Local Sustainability Planning
Under the HRSA RCORP initiative, our community of practice has tasked each of our local consortia with developing a sustainability plan that identifies strategies for sustaining the consortium over time. For the COP-RCORP planning initiative, the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool from Washington University in St. Louis is being used to assess the capacity of each local consortia’s infrastructure. In the sidebar are important points to consider when thinking about sustaining this project.
Local Consortia Plans
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Prioritization ProcessA strategic planning process often results in the development of many objectives and strategies. Unfortunately, all planning groups must contend with limited resources (time, money, and personnel). For this reason, not every objective, strategy, or project can be given the same level of resources. In fact, some ideas may have to be shifted into a “parking lot” to address at another time. The bottom line is that all groups have resource constraints and must prioritize strategies and objectives before moving forward. This is why priority setting is essential when developing a strategic plan. In fact, one of the toughest tasks in strategic planning is building concurrence within the consortium and among stakeholders for setting priorities. This template will walk your group through thinking about the prioritization process in a purposeful and intentional manner. Prioritization Process Template
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HRSA RCORP-Planning Strategic Planning Guidance and TemplateThis strategic planning guidance and template was created by JBS International for the HRSA RCORP-Planning Initiative. HRSA RCORP-P Strategic Planning Template – Created by JBS International
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OhioMHAS Strategic Planning TemplatesOver the past ten years and across many projects, OhioMHAS has supported the development of strategic planning templates. These templates were created by and for members of Ohio’s behavioral health system of care. The process began with Ohio’s Strategic Prevention – State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) in 2009 and has continued across several initiatives such as Ohio’s Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) Initiative and Ohio’s Community Collective Impact Model for Change (CCIM4C) Initiative. For the HRSA RCORP-Planning Initiative, we have developed two templates to guide communities through a planning process that: (1) builds upon the strengths of the planning process developed in Ohio’s prevention system and (2) parallels the requirements set forth by HRSA. In the OhioMHAS-developed planning process, two documents comprise the strategic planning process: the strategic plan map and the strategy description form. These documents have been updated for the HRSA RCORP-Planning Initiative. Strategic Plan Map Modified for the RCORP-Planning Initiative Strategy Description Form Modified for RCORP-Planning Initiative
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Crosswalking the OhioMHAS Strategic Planning Templates and the HRSA RCORP-P Strategic Planning TemplateTo demonstrate how the HRSA RCORP-P Initiative planning template and the OhioMHAS Strategic Planning Templates dovetail (and are both excellent tools to support strategic planning!), we have provided a crosswalk of these tools. Crosswalk Attachments: Webinar Slides Crosswalking the Ohio Strategic Planning Map with the JBS Template (6-26-2019) Ohio Strategic Plan Map Crosswalk to HRSA RCORP-P Initiative (6-26-2019)
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Resources on Strategic PlanningThis webinar on existing resources for strategic planning was put together to walk anyone through the available resources specifically for strategic planning for the HRSA RCORP-Planning initiative. However, these resources may be helpful for anyone engaging in a strategic planning process. Webinar slides Strategic Planning Resources quick-guide
Using the Online Sustainability Assessment Tool for COP-RCORP
The Program Sustainability Assessment Tool is setup as an online survey. Our master consortium is offering local consortia two options for completing the online assessment: group consensus and average scores. We created a tool for all consortia to use to let us know the option selected. After making this decision, download the customized instructions based on the selected approach. Click the flow chart below to download the instructions for each option and the tool choice.
Program Sustainability Assessment Tool from Washington University
The online Program Sustainability Assessment Tool by Washington University in St. Louis includes 40 questions across eight organizational and contextual domains. They intend this assessment to help community organizations and consortia build the capacity to maintain efforts, however they define the term “program.”
Developing a Sustainability Report
Once the Consortia Core Teams have entered their responses to the Sustainability Assessment, they receive a two-page summary report. This provides them with an overview of how they score on the eight domains. To facilitate local discussion about these results, the TTAE team developed a set of reflection questions. This tool may be found here: Reflection Questions for Developing a Sustainability Plan
After receiving the Assessment Report and Reflection Questions, the TTAE team transferred the information into a formatted Sustainability Plan and shared it with the Project Directors for their final review and approval.
Important Context Regarding Sustainability
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This sustainability assessment is not about sustaining a program or your current strategic plans. Instead, as we prepare to move toward implementation, it is as an opportunity to reflect on your local consortium’s capacity to engage, monitor, and adapt your plans to address opiate used disorders over time.
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As you and other staff answer the assessment questions, you will frequently see the word “Program”. It is important to consciously replace the word, “Program” every time it appears with “Local COP-RCORP Consortium.”
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We are not able to change the words in the questions, so you will need to make this replacement in your mind every time you see it.
Sustaining Capacity
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Many factors contribute to sustainability. The sustainability assessment tool will hopefully enable you to assess your Local CoP-RCORP Consortium’s current capacity for sustainability across a range of specific organizational and contextual factors.
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With knowledge of these critical factors, stakeholders can focus on building capacity for sustainability and positioning their efforts for long term success.
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As a reminder, your community has been selected for this HRSA initiative to build your local capacity. Please resist the urge to “paint a perfect” picture when responding to the questions.
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In fact, it is expected that you will have low ratings in one or more areas. You will utilize the identified sustainability strengths and challenges to reflect on your capacity to sustain your local efforts. This reflection will then be used to guide the development of a stainability plan.