Introduction
County leaders are increasingly aware that cross-system partnerships involving the health and human services systems are needed to address and meet the social and health needs of populations involved in the justice system. Coordination of community-based services and resources promotes better outcomes for these individuals and improves the operational efficiencies and effectiveness of county systems.
NACo invites counties to apply for the Advancing Cross-System Partnerships Leadership Lab (“Leadership Lab”) and develop a strategy for implementing policies and practices that will transform how county justice, health and human services systems use and maximize data to identify and evaluate how they collectively serve individuals. The goal of this cross-system collaboration is to improve the social, health and economic circumstances and outcomes of justice-involved populations.
For a 15-month period, beginning in June 2018, the Leadership Lab will bring up to four counties together to form a cohort that is focused on and committed to advancing the design and implementation of data- and outcome-centered processes that support system-wide decision making across justice, health and human services systems. Each county will form a multidisciplinary team to support its work to institutionalize data-driven policies and practices that cut across county systems and services.
The Leadership Lab is supported through a grant from The Kresge Foundation. Through grantmaking and social investing, Kresge works to expand opportunities and help create pathways for low-income people to improve their life circumstances and join the economic mainstream
Expectations
Counties selected to participate in the Leadership Lab will be expected to demonstrate progress in making connections between their health, human services and justice systems and using and analyzing data to create and/or expand opportunities that improve the well-being, self-sufficiency, stability and health outcomes (e.g., educational attainment, housing, food security, workforce participation and income, treatment engagement, utilization of primary care and preventative care services, family reunification, etc.) for a subset of the justice-involved population by appropriately and effectively directing services and supports.
- The Leadership Lab is a learning collaborative that requires participants to routinely contribute and share their processes and progress with other counties in the cohort.
- Selected counties will each form a multidisciplinary team that will work together to better coordinate health, human services and justice systems through the development of data- and outcome-driven processes.
- Each county selected to participate will develop a set of outcomes or performance measures that it will track for the targeted population it identifies and provide aggregated baseline information on those measures for that population. In addition, counties will be expected to develop or enhance and document a strategy to improve those outcomes and set reasonable milestones for a 15-month period that begins in June 2018 and ends in September 2019.
- Participating counties will document and share the analytic processes developed to identify the needs of the targeted population and the processes developed to access and use information from across systems.
- Selected counties will identify the specific policy opportunities that will promote the use of data and data sharing to enhance coordination across systems.
- Each county will submit a final report that details its efforts over the course of their participation in the Leadership Lab. Additional information on the final report will be provided to participating counties.
Commitment
- Over the course of 15 months, beginning in June 2018, counties that are selected to participate in the Leadership Lab will meet quarterly by video conference.
- Up to three team members including the commissioner/supervisor from each selected county will attend the NACo Annual Meetings in 2018 (Davidson County, Tenn.) and 2019 (Clark County, Nev.) and the NACo Legislative Meeting in March 2019 (Washington, D.C.). NACo will provide support for travel expenses.
- In July 2019, up to three team members including the elected commissioners/supervisors from each county will convene at the NACo Annual Conference in Clark County, Nev., to share with other counties attending the conference what they have learned and their progress with implementing data-driven strategies
- One of the counties selected for the Leadership Lab will be asked to host a peer exchange with support from NACo in August or September of 2019. The peer exchange will bring a group of county officials to the county to learn about the work being done, discuss lessons learned and to explore successful strategies that can be transferred and replicated by peers.
- With planning assistance from NACo, each county will host a local one-day forum with elected officials, decision-makers, policy implementers and other stakeholders from the justice, health and human services systems. The convening will focus on how to coordinate efforts across systems, address priorities and improve outcomes by identifying solutions and strategies to overcome barriers to advancing data-driven approaches. NACo will identify a meeting facilitator/coach who can guide the structure, dialogue and specific outcomes of the meeting. The goal of the meeting is to help county teams develop shared understandings and reach consensus on an actionable plan for addressing priorities.
Support
Counties selected for the Leadership Lab will have access to broad technical assistance opportunities and be provided with tools and resources to develop successful data-driven solutions to improve outcomes for individuals across systems and increase the operational efficiencies and effectiveness of county systems.
Selected counties will not receive a direct financial award. NACo has funding available to support travel and to cover registration fees for NACo conferences where attendance is required. NACo will cover expenses needed to host the community dialogues and peer exchange.
Team Requirements
Before applying, counties must form or have the strong foundation for a multidisciplinary team or working group.
The team must have one county commissioner/supervisor as well as a senior-level representative from each of the justice, health and human services systems. Teams should select up to four additional members from agencies or organizations needed to meet the expectations of the Leadership Lab, such as:
- County jail
- Community corrections
- Pretrial services
- Treatment provider
- Case management provider
- Homeless services
- Food assistance
- Public assistance
- Child welfare
- Family services
- Workforce development
- Education
- Information technology
- Veterans’ services
- Community action agency
Each team member must commit to staying engaged and designating a representative if he/she is unable to participate in project activities.
Application
The application includes two main parts: team member information and a statement of intent. Team member information should be submitted through the application form. The statement of intent should be submitted through the NACo website.
To preview the information needed to complete the team member section, please click here. To preview the questions included in the statement of intent, please click here.
Each county that applies for the Leadership Lab must designate a main point of contact who will act as a liaison between NACo and the county. The main point of contact should be one of the required team members.
NACo will begin accepting applications on March 2, 2018. The deadline to submit a completed application is 5:00pm ET on Friday, April 13, 2018. Counties will be notified of a decision on their application on or before 5:00pm ET on Friday, May 11, 2018.
Applications will be evaluated on:
- The quality and appropriateness of county teams
- The proposed benefits of the county’s participation
- The strength of existing efforts in the county to coordinate services across systems
- The innovation of efforts to enhance coordination across systems, and
- The ability of the county to clearly articulate how it would demonstrate progress to improve well-being, self-sufficiency, stability and health outcomes for its targeted population.
If you have questions, please contact Natalie Ortiz at nortiz@naco.org or 202.661.8868.
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