Understanding Partner Neighborhoods Module: Understanding Partner Neighborhoods This module provides an opportunity for members of the partner neighborhoods or communities (in those sites where Evidence2Success is being implemented community-wide rather than in particular neighborhoods) to share with the board what they think the neighborhoods/communities would like the board to know in order to work with the neighborhoods more effectively. (If you are in a larger city with partner neighborhoods, then presenters should make this module about the neighborhoods. If you are in a smaller city and not focusing on particular neighborhoods, then presenters should make this module about the community as a whole.) This module is part the Community Board Orientation workshop. In this module, participants will: Consider history, demographics and environment of partner neighborhood(s)/community Consider strengths, needs and challenges of children and youth in partner neighborhood(s)/community Decide whether partner neighborhoods/community have sufficient representation on the community board Identify appropriate next steps Advance Preparation: Provide presenters with this PowerPoint deck to edit and adapt for their presentation. Have the presenters create a handout about their neighborhood for use with slide 5. This module is to be completed and presented by representatives from the partner neighborhoods. These representatives may be members of the community board.

Getting to know our partner Neighborhoods Neighborhood names here Name the partner neighborhoods and introduce the representatives who will be presenting about them today. Point out that copies of the presenters’ slides and handouts are in their handout packets. Use this slide only if working with partner neighborhoods. If working with the community as a whole, then delete this slide. Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation

What We All Want for Youth Prepared for Success Ready to Learn Healthy Development In this section we are looking at the partner neighborhood(s) for Evidence2Success here in this city. What we want is healthy development and better outcomes for youth, so that they enter adulthood prepared for success. We want this for our city as a whole, so why focus on neighborhoods at all? Remind people of the vision presented in the initial Evidence2Success module for this workshop. Have volunteers see if they remember any key statements from it. To sum up, our vision is for the youth of the community to develop in a healthy way, enter school ready to learn, and leave school prepared for success. But remember, this is on a community-wide level, or at least (in the early stages of implementation) a neighborhood-wide goal. So let’s think about Evidence2Success and neighborhoods for now. We will expand and scale up Evidence2Success as time goes on. (If any one asks: What do we mean by scale? We want to scale tested, effective programs throughout the community (as appropriate) but we also want to spread other elements of Evidence2Success citywide: Broadening partnerships to include users of services Priority setting based on data and the city’s inventory of investments Use of evidence in selection of interventions Continuous quality improvement) Photos: Jason Miczek (Left, Right), Carol Highsmith (Center)

Defining a Community or Neighborhood How do you define your neighborhood or community? Geographical boundaries? Schools? Landmarks? Population? State of mind or shared sense of identity? History? Future? How do others who live there define it? Mental set: How do you define a neighborhood or community? Your own, for example. What criteria would you use? Have some volunteers answer with their criterion and why they chose it. Keep the discussion brief. Pose the following question now, and tell them you’ll come back to it at the end of this section: How do these factors affect the likelihood of success in a neighborhood?

What May Make Partner Neighborhoods a Good Fit From System Perspective Community readiness: shared priorities, existing organizing efforts, history of successful collaboration and use of data. Need (e.g., poverty) Reasonable population size (not too small or too large, e.g. 10,000– 30,000 and significant proportion of children under age 18) Significant public system involvement (e.g., foster care) A middle and elementary school tied to neighborhood for programming These are factors that indicate to participating public systems that a neighborhood or community might be a good candidate for being part of the Evidence2Success initiative. Please take a moment to review the points on this slide. Why school feeder patterns (fifth bullet point)? This is of interest where the Evidence2Success effort focuses on partner neighborhoods rather than the entire community. If neighborhood children stay in the neighborhood for school, then the effects of prevention and early intervention programs remain concentrated in the neighborhood. Why a middle and elementary school (sixth bullet)? Prevention and early intervention efforts are more effective with children of elementary and middle school age. Thus, if we’re focusing on partner neighborhoods, we want to make sure we’ll be working with children of the right age groups. (The Youth Experience Survey is for children in grades 6–12, but Evidence2Success also has a Childhood Experience Survey for parents of elementary school-age children. Some communities prefer to focus their attention on children in that age group.)

From the Community’s Perspective? Demographics Needs and Strengths Public System Expenditures Other Data Historical Perspective Population Shifts and Migration Patterns Relationship with Public Systems Existing Initiatives Experience with Data What else? Presenter introduces this segment by saying something like this: I'm here to tell you a little bit more about my neighborhood. Walk with me a little bit, and let's dive deeper into what life is like for the people who live there. We've prepared a handout called "Portrait of our Neighborhood" to bring out some key points. It’s in your handout packet. Pause for participants to find it, then lead them through the main points (history, demographics, and the remaining topics). Handout Fact sheet prepared by the presenter(s) about the partner neighborhood(s)/community detailing the factors on this slide and the previous one that they consider important. (Suggestion: Include a map of the neighborhood from Google Maps.) Base this on the Portrait of Our Neighborhood template provided. This includes the following information: Demographics, population size, proportion of children under age18 Data on notable needs (e.g., poverty, educational attainment)—an opportunity to delve into administrative data Expenditures on public system involvement Other data? Historical perspective Demographic shifts and migration patterns. Relationship with public systems. Experience with structural racism. (Structural racism—which does not require individual racist actors—refers to a system of social structures that produces cumulative, durable, race-based inequities. Such a system can include many factors working interactively to distribute advantages and disadvantages along racial lines.) Work with existing initiatives. Experience and comfort level with decision making based on data Anything else that needs to be said about the neighborhood(s)/community? Presenter: Now that you've walked with me down some neighborhood streets, what other questions do you have for us? What do you think this group can do to really work well with us in a meaningful way?

<Insert Neighborhood Name> and Its Children Children’s health and development Behavior Educational Achieve-ment Emotional Well-being Physical Health Relation-ships Here’s what’s happening in our neighborhood (or community). We’re really proud of … Provide examples (or a list) of current efforts in the partner neighborhood(s)/community for each of these areas. (Presenters should make note of the examples while they are preparing this presentation.) We want to work with you to overcome our major challenges… Provide examples of major challenges in some of these areas.

Local Support for Key Concepts Community readiness rests on: shared priorities partnership efforts: patterns of collaboration data guiding decisions The slide shows key concepts from Evidence2Success. These are necessary for success, but need not be present at the outset. If they are not initially present, however, some groundwork will have to be laid. (See stakeholder assessment guide for more information.) Discussion: To what extent are these factors present in the partner neighborhoods/community right now? (Structure this as a panel discussion of two or more presenters are present for this segment.)

Concluding Questions What opportunities do you see for strengthening this neighborhood/community’s engagement in Evidence2Success? What challenges do you see? What excites you? What, if anything, do you need to know more about? Next steps? Discussion in table groups: Based on what you’ve heard today and your own knowledge of our community and its neighborhoods, how do you think the partner neighborhood(s) could be more deeply included in Evidence2Success? Or how could it be consulted more effectively or be better informed? Is it represented sufficiently on the community board? Each table then shares insights from its discussion. Participants may want to think more deeply about the partner neighborhoods. The handout might give them more food for thought. Offer a chance for other thoughts. Then, flipchart concrete action steps the group commits to take for outreach, to address concerns or increasing representation as appropriate. Debrief At the start of this module, you were asked to make a mental note of what the single most important thing would be to know about our partner neighborhoods/community in order to collaborate effectively. Was your mental note addressed in this module? Take comments from several volunteers.