Community Solutions
Project: Strategic Planning
What Community Solutions does:
Community Solutions supports children, teens, families, and adults who are facing times of crisis ranging from mental health and substance use challenges, to domestic and sexual violence, trauma, and human trafficking. They provide a comprehensive spectrum of prevention, intervention, treatment, and residential services in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties. They serve more than 7,000 clients per year and have approximately 365 staff members.
Why Community Solutions partnered with Lyons-Newman Consulting:
Community Solutions was drawn to our focus on community engagement, equity, flexibility, and intentionality. In addition, Community Solutions shares our commitment to authentic listening, our values, and our inclusive approach to the planning process.
The process:
In close partnership with the Strategic Planning Committee, we co-led an inclusive strategic planning process inspired by our community organizing approach to planning, including a research design and community engagement plan to inform and iterate on the plan. Community Solutions consistently strived to center relationships and the principles of Conscious Leadership. Hundreds of people informed the plan, including staff, clients, partner agencies, board members, and community and local elected leaders.
Mission and vision sessions honed in on the core essence of Community Solutions’ identity and unique role in the community. We conducted interviews with key constituents, and led focus groups with clients and Community Solutions’ DEI committee. We synthesized the findings into an actionable Discovery Report, which informed a collaborative ideation process that generated insights and ideas about Community Solutions’ future. The Strategic Planning Committee also created and led regular “staff pulse dialogues,” cascading clear communications to staff members at all levels and providing opportunities for all staff to engage in the process and contribute to developing strategies.
After we collaboratively developed and then finalized the strategic plan, we developed an Implementation Plan that will document staff’s progress towards specific action items to implement strategies. A new Measurement Plan will track Community Solutions’ progress towards their strategic goals over time.
The results:
Community Solutions’ three-year strategic plan articulates their refreshed mission, vision, values, strategic priorities, goals, and strategies. Some of their key strategic decisions include:
• Providing culturally responsive, community-informed, research-based, and effective services. They will focus on strengthening existing services and systems of care before pursuing new lines of business.
• Deepening their current focus on cultivating a diverse, engaged, and well cared for workforce. They will ensure that the organization’s new values are incorporated into all policies and practices, and they will develop and implement an agency-wide DEI plan.
• Strengthening their presence and impact in south Santa Clara County. They will develop a collaborative plan with community stakeholders to identify and help fill gaps, while adapting to significant external changes in the fields of behavioral healthcare and survivor advocacy.