Our History: The CPC Story
Over the last decade, Los Angeles County government has begun intensive work with communities to improve outcomes for children and families. In fact, many observers note that the commitment to active partnerships between communities and government, as well as collaboration across public and private agencies, is more intense here than anywhere else in the country. Much of the credit belongs to the Los Angeles County Children's Planning Council, which has:
- Organized thousands of community members throughout L.A. to engage in planning with local government.
- Demonstrated the value of data-based planning to county departments that are increasingly using data to plan for new and improved services.
- Developed agreement on five outcome areas and a results-based decision-making and accountability framework.
- Developed and implemented common Service Planning Areas (SPA) as a shared structure for cross-departmental planning, information sharing and resource allocation. (In addition, grant makers such as United Way, the California Endowment, and the California Community Foundation are using the SPAs to guide resource distribution.)
- Organized nine Service Planning Area Councils as a community infrastructure to engage citizens in planning and monitoring the delivery of services.
- Facilitated commitment by key public agencies to implement an integrated services approach across agencies.
- Laid the groundwork for change so that new initiatives, such as welfare reform and Proposition 10, could "hit the ground running."
Background
In 1991, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors created the Children's Planning Council to serve as its principal planning body to help improve conditions for children and families in Los Angeles by improving the integration, coordination, and accessibility of health and human services. The Council's primary task was to develop a strategic plan for the county that would help end the unfocused use of resources that, without better planning, coordination, and tracking, had little promise of making an impact on the lives of disadvantaged kids and their families.
The Council is established as a public-private partnership composed of critical decision-makers with respect to children's services. The Council's members include representatives from both the public and private sector, such as United Way, League of California Cities, the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, Southern California Association of Philanthropy, members of the community - including service providers, the County's Chief Administrative Officer, and the directors of the six county health and human services departments. The Chair Pro-Tem of the Board of Supervisors is the Chair of the Children's Planning Council.
The Children's Planning Council has established itself as a respected planning body for the Board of Supervisors and for the Los Angeles community, its work carried out primarily by volunteers supported with funding from public and private sources. The Council has focused on helping county government move away from a culture of silo decision-making and competing interests to one that values results, accountability, collaboration, and integration of services. In addition, the Children's Planning Council has established a local government-community partnership, providing a regional infrastructure that connects countywide and neighborhood planning efforts that engages citizens in the planning for services to children and families across eight regions in the County.
Key accomplishments, all endorsed by the Board of Supervisors, include:
Vision for Children
Five Outcome Measures & Corresponding Indicators to Track Progress
- Geographic Planning Structure: Service Planning Areas (SPAs)
- Children's Score Card & Children's Budget
- Los Angeles County's First Action Plan for Children, Youth, and Families
- Directions, Strategies, and Recommendations for Improving Outcomes
- Community Partnership: Eight SPA Councils & the American Indian Children's Council
Going to the "Next Level"
Although we have much more work to do, our work to date has had an enormous impact on how L.A. County plans for and utilizes its resources for children and families. We can say with confidence that we work differently and smarter, we embrace community, and we have a laser-like sharp focus on improving the lives of children and families. These accomplishments - and the work, input, and contributions of hundreds of people over the past nine years - position the Council to move to the next level: demonstrate specific impacts on the lives of children and families in Los Angeles.
The Council is preparing to implement a practical demonstration of how the key elements it has worked so hard to develop - vision, credibility, organized and accessible data, and relationships at multiple levels - can be linked to results for children. Over the next three years, the Council will engage its partners in joint action on one area of child well-being that incorporates the five outcomes for children. This area - school readiness/school success - will result in mobilizing schools, cities, businesses, community organizations, faith-based groups/organizations, advocates, parents, and others toward improving the lives of children in Los Angeles.
Moving to this next level of work will require greater organizational capacity, focus, and committed partners. More specifically, the Council will:
- Mobilize the system of councils and County partners around the priority areas of child well-being
- Implement a communications plan to engage new partners and build public will
- Provide resources, training, and technical assistance to the councils and county partners
- Help build linkages to cities and schools and other key partners>
- Develop measures and indicators to track and measure our progress over time.
