PN TA Self-Assessment Survey for Planning Grantees

Promise Neighborhoods Technical Assistance Self-Assessment Tool for Planning Grantees

Using the Self Assessment Tool

The self-assessment tool can be completed in a relatively short amount of time online. After completing the online assessment, your technical assistance liaison will help you develop a plan for walking through the findings with leaders and senior managers in your lead and partner agencies and organizations. This will ensure that everyone who is accountable for parts of the planning process understands the big picture, how their efforts will need to relate to others, and what kinds of deliverables are expected in order to create a comprehensive business plan for implementation. Analyzing the findings from the self-assessment together will also allow you to begin to prioritize and develop a sequence for all of technical assistance you think you will need during the planning period.

You have five options in response to each of the statements in the self assessment:

1= I am uncertain about the strength of our approach and the kinds of capacity and resources needed to do this. If you rate yourself “1” on particular statements, you may want to consider sequencing the technical assistance you will need to address this area, beginning with planning and facilitation help to strengthen this part of your plan, and then defining and acquiring any capacity building assistance, learning, skill building, and other assistance you need to carry out this part of your plan.

2= I am confident in our approach, but think we need capacity building support and assistance to carry it out. If you rate yourselves “2” on a given statement, you will want to look carefully at your existing plan and identify what you think you need to learn, any relationships that may need to be built or strengthened, technical expertise they may be lacking, or additional skills people in your community will need to carry out this part of the plan.

3= I am confident we have the capacity and resources to do this, but would like to learn more about different ways to approach this part of our plan. Rating yourself “3” on a particular statement is an indication that you have strong capacity in this area, but feel that the planning process you have described might need strengthening. In this case you might consider seeking consultation or facilitation support to revisit the plan you outlined in your federal planning grant proposal and think carefully about who needs to participate in any assistance received in order for them to embrace and feel ready to implement the resulting plan.

4= I am confident we have a good plan and the capacity needed to carry it out. These are areas where you are building on existing strengths and feel comfortable with both your plan and the capacity you have to carry it out and are ready to hit the ground running.

5=This part of our plan is already substantially completed. Rating yourself “5” indicates that your community has already accomplished a particular part of the planning process. By the end of the planning grant period, you should be able to rate yourself “5” on virtually all of the statements.

After you complete the self assessment, your technical assistance liaison will work with you to generate ideas about the different kinds of technical assistance that can help you during the planning process. Your liaison will also help you prioritize and think about the right sequence for pursuing your technical assistance options.

Promise Neighborhoods Technical Assistance Self-Assessment Tool

Managing a Community-wide Results Process	1	2	3	4	5
We have a plan and the capacity to work with partners to agree on and commit to working together to achieve a set of desired results for the children and families in our target neighborhood
We know what process we will use to identify indicators of success and set challenging, but achievable targets to guide our planning and implementation
We have a plan for convening and supporting members of the community and key partners to develop the strategies that will make up our pipeline and regularly monitor progress toward our goals
We know how we will go about creating a culture of accountability for results and learning in partner organizations and the community as a whole
Creating an Overarching Business Plan	1	2	3	4	5
We have clear sense of the elements a results-driven business plan will contain and have a plan in mind and the capacity to develop it
We know how we need to structure our efforts to address the following issues during the planning process in order to produce the deliverables needed to create our business plan:
Engaging the community,
Creating accountable partnerships,
Using data for learning and accountability,
Developing our pipeline,
Developing a financing plan,
Addressing policy and regulatory issues,
Developing a communications plan to build public and political will, and
Building organizational and leadership capacity
We have identified and have in place the capacity-staff, consultants, expertise, and tools needed to develop our business plan
Authentically Engaging Children, Youth, and Families	1	2	3	4	5
We have good relationships with neighborhood residents and local leaders and are prepared to work with them to develop a range of ways in which they can participate in efforts to achieve our desired results
We are prepared to work closely with neighborhood residents of different racial, ethnic, and language groups
We know how we will involve children, youth, and families in conducting our needs assessment and segmentation analysis
We have a plan for engaging children, youth, and families in the development and delivery of our pipeline
We are clear about the roles that residents of the target neighborhood will play in making decisions about our Promise Neighborhoods initiative
We have a plan for assuring that residents of the target neighborhood have access to the information needed to hold us accountable for the quality and effectiveness of the supports, services, and opportunities that make up our pipeline
Structuring Effective and Accountable Partnerships	1	2	3	4	5
We have a plan in place for structuring and supporting the work of our Advisory Board/Committee during the planning process
We are clear how decisions will be made as we develop our Promise Neighborhoods plan
We have clearly defined roles and responsibilities of partner organizations
We are clear about how we will work with schools and our local school district during the planning process
We have a plan for how partners will regularly review data to guide the development of our plan and begin to align their policies and practices with the implementation approach we outline in our business plan
We have a plan in place for constructively addressing conflict during our planning process
We have a plan for developing an effective approach to governance and decision making for the implementation phase of our work
Using Data for Learning, Continuous Improvement, and Accountability	1	2	3	4	5
We have a process in place and the capacity to carry out our needs assessment and segmentation analysis
We have defined the indicators we will use for our needs assessment
We know what data we have can easily access and what we may need to gather in alternative ways
We have a plan for using both qualitative and quantitative data for our needs assessment
We know how we will disaggregate the data we collect during our needs assessment and how we will interpret that data to conduct our segmentation analysis
We have a process in place and the capacity to build a longitudinal data system during our planning year
We know what administrative data are available and how we will combine them into individual records
We have defined additional data that will be needed and have a plan for collecting them
We are aware of the range of confidentiality issues and regulations that must be addressed
We have defined and have a plan for addressing technology and data system issues
We have a plan in place and the capacity to set challenging but achievable targets for each of the indicators we are using to measure our success
We have a plan in place and the capacity needed to develop a plan for using data in real time for program improvement and accountability
We have a plan in place and the capacity to design a local evaluation and work with a national evaluator
We know how we will use the data produced by our local evaluation for planning and continuous improvement
We have a plan in place and the capacity to share data and report progress regularly to families, funders, and other stakeholders
Developing an Evidence-based Pipeline of Supports, Services, and Opportunities	1	2	3	4	5
We are clear how we will use the data from our needs assessment and segmentation analysis to inform the development of our pipeline and assure we target our interventions effectively
We know how we will assure that our pipeline is effective and produces results for different racial, ethnic, and language groups in our target neighborhood
We have identified the existing evidence-based interventions that we will build on
We have identified gaps in our continuum and have a process in mind for identifying the evidence-based practices we will use to fill those gaps
We know how we will develop plans to expand the reach of these individual interventions so that we serve more young people over time and are able to achieve better results at the scale we are seeking
We have identified the process we will use for assuring seamless linkages among the different interventions in our pipeline
We have identified a process for planning to “roll-out” and expand the reach of the entire pipeline over time
Developing a Strategic and Sustainable Financing Plan	1	2	3	4	5
We have an overall plan for costing out our Promise Neighborhoods approach
We know how many children and families we need to serve over time to achieve our desired results
We have developed a set of assumptions about how we will expand our interventions over time (e.g., adding evidence-based interventions to the continuum, expanding the service area, creating the capacity and infrastructure needed to reach more children and their families)
We have a plan for estimating the costs of achieving results of that magnitude that includes:
Program: The cost of starting-up and delivering the evidence-based interventions that make up our continuum
Infrastructure: Administrative/management, data and evaluation, training, technical assistance, communications, community outreach and engagement, policy/advocacy, and working with systems, etc.
Expansion and Cost Escalation: goals for expanding the services in the continuum, the service area, and the number of children, youth, and families served
We have a plan for and the capacity to present and analyze our cost assumptions in different ways (e.g., broken down by result area, by intervention, by cost per participant, etc.)
We have a process developed to map and analyze the current funding we can apply to implement our plan and the gaps in funding that exist
We have a plan for and the capacity to create a strategic plan with a variety of funding approaches to fill the gaps in resources and sustain our efforts over time
We have strong relationships with local funders and plan to use local resources to leverage state and federal funding
Addressing Policy and Regulatory Issues	1	2	3	4	5
We are prepared to map the range of local, state, and federal policies that can either support or impede our ability to achieve the results we are seeking
We have a plan for and the capacity to develop a targeted policy advocacy agenda, with clear goals and targets for needed policy changes, based on our read of the current economic and policy environment
We have the partnerships in place needed to successfully carry out our policy advocacy agenda
We have a plan in place for identifying federal policies and regulations that would impede the implementation of our Promise Neighborhoods plan and for sharing them with the Department of Education
Developing a Communications Plan to Build Public and Political Will	1	2	3	4	5
We have the capacity to create a communications plan that will describe the conditions, strengths, and needs of our target neighborhood help us build support for our work
We are clear about the audiences with which we want to communicate (e.g., policymakers, funders, the general public) and what we want them to do if our communication is successful
We know how we will use quantitative and qualitative data to communicate with the public, policymakers, and funders about the need for our work and the progress we make over time
Deepening Organizational and Leadership Capacity	1	2	3	4	5
We have a plan for deepening or developing a culture of accountability in our lead agency, partner organizations, and community as a whole
We have a plan for developing systems of support and accountability for front-line workers, managers, and leaders in the organizations that will deliver the pipeline
We have a plan for providing support to leaders in the community, our lead agency, and our partner organizations

SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SURVEY ONLY

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, WITH 5 BEING THE HIGHEST PLEASE RATE:

The Quality and Effectiveness of the Support Provided Directly by My Technical Assistance Liaison	1	2	3	4	5
Strategic advice and problem-solving support
Assessment of technical assistance needs and creation of an effective technical assistance plan
Brokering of needed technical assistance
Connection to peers in other communities
The Quality and Effectiveness of Technical Assistance Brokered by My Technical Assistance Liaison	1	2	3	4	5
The purpose and intended results of the TA were clear
The TA was delivered in a timely fashion
The TA was delivered by an experienced and knowledgeable provider
The TA delivered met my expectations
The TA delivered helped my community acquire the knowledge and capacity we needed to develop a high quality implementation plan

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