The Abc Service Agency Tourism Essay

This plan was developed with broad involvement and guidance from the Board of Directors and staff. The Strategic Planning Committee included seven board members and four staff on the management team. This Committee including several past presidents of the board met twice to reflect on the mission, vision, core operating values and assumptions underlying the organization’s approach to its work. These meetings set the stage for a work session of the full board during which the organization’s strategic direction was defined. The staff helped coordinate the planning process and provided important support and analysis to complete this plan.

The ABC Service Agency began in 1961 as a volunteer parent support group. Today the organization provides supports and services annually to nearly 2,000 children and adults with disabilities and their families, and is one of the county’s largest employers. Its assistance is designed to support individuals and their families from birth through the senior years.

The Agency services include residential services and support job placement and support, planned relief for the caregivers of children and adults with disabilities, social activities, and vocational training. The Agency also offers information and referral services, and works to educate community.

3 Direction and Results

The Agency strategic direction and goals included in this plan are The Agency’s response to its understanding of what its customer’s value most about the organization, and current opportunities and challenges for offering a high quality system of support in the community for people with disabilities.

The five-year period of this strategic plan will be a time of assessing and deepening

With a fresh perspective on its mission, understanding what it does well, and the environment in which it operates, The Agency will pursue the following strategic direction:

1. Agency will review and deepen its existing direct supports and services over time to ensure that they are state-of-the art for working effectively with children and adults with disabilities.

2. Agency will further assess consumer and community needs to identify gaps or needed shifts in service delivery.

3. Agency will take a leadership role in working with a range of providers to identify and meet the needs of children and adults with disabilities.

4. Agency will explore the feasibility of expanding the organization’s visibility in the community and making greater use of volunteers.

5. The Agency will emphasize building its discretionary financial resources to invest in providing quality services.

4 Set goals

The following goals for The Agency over the next five years are the organization’s response to the important issues identified in the environmental scan that was completed as part of the strategic planning process. These goals provide a roadmap for fulfilling the strategic direction.

5 Delivery of services

The Agency will provide model supports for people with disabilities and their families, either directly or through partnerships with or referrals to other service providers in the following areas:

• “work week” opportunities (e.g. employment and day supports)

• Recreation and leisure activity

• Residential support (e.g. community living and participation)

• Family support and education

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

6 Human Resources

The Agency will develop a stable, highly qualified and motivated workforce that actively delivers the organization’s mission.

7 Resource Development

The Agency will be a highly visible, well-respected, non-profit organization that attracts increased numbers of volunteers and higher levels of contributions to support operations and the endowment fund.

Successful implementation of this strategic plan will result in more quality supports and services delivered to consumers, The ultimate result It is about changing community conditions that make full community life possible for every person.

8 Organization of the Strategic Plan

This plan has two purposes. First, it presents the most comprehensive compilation of the plan and its component parts. Second, it is a reference guide for strategic planning. At the beginning of each section a box includes a definition of the component part. There are a few footnotes with additional helpful tips about how The Agency can use the information in the plan. In the future

8.1 Company Vision

Vision statement describes the organization in the somewhat distant future twenty to

30 years. Components of the vision statement may include: 1) how big is the reach or scope of the work? 2) What is the organization doing? What is its role? 3) What does the organization itself look like? 4) Who are biggest partners? 5) What are the major sources of funding? It may also include major external context or assumptions that will influence this vision.

9 20-Year Vision for the Agency

9.1 In The Context

In the year 2025, greater acceptance and full inclusion by the community, improved services and support and more prevalent and helpful technology will add to the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities. At the same time, because of population growth, the aging of the population, and higher incidences of multiple diagnoses, the needs of people with disabilities and their families will remain extensive and varied.

Finally, people with disabilities and their families will control more of the resources and decisions about who provides them with help and support.

10 Role and Program Services

The Agency is the leader in identifying needs and bringing together all kinds of resources and services for all children and adults with disabilities and their families in the county to support full long-term community inclusion and participation.

Specifically The Agency:

• Leads a collaboration of providers and community organizations and programs

• Directly provides cutting-edge, model services that meet identified gaps

• Collaborates with and makes referrals to other high-quality service providers

• Leads many advocacy efforts to ensure services are provided either by The Agency or other providers.

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

11 Funding Sources

While government contracts are still a significant source of funding, The Agency has a robust and innovative fundraising program earning resources from private sources including individuals and businesses.

12 Company Mission

Achieving full community life for children and adults with disabilities – one person at a time.

The Agency introduces a new sharper mission statement in this strategic plan. This statement reflects two dimensions, they are:

Achieving means insuring that individuals with disabilities have the right combination of support and opportunity to experience their own individual potential.

Full community life means the opportunity for every individual with disabilities to actively participate with their family, friends, co-workers and other valued relationships in creating a life that is joyful and fulfilled.

13 Core Operating Values

Core Operating Values are the fundamental values or ideals at the heart of the organization. They articulate ideals that the organization aspires to hold itself accountable for and offer guidance about how the organization behaves in carrying out its mission.

The following core operating values influence the culture and public image of The Agency

Caring Attitude – The Agency demonstrates compassionate support and concern for people with disabilities and their families

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

Responsiveness – The Agency finds solutions that meet the needs and preferences of people with disabilities and their families through direct service or referrals to other providers.

Respectfulness – The Agency honours the choices of people with disabilities, encouraging each person to take control over his/her own life, and helps to shape these based on what is important to each consumer.

Individualized Support -Agency knows that people’s needs vary significantly and can change over time;

Diversity – The Agency understands that people with disabilities are part of all races, ethnicities and religions;

Integrity and Accountability – The Agency has the highest level of integrity in its administrative, service, and outreach activities; we tie these activities directly to our mission, and we maintain and report our records accurately.

State of the Art Practices -The Agency aims for excellent, high quality, state-of the-art approaches that people with disabilities and their families can always count on to be there.

Partnerships – The Agency works with a wide variety of partners and advocates for quality service by all partners.

Advocacy – The Agency educates the public and advocates for the long-term best’s interests of people with disabilities and their families.

Financial Sustainability – The Agency believes its work as an advocate and service provider will be needed for many years into the future.

14 Underlying Service Assumptions

This is a set of beliefs about the world that frame an organization’s work.

Directors and staff believe that the actions they will take will have the desired results.

All of The Agency’s services and the way it goes about its work are based on fundamental beliefs best way to support people with disabilities. The

Agency believes:

• All people have equal rights.

• All people have strengths and assets.

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

• It is possible to make a positive difference in the lives of children and adults with disabilities.

• People thrive when they make their own choices and people with disabilities are capable of and have the right to make their own decisions;

• People with disabilities deserve the same opportunity to participate in their community.

• Engaging and participating in community life has a positive impact on people with disabilities.

• People with disabilities are valuable members of their communities.

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

15 Summary of Most Important Points in the Environment

An environmental scan, called the e-scan for short, is a process for discovering and documenting facts and trends in the operating environment of an organization that are likely to affect the organization in its future work. E-scan findings are used to orient strategic planning participants on the context in which the organization’s mission is carried out. The e-scan can also include a summary of internal information about the organization and its history including who has been served, results it has achieved, its current structure, and financial data. It is often put in the framework of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis

Threats are external activities or trends that threaten the current and future success of the organization.

Strengths

The Agency’s key strengths include the organization’s demonstrated ability to provide high quality, necessary services, which help people with disabilities live a fuller life in the community. Staffs are committed, and the services and programs offered are monitored for quality. When there is a challenge, the organization meets it through innovation. The Agency has an excellent reputation and is looked to by other service providers as a leader.

Weaknesses

Some believe that The Agency’s significant growth has led to challenges to human resources, difficulty with supervision, lack of structure for coordination among departments, and inconsistent administrative and clerical support. There is a perceived need for improved management practices, use of technology, and increased use of volunteers. Issues with the employment program were mentioned, including tracking, matching people to jobs, training, and finding more opportunities.

Opportunities

The opportunities considered most important included: Increasing community acceptance and opportunity for further inclusion through employment. There appears to be increased emphasis on inclusion at schools and increased openness by employers to hire people with disabilities. These changes make The Agency’s philosophy more prevalent and may increase demand for its services and opportunities for employment and inclusion.

Government Agency Waiver. Government will now provide the person with disabilities with a check to buy services.

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Threats

The threats considered most important included: Dependence on government funding. Funding, particularly the residential funding stream, doesn’t keep up with needs.

Implications: The Agency needs to assess the real demand for its services, increase private pay options, and be prepared to explore other opportunities for generating revenue. The question of what happens when private money is gone needs to be addressed.

Other threats mentioned included:

• The aging population, which means aging caregivers and aging people with disabilities. The improvements in medicine mean people are living longer.

• There are a lot of nonprofits in the county, and volunteers and donors may not be engaged forever with a single service provider.

• Employment for persons with disabilities, especially in bad economic times, gets very difficult.

• Rising housing prices make affordable housing increasingly difficult to find and maintain.

16 Strategic Direction

The strategic direction is a succinct statement about the strategy or approach an organization will take toward its work over a specific period of time. The statement is based on a combination of both the current environment (the opportunities and threats facing the organization) and the mission and competencies of the organization. It is often a direct response to the strategic questions asked by an organization.

Based on the Board of Directors’ understanding of The Agency’s mission, primary customer, core values, and the opportunities and threats in the current environment, the next three to five years will be a time of assessing and deepening its approaches to its work. Concurrently, The Agency will take more of a leadership role in working with a broader array of community resources, and it will explore the feasibility of actively engaging volunteers.

The Agency will review and deepen its existing direct supports and services over time to ensure that they are they are state-of-the art for working effectively with children and adults with disabilities.

They will further assess consumer and community needs to identify gaps or opportunities for shifts in service delivery.

17 Goals Areas

Goals and objectives set out the broad results that the organization hopes to achieve within a specific time period (goals) and statements of shorter term results and collections of activities (objectives) which if achieved will constitute and achievement of the goals.

In order to pursue the strategic direction described above, The Agency will fulfil the following goals and objectives.

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

18 Delivery of Service

The Agency will provide model supports for people with disabilities and their families, either directly or through partnerships with or referrals to other service providers in the following areas:

• “work week” opportunities (e.g. employment and day supports)

• Recreation and leisure activity

• Residential support (e.g. community living and participation)

• Family support and education

19 Main Objectives:

A. Employment Support

1. More people with disabilities find and keep jobs in the community that pay a living wage and are satisfying.

2. The number of referrals for jobs and the amount of available training support increases.

3. There is an increase in the number of businesses in the county that employ people with disabilities.

4. Local public policy continues to create favourable conditions for supported employment.

1. Increase in the number of consumers in all programs over 5 years with disabilities who are using community resources in the county.

2. Consumers have greater choices and opportunities in social, recreational and civic activities in the community.

3. Consumers are more socially interactive and are better integrated into the community.

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

C. Family Support and Education

1. More families with young children use The Agency as their “go to” resource for early information and guidance.

2. Consumers and their families have a structured approach for planning for all phases of life cycle transitions (e.g. children to youth, youth to young adulthood, adulthood to senior years, end of life).

19.1 Human Resources

The Agency will develop a stable, highly qualified and motivated workforce that actively delivers the organization’s mission.

19.2 Objectives:

1. The Agency improves its capacity to attract and retain qualified direct care staff.

2. All staff thoroughly understands the meaning of the mission and how their job contributes to achieving it.

3. A professional development program is implemented to strengthen and expand the supervisory and management capacity and opportunities among mid-level managers.

4. A professional development program is implemented to strengthen and expand the capacity of direct support staff to be community liaisons and successfully integrate the consumers they support into the community.

19.3 Resource Development

The Agency will be a highly visible, well-respected nonprofits organization that attracts increased numbers of volunteers and higher levels of contributions to support operations and the endowment fund.

19.4 Objectives:

A. Visibility

1. Update the communication plan to align with the strategic plan.

2. Use strategic communication to facilitate volunteer recruitment.

B. Volunteers

1. Increase by 50% volunteers who are involved in all activities of The Agency.

2. Establish a volunteer development program, including selection, training, leadership development and recognition.

3. There is an increase in the number of family members and other volunteers who are actively involved in advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities.

C. Fundraising

1. The Endowment Fund reaches $1 million in assets.

2. There is an increase by 25% in the amount of contributions that support the operating budget.

3. A maintenance fund is established and dollars are raised annually to sustain it. (Amount to be determined with additional research.)

20 Strategic Action Plan Focus by Year

The following is a summary of the anticipated major focus of activities by goal (in addition to on-going operations) for The ABC Service Agency Board of Directors and Staff in each year of the strategic plan.

20.1 Year Summary of Activity

1 Service Delivery

• Shift from strategic planning to plan implementation

• Administrative department and staff reorganization; new Administration, Finance and Facilities Department

Resource Development

• New Development Specialist position

• Update the communication plan to align with the strategic plan

2 Service Delivery

• Fully develop capacity of the new administrative support team and strengthen program delivery with new practices using existing resources

• Program Directors working to strengthen program integration

• Employment support triage to strengthen training and placement

• Partnership with business in The County

• Increase advocacy efforts with HCPSS and DORS

• Work on communication skills to support people with disabilities accessing and using community resources

• Develop agency-wide interest inventory

• Pilot “typical after work” activities

• Reorganize family support for increased capacity for meeting needs of families with young children.

• Management Team focus on “best practices”

Human Resources

• Update training curriculum for direct support staff

Note this is a sample plan and is not intended to refer to any particular organization.

20.2 Year Summary of Activity

• Creation of professional development program for direct support staff

Resource Development

• Plan for expanded use of volunteers

• Establishment of Volunteer Leadership Development program

• Build capacity of resource development efforts including technology and tracking giving trends

• Information/funding raising breakfast events

• Begin seeking support for endowment fund

• Develop maintenance fund and secure initial funding

3 Service Delivery

• Continue work to strengthen service delivery

• Formalize system of professional development for direct support staff

• Implement processes for assessing satisfaction with employee supports and tracking participation with community resources and expanded family support and education support

• Expand internship initiative with businesses

• Community Access Specialist position

• “Meet the Agency” events for families & children

• Strengthen supports and approaches for managing life cycle transitions

Human Resources

• Implement new staff committee structure

Resource Development

• Begin to implement volunteer services plan, including hiring a Volunteer

Coordinator

• Implement a fall fundraising event

4 All Goals

• Develop expanded action plan

Service Delivery

• Continue developing and stabilizing all new activities and initiatives

Expand marketing for employment services to expand the number of people who are supported

• Dedicate portion of rolling access funds to support access to community resources

• Community Access Specialist focuses on relationship skill building for people with disabilities to further support community integration

Human Resources

• Continue focus on staff development including developing a supervisory and management curriculum for mid-level staff

Resource Development

• Continue to grow volunteer program

• Continue strengthening resource development efforts

5 All Goals

• Continue developing and stabilizing all new activities and initiatives; begin increasing numbers of consumers supported across program areas

• Take broad look at lessons learned in terms of successes and obstacles in implementing all new activities and initiatives

• Plan for new strategic plan