Model Initiatives | June 30, 2008 Community-Needs Assessments New Dem Play | Conducting comprehensive community-needs assessments in targeted neighborhoods with city employees, community groups, and local volunteers Where It's Working | San Francisco, Calif. Players | Local officials More Social, Family, & Housing Policy Plays Cities and counties face many obstacles as they work to transform local neighborhoods in need. Poor communication, lack of coordination, redundant providers, rigid boundaries, and ill-defined priorities reduce the effectiveness of well-intentioned community development efforts. At a time when funds are especially scarce, policymakers must continually find ways to reduce inefficiencies and waste. In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom worked to change that dynamic by making government programs more efficient and available to city residents. San Francisco's Project Connect, reaches out to the city's many diverse communities -- bringing together city employees, neighborhood residents, and local faith- and community-based organizations. Through Project Connect, teams conduct comprehensive community-needs assessments in targeted neighborhoods across the city to find the most pressing needs and connect people to the local government. The teams started by targeting public housing developments and worked out into the surrounding communities. Through this project city officials: Conduct a door-to-door assessment of the needs of predominantly low-to-moderate income households; Heighten the awareness of existing programs and services available to neighborhood residents; and Establish a clear presence in the community during times of violence or emergency. Like many cities, San Francisco has a complex and capable set of agencies ready to provide innumerable services for its residents: childcare; assistance for the disabled; domestic violence counseling; physical and mental health care; job placement and training; senior services; substance abuse recovery; housing services; tutoring programs; and senior services. However, often citizens do not know how to take advantage of these services and conversely city leaders often do not have the information to know how to best tailor services to meet the needs of their communities. "We are going to make City Hall smarter and more connected to the people we serve and we're going to do more with less." -- Mayor Gavin Newsome, San Francisco, Calif. In San Francisco, teams of more than 100 city workers and hundreds of local volunteers have begun solving this dual problem. They successfully perform double duty: getting out the word about existing city services and also collecting details and data that will then be used by the city government to better craft services for residents. Project Connect's success has also become integral to the city's community development funding process. With a far more accurate picture of the needs of each community and its residents, San Francisco can now award community development block grants to local groups who have better information about the needs of the neighborhood and have a clear goal of how to meet these needs. In addition, Project Connect has made it possible for the city to launch Project Homeless Connect, an effort aimed at helping San Francisco's homeless population. Making its debut in October 2004, Project Homeless Connect brought out more than 300 city employees to survey and reach out to San Francisco's homeless population. The project, now a one-day, bi-monthly event, brings together an average of 1500 homeless clients to a wide array of government and non-profit services that too often go unused. At each event, some 1500 volunteers work to determine the needs of the homeless and help them find the appropriate assistance, with the goal of moving them into permanent and supportive housing. Hundreds of formerly homeless San Franciscans have found housing since Project Homeless Connect's inception. This approach to helping the homeless has evolved into a model program for 30+ municipalities nationwide. "The goal of this initiative is to learn from our collective experience, tap into the enthusiasm of committed San Franciscans and together, one-by-one, transition people in need from the street into housing linked with supportive services," Newsom said about Project Homeless Connect. Resources For Action "Connecting Communities: The Project Connect Report," San Francisco Mayor's Office of Community Development, January 2005 www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/mocd/1-6-05pcfinalreport.pdf Mayor's Office of Community Development, Project Connect, San Francisco www.sfgov.org/site/mocd_index.asp?id=26248 Mayor's Office of Community Development, Project Homeless Connect, San Francisco www.projecthomelessconnect.com Additional Reading "Huge volunteer turnout, new housing are latest signs of progress in S.F.," San Francisco Chronicle, February 18, 2005 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi? file=/c/a/2005/02/18/MNGN5BDOGR1.DTL "Data-Driven Government Performance," State and Local Playbook http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=139 &subid=272&contentid=250743 Contacts Judith Klain Deputy Director Project Homeless Connect Community Programs Administration San Francisco Department of Public Health 1380 Howard Street Room 2nd floor PH: (415) 255-3908 FAX: (415-252-3036 Judith.Klain@sfdph.org Katie Campbell Policy Analyst Progressive Policy Institute 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20003 (202) 547-0007 202) 544-0054 (fax) kcampbell@ppionline.org