Post by Ginny Andrews on Sept 21, 2021 20:09:14 GMT
A. Considering your "capstone" project--please be prepared to discuss the following questions in class on Sept 24:
Why did you choose this topic?
I have been worried lately over the increase in concerns my staff are sharing with me about their participants. Many are facing homelessness or eviction; they don’t have access to healthy food and other supports that we know make families secure and safe. We always make referrals to other area programs but have not done a great job in documenting the referrals made and most importantly—the follow up with participants. Are they contacting the referral agency? What are the outcomes of the referrals made? How does a referral actually help the family?
I am also intrigued by the “whole family services” concept and how I can incorporate this into my project. Whole Family services help align opportunities for the entire family so they can optimize their potential. If we make more referrals and have a better process for follow up -- will this lead to healthier families?
What do you hope to accomplish?
I want to make sure the families that we work with have the resources that will provide the network and support that keep their families safe and help them thrive. My plan will include ensuring that staff are aware of area resources and are documenting referrals they make and follow up conversations with participants.
B. What additional questions might you consider as you build your project?
The biggest questions I still have for my project are around metrics. What is the outcome that I am looking for? What would success look like? What am I going to measure and how am I going to measure it? What is the baseline data that we already know?
I will also need to determine what we currently have for tools in place that can support our referral and follow up process. Is this something that is already built in to Fedcap Cares and if not—how could the follow up be documented?
C. This article on innovation offers a variety of history and approaches to innovation. Choose one or two of the approaches and do a bit more research to determine what might be most applicable to your project.
The Incremental Approach seems to be applicable to my project. I will need to look at a process that is already used within the organizations structure and refine it and determine how we can leverage what we already know and do—to improve the current structure and services. I will make be making changes and/or adding new features to our existing process.
The Customer -Centric approach may also be applicable as I will consider our “customer” or participant needs along with outside stakeholders. How can our contacts/referral network assist me in this process? I will need to get feedback and input form a variety of sources to ensure we have the appropriate referral network in place to better support families.
Why did you choose this topic?
I have been worried lately over the increase in concerns my staff are sharing with me about their participants. Many are facing homelessness or eviction; they don’t have access to healthy food and other supports that we know make families secure and safe. We always make referrals to other area programs but have not done a great job in documenting the referrals made and most importantly—the follow up with participants. Are they contacting the referral agency? What are the outcomes of the referrals made? How does a referral actually help the family?
I am also intrigued by the “whole family services” concept and how I can incorporate this into my project. Whole Family services help align opportunities for the entire family so they can optimize their potential. If we make more referrals and have a better process for follow up -- will this lead to healthier families?
What do you hope to accomplish?
I want to make sure the families that we work with have the resources that will provide the network and support that keep their families safe and help them thrive. My plan will include ensuring that staff are aware of area resources and are documenting referrals they make and follow up conversations with participants.
B. What additional questions might you consider as you build your project?
The biggest questions I still have for my project are around metrics. What is the outcome that I am looking for? What would success look like? What am I going to measure and how am I going to measure it? What is the baseline data that we already know?
I will also need to determine what we currently have for tools in place that can support our referral and follow up process. Is this something that is already built in to Fedcap Cares and if not—how could the follow up be documented?
C. This article on innovation offers a variety of history and approaches to innovation. Choose one or two of the approaches and do a bit more research to determine what might be most applicable to your project.
The Incremental Approach seems to be applicable to my project. I will need to look at a process that is already used within the organizations structure and refine it and determine how we can leverage what we already know and do—to improve the current structure and services. I will make be making changes and/or adding new features to our existing process.
The Customer -Centric approach may also be applicable as I will consider our “customer” or participant needs along with outside stakeholders. How can our contacts/referral network assist me in this process? I will need to get feedback and input form a variety of sources to ensure we have the appropriate referral network in place to better support families.