Community Connect

ISSUE 2 • SEPTEMBER 2008

E-news from Family and Community Services

Welcome to the second edition of Family and Community Services' e-newsletter. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to tell us your stories, please email us on enews@facs.govt.nz.

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Issue Two - September 2008:

West Coast Campaign wins health award

New Early Years Hub in Mt Roskill

New reporting tool for Family Start

Good Morning to focus on positive parenting

FIANZ promotes a "Strong Families - Better Society" message

Campaign resonates with Māori and Pacific people

Ministry website gets a new look

Northcote community sees a positive difference

Trying hard is not good enough - Results Accountability Framework

Rodney Community Profile launched

Tātai Kōrero DVD celebrates Māori parents

Teen Parent Project receives recognition it deserves

Māori and Pacific Family Violence Programmes of Action focus on strengths

What's happening in the community

Trying hard is not good enough - Results Accountability Framework

"Is anyone better off?" is the question at the core of a simple but effective way of measuring results - one increasingly being used by government and non-government agencies like Family and Community Services, Christchurch City Council and Richmond New Zealand, a community mental health and support services provider.

The Results Accountability process, developed by American public policy expert Mark Friedman, centres on the belief that trying hard is not enough: we need to see results.  Results are expressed in plain English and described in a way that people recognise as important.

"The process is practical," said Brenda Hegarty, Family and Community's National Advisor. "People need to use a common language so that when they are talking about the results they are meaning and measuring the same thing."

Family and Community Services has hosted a number of workshops run by Mark Friedman throughout New Zealand that focused on helping staff and others gain an understanding of the Results Accountability framework.

"We believe the framework will prove useful as we move forward in discussions with local authorities, other government agencies and the community sector about delivering effective services for families," said Brenda.

Results Accountability is made up of two parts:

• Population Accountability - looking at the well being of whole populations within communities, such as healthy and safe communities, which can only be achieved by agencies working together.
• Performance Accountability - looking at the well being of client populations within programmes and agencies, such as children fully immunised, which is usually the responsibility of a single agency.

Results Accountability emphasises the importance of participants not trying to be accountable for the results they cannot possibly achieve alone.

» For more information check www.resultsaccountability.com.