Early Years

BRENDA POON, PhDASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HELP, School of Population & Public Health, UBC (brenda.poon@ubc.ca)

of B.C. kindergarten children are vulnerable

32.2%

The Early Development Instrument

Still1 in 3.

Neighbourhoods: 9% - 60%

Districts: 9% - 53%

Bridging Research to Action

How do we make a difference?

What community-systems level factors might be contributing to different rates of developmental vulnerability?

Understanding Complexity in Communities

3 Elements of Community Efforts to Address Developmental Health Inequities

Shared vision and value

Increase community capacity

Foster multi-sector collaboration

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Communities in action: Pathways to health equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24624.

BRENDA POON, PhDASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HELP, School of Population & Public Health, UBC (brenda.poon@ubc.ca)

MunicipalGovernment

EducationPublicHealth

Not-for-profit

Experiences of the Service Delivery System

A system with silos Parallel pathways

Multiple, independent agencies

Service/support gaps

Families uncertain and confused

Service providers: Staying in one’s own lane

Service providers and agencies work independently

Fragmented service system

Duplication of effort and resources

Working toward coordinated and integrated service delivery systems For families, “Every door

is the right door”

Service providers acrossagencies work to collectively meet the needs of families

Seamless experiences for families

Different densities in networks

Weak and strong interconnections

Interconnections between Service Providers: Social Networks

Research Focus: Understanding Early Years Networks in Diverse Community Contexts

Structures – Who?

Processes – How?

Outcomes - What were the results?

Context – Under what circumstances?

Community Systems Research Methods

Interviews, focus groups

Social network surveys

Developmental health trajectories and community capacity building data

Assess Differences that Make a Difference

Gather and Analyze DataMixed Methods; Multiple Case Study

Integration and Application of Knowledge

Community Cases: 4 Contexts

Transportation Barriers

Active Lifestyle

Decreasing Population

Tourism

Transient Population

Job Insecurity

Great Outdoors

Increasing Population

Cultural Homogeneity

Dispersed Population

Community 2Community 1

“It’s a small town and there are lots of resources, for a small town. I really like what we have. We have got more services than you would expect here. And I think that it works because everyone is interconnected, right, so everybody knows what everyone does, not in a personal way but in a kind of like, okay let me connect you with this person who could help you over there.”

“There’s a bit of an isolation factor. We’re a very walkable, small community for five months of the year – the rest of the year? Not so much, we get a lot of snow here…. so if you are trying to get around with a child in a stroller, it can get really uncomfortable out there really fast.”

“The whole community is geared towards activity and I think that’s always incredibly good for children. And again, it’s a small community. It’s safe.”

Community 2Community 1

Community 4Community 3

PeacefulSmall Town Feel

Socio-economic Divide

Off the Grid

Supportive Community

Affordable

Young and Older Population

Walkable

Farming Community

Transportation Barriers

“We are a very community-minded community. The service providers are very well connected, and they come together when there are issues, and unfortunately, there are a lot of issues.”

“We are rural but we're also remote. And we are a big area but we don’t have immediate access to all of those social services available.”

“It’s a tight community, it’s a farming community. I think there are a lot of people that are fairly well-situated in the community, and because it’s so small, I think that they take care of each other, you know.”

Community 4Community 3

Overview of Selected Cross-Cutting ThemesMulti-sectoral Collaborative Structures

Leadership

Collaborative Functions

Achievement of Objectives

Multi-Sectoral Collaborative Structures

Mapping and Measuring Collaboration

Ties Between Organizations/Groups: An ExampleOrganization/Group Number of Ties

Community child care resource & referral 18

Public health 16

Education - schools 14

Non-profit literacy 13

Non-profit social services 13

Education – school district 12Government advisory council -childcare 11

Citizens 11

City council 10Child & family services- mental health 9

Organization/Group Number of Ties

Parents 8

Financial institution 8

Education - early learning 7

Child & family services 6

City parks & recreation 6

Child care - private 5

Preschool 4

Library 4Child & family services - social services 3

Financial services 3

Community foundation 3

Inter-organizational & Inter-sectoral Collaboration

COMMUNITY 1 COMMUNITY 2Lower

VulnerabilityHigher

Vulnerability

Leadership

“Powerbase” Leadership

Collective Leadership

Leadership Structures

COMMUNITY 1 COMMUNITY 2“Powerbase”

LeadershipCollective

Leadership

Contexts for Leadership• Membership consistency

and stability in coordination

• Early learning as part of the Ministry of Education mandate

• Ongoing school district interest and investment; senior decision-maker involvement

• Leadership structure

• Multi-sectoral commitment

• Member engagement

• Enmeshment with Regional tables or single agency

• Stage of development• Meeting frequency

Collaborative Functions

Co-existence of separate services

Coordinated service delivery

Joint service delivery

Integrated service delivery

Transformative collaborative practices as pathways to integrated service delivery

Continuum of Integrated Service Delivery

Co-existence of separate services

Coordinated service delivery

Joint service delivery

Integrated service delivery

Continuum of Integrated Service Delivery

Continuum of Collaborative Functions

Little or no collaboration

Information sharing

Case coordination

Joint program development

Resource sharing

Transformative collaborative practices as pathways to integrated service delivery

COMMUNITY 1 COMMUNITY 2Lower

VulnerabilityHigher

Vulnerability

Functions of Collaboration: Information sharing between organizations

Functions of Collaboration: Joint Program delivery

COMMUNITY 3 COMMUNITY 4Lower

VulnerabilityHigher

Vulnerability

Functions of Collaboration: Case Coordination

COMMUNITY 3 COMMUNITY 4Lower

VulnerabilityHigher

Vulnerability

Multiplexity and strength of ties: Information sharing + Joint program delivery + Case coordination

COMMUNITY 3 COMMUNITY 4Lower

VulnerabilityHigher

Vulnerability

Resource Sharing

“One of the other things that I’ve learned is that success also often hinges on the talents and skills and enthusiasm of individuals.”

-

“There are really articulate bright people at the table and so I think there’s a lot of opportunities just for change, creativity, innovation.”

-

Financial Resources

Human Capacity Time

Commitment Sense of Pride

COMMUNITY 1 COMMUNITY 2Lower

VulnerabilityHigher

Vulnerability

Functions of Collaboration: Resource Sharing

“So lack of funding is the hardest thing to deal with, especially when sometimes you feel it’s a little bit unfair, because some communities close by seem to get a higher proportion of the money, or they're in a better economic spot, and so you feel, they didn’t need that as much as us.”

“Well, I feel like if we wanted more change, we have to pay people to make the change. And I don’t think that there's a lot of people paid to make change.”

Ways of Working Together: Density of Network Ties

Type of Network Tie Community 1 Community 2 Community 3 Community 4

Information sharing 0.64 0.79 0.57 0.52

Joint programs 0.18 0.16 0.21 0.13

Case coordination 0.13 0.18 0.13 0.02

Resource sharing 0.08 0.04 0.03 0.06

Achievement of Objectives

Community Awareness and Recognition “Really focusing just on Early Years…. I think that’s our biggest accomplishment.”

-

“A lot of it is mostly in the past been sharing information and supporting each other but actually doing something…. we don’t have a lot of time or money to do things.”

Capacity and Resources to Move Beyond Information Sharing

Tangible Outcomes“The playground revitalization - I think we’ve got every playground except one revitalized in the community.”

Information Sharing

“They're there because they really do care. And they have some good ideas. I just think that they somehow need to take the next step and I think they're on their way.”

Lack of Direction and Structure and Definition around Roles

Moving from Talk-to-Action

“ It’s terribly disorganized, nobody seemed to know why they were there.” -

Shared Vision vs No BIG Picture

Need for a system of evaluation and assessment

“We had all of the ideas in place. We had the strategic plan in place. It wasn’t like we had to go invent things to do – we had projects waiting to go, so it was really easy for us.”

Differences that make a difference?• Diversity of membership• Stability & consistency• Decision-making

capacity• Role clarity• Shared vision and values

• Types of outcomes achieved

• Talk to action• Internal and external

legitimacy• Assessment/evaluation of

progress with course corrections

• Leadership structures• Unclear or lack of

leadership• Shared leadership• Core/centralized

leadership

• Engagement in functions beyond information sharing and networking

• Engagement in multiple, diverse functions associated with integrated service delivery

• Diversified funding resources over time

Multi-sectoral

collaborative structures

Achievement of objectives

Leadership

Collaborative functions

Looking Ahead

THANK YOUAcknowledgments

Institute for Health System Transformation & Sustainability

BC Provincial Office for the Early Years

BRENDA POON, PhDASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HELP, School of Population & Public Health, UBC (brenda.poon@ubc.ca)

#HELPExpo2017

JOANNE SCHROEDERExecutive Director, , Comox Valley Child Development Association, Senior Fellow, Max Bell Foundation

PANELISTS

DAVID PHILLIPSDirector of OperationsRichmond, Vancouver CYSNRegional Manager ECD

ADA MAWSONChildcare Coordinator, CSETS

MAUREEN DOCKENDORFBC Superintendent of Early Years

LINETTE GRATTONCommunity Development Advisor, PDCRS

61

It is my intent that all aspects of the project will be guided by those knowledgeable in the traditional ways of knowing and being.It is my hope that in partnership with my Indigenous colleagues, this work can contribute to the path towards reconciliation and a brighter future for all of our children and grandchildren.

The ContextThe path to healthy development is rugged, and for too many children, has become broken.

Worrying trends in children’s outcomes, particularly in social and emotional development.

Local school authorities

Public health Parks, Libraries

Community services

MunicipalitiesHealth MCFD Education

Private and Non-Profit

Chaos

Parenting Supports

Child Development

KindergartensStrongStarts

Prenatal Services

Child Care and Preschools

Early Intervention

The more we get together the

happier we’ll be

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

700+Initiatives

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

I guess it’s more complicated than we thought

We need to think and act systemically

What have we learned

Compassionate Systems Leaders

Understand Systems and Care about Their Impact

Fellowship Goals

A “living” tool kit

Cross sectoral leadership development process

Increased awareness and understanding

A network of continuous learning

The foundation and funding for SLC2

2

Systems Leadership Centre for Children

A hub for research, training and hands on

assistance

Foundational Concepts

Social and Emotional Learning

Systems Thinking

…a discipline for seeing wholes. A framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static snapshots. Peter Senge

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Alignment with Personal Values and Beliefs

Interconnectedness

Shared Action Based on Common Purpose

The Practice

Alignmentimproving the health and well-being of our children is the path to social justice.

local communities are best positioned to create the most effective system of support

my passion; my sense of humour; my ability to think and act systemically; and my willingness to take on any task.

Interconnectedness

Historical leaders

Senior managers in MCFD, Health and Education

Early Years Community Developer

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Shared Action

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