| Note: For a community prevention campaign to succeed, many different sectors of the community --- especially those sectors which are most affected by the activities and the desired outcome of the prevention efforts -- must be involved in planning, determining, and implementing the campaign. Toward this end, the campaign must work to include these communities so that they feel an increasing sense of shared ownership and have an increasing level of responsibility for the prevention campaign. It was be a collaborative effort. |
| Step 1: | SELECTING. Define the community that you are assessing. Enter its name on the line in the upper left corner. |
| Step 2: | ASSESSMENT. For each question in the left-hand column, answer "yes," "no," or "don't know" (D.K.) for each sector of the community listed across the top of the grid. Use another sheet to add other sectors or actors important to your collaboration, if needed. Skip any sectors that you believe are irrelevant to developing ownership of your collaboration. Fill in all the appropriate boxes. |
| Step 3: | SCORING. Each "yes" answer is equal to 1 point. "No's" and "don't knows" are equal to zero. Add each column for all relevant sectors and actors. An examination and comparison of the scores will show you who is most likely and least likely within your target community to feel a sense of ownership. A score of 5 or 6 means the people or institutions in that sector are very likely to feel a sense of ownership and therefore support and extend the reach of your effort. A score of 2 or less indicates people, groups, or institutions whose involvement in your Partnership is minimal or nonexistent. |
| Step 4: | ACTION. If there are people or groups whose ownership and involvement you want to increase, first clarify the "don't knows" by asking them. Their answers are likely to point toward corrective measures to take regarding the membership, design, and operation of your collaboration. Then, develop a community specific action plan to increase the ownership by that community of your collaboration's agenda and work. |
| Elite Gatekeepers | Political Power Holders | Human Service Professionals & Agencies | Business Leaders | Aspiring Political Power Seekers | Grassroots Helpers & Leaders | Social & Religious Institutions | Member of a Specific Culture/ Ethnic Group | Other | |
| Is the collaboration's view compatible with their view of the problem and solution? | |||||||||
| Is the work of the collaboration a high priority for them? | |||||||||
| Have they been actively involved in other collaborations or other prevention activities? | |||||||||
| Do they have some role in the decision-making process of the collaboration? | |||||||||
| Have they shown commitment to or made some investment in the collaboration or in prevention? | |||||||||
| Do they have a sense of control over the collaboration's process and outcomes? | TOTAL: |
| Yes | No | Don't Know |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Is the collaboration's view compatible with your view of the problem and solution? | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Is the work of the collaboration a high priority for you? | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Have you been involved in other collaborations or other prevention activities? | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Do you have some role in the decision-making process of the collaboration? | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Have you shown commitment to or made some investment in the collaboration or in prevention? | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Do you have a sense of control over the collaboration's process and outcomes? | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| TOTAL: ____________ |
| a) | Norms and resources of the community |
| b) | Needs of the community |
| c) | Indigenous leadership, identification of natural support systems |
| d) | Income and educational levels of the community.
(You could obtain the latter information through the Bureau of Census Neighborhoods Statistics Report.) |
| a) | Whom will you contact as a point of entry? Why? |
| b) | What will be your strategy to penetrate this community? |
| c) | If you are a member of this community, how will you promote your collaboration among your group? (A way of developing point of entries that are effective is to contact local community health centers, schools, and other agencies with a long-standing commitment to the community.) |
| a) | Do you have an example that you could use that has been successful with other communities you have approached? |
| b) | What "tool" will you use with communities you have not yet approached? (The collaboration must assure community residents that this is not a "temporary" effort but a process to build and sustain community ownership. The collaboration's commitment to provide assistance and resources is essential to building trust and credibility among community residents.) |
| a) | Familiarity with street layout and daily cycle of human behavior is essential. It is useful to visit or, if you are a resident of the community, to take the time to examine the routines of the community, including where different people gather-the location of churches, restaurants, recreation centers, schools, and other community centers. |
| b) | Identify the helpers of the community to whom people go in times of distress. Whom do people trust? |
| c) | Analyze the differences between the routines of the weekdays, weekends, and celebrations. |
| d) | Examine the norms of the community in terms of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. As much as you feel safe and can do it, talk with people around different issues in an open-ended format. |
| e) | Sample questions:
|
| a) | How will you organize such a board? |
| b) | Whom will you invite to become a member? Why? |
| c) | What structure and mechanisms will you use to make sure that this board is not simply in paper but that it accomplishes the work it is supposed to do? |
| d) | How will you sustain and maintain this community board? |
| a) | How will you involve the community in the needs assessment? |
| b) | If your collaboration already did a needs assessment, how was the community involved? Was it effective? Did you share the results with the community? |
| c) | Did the community participate in assessing its own needs and resources? |
| d) | Are some of the people who participated in the needs-assessment process still involved in the collaboration's prevention efforts? |
| e) | Do you think you still need to involve other groups? Why? |
| a) | How many members are representatives of the community you are trying to impact? |
| b) | How do you attempt to increase the level of community ownership in your collaboration? |
| c) | Is the community board involved in identifying the funding of the prevention efforts, to make sure that there is continuity and progress in the work planned? |