Community Level Change Model
South Bay Center
for Counseling has been instrumental in developing and
implementing a primary prevention model designed to integrate
three strategies: building neighborhood based and/or common link
social networks; increasing economic opportunities and career
pathways; and, increasing access to and utilization of family
desired, beneficial services, activities, resources and support
throughout Long Beach and the South Bay Communities of Los
Angeles (LA County, Service Planning Area 8).
The goal for South
Bay Center for Counseling has been to implement an innovative
strategy that could support and galvanize community residents to
create their own community response to improving their
communities and contributing to safe and supportive environments
for their and the neighborhood’s children.
To this end, South
Bay Center for Counseling has
developed a “Community Level Change Model” through their
leadership in The Children’s Council of Los Angeles. This
“Community Level Change Model” highlights the logic behind the
building of resilience (at the individual, family and social
level) and community level changes sought. It is a graphic
representation (graphic below) of a theory of change built upon
research, some key assumptions, and years of implementing and
learning from community based prevention strategies.
Within the model,
the foundation for achieving individual family and community
level change is developing relationship based resident groups
(sometimes referred to as Neighborhood Action Groups or NAC’s)
through the organizing model developed over the past ten years
by South Bay Center for Counseling. Based on the Asset Building
Community Development Model of John McKnight, resident groups
are formed by members coming together to deepen their
connections with one another, be each other’s support systems,
to learn and grow as individuals, and to become more aware of
and involved in improving their neighborhoods.
Relationship Based
Organizing is a specific organizing model developed by South Bay
Center for Counseling that recognizes and harnesses the power,
and inherent skills and talents of individuals to create and
drive the changes they determine are necessary to improve the
lives of their families, friends and neighbors. South Bay Center
for Counseling has long held that while services may be
necessary for anyone at various points in one’s life, services
themselves are not sufficient for achieving community level
change no matter how well they are delivered and in some
instances services actually create dependency within individuals
and families.
Thus, the relationship based organizing model developed
by SBCC is not based on needs and services, but rather builds on
the strengths and asset of individuals. And recognize that it is
the strength and commitment of these individuals, community
residents, who create the safe nurturing and responsive
environments critical to mitigating abuse and neglect.
Residents
participating in Neighborhood Action Groups make social
connections, increase their resilience for coping with stress,
gain a knowledge of parenting techniques and the stages of child
development, foster their children’s social and emotional
growth, and create mutually supportive relationships that
provide concrete support in times of need. From these
“protective factors” comes a greater sense of community and
connectedness, plus a move toward civic engagement that is
truly resident-owned and resident-led. Resident owned and led
actions result in partnerships that change institutional
policies and practices, transforming and creating neighborhood
assets such as high-quality schools and child care, economically
viable jobs, good affordable health care and mental health
services, safe and affordable housing, safe streets and parks,
and other community elements like libraries, banks, stores,
transportation options, and so on. Ultimately, these
neighborhood level assets contribute to the health and well
being of those living within them contributing to the community
level outcomes of good health, safety and survival, economic
well-being, social and emotional well-being, and education and
workforce readiness.
This Community
Level Change Model is a developmental process supported by
research within each stage of development. The fields of Early
Childhood Development and Education stress the ecological
context of child and family development, where healthy
communities support families in the complex and multifaceted
tasks of raising and nurturing children. Research within this
domain has identified key behaviors or “protective factors” that
contribute to positive outcomes for children. These protective
factors include:
parental resiliency of hope and personal power to act to
improve oneself, one’s family, and one’s community; knowledge of
nurturing parenting; social connectedness; ability to access
basic services in times of need, and the social/emotional
competence of young children.
Social scientists
have long held that the neighborhood where one lives is a unit
of social identity and action that should support those who live
there through a range of facilities, service and provisions for
every day life.
In addition, the approach is predicated on a belief that
relationships among and between community residents not only
contributes to self efficacy, but can create a sense of
belonging and community pride that will enhance communities, and
improve individual and family functioning. As a unit of action,
neighborhood groups both negotiate and collaborate with outside
interests and improve individual and family capacity, health and
well-being.
Thus, community
building or seeking positive neighborhood level change involves
strengthening the neighborhood to serve as the unit of action
for linking individual behavior to the broader influences and
trends that are driven by factors beyond an individual’s
control, such as the economic base, changes in economic trends,
policy changes that influence access to needed resources and
support such as education, and healthcare among others.
The variables or
points of intervention at the neighborhood level thought to link
micro-level influences or individual behaviors to macro-level
changes or societal trends named by social scientists involve
increasing the density of social ties, acquaintanceship and
networking, and civic participation.
Social networks then influence formal and informal mechanisms of
support, resource distribution and control.
The Public Health
community has long understood that there is a link between an
individual’s health and social determinants of health, including
the social, environmental and economic conditions within which
an individual resides and interacts. Social determinants of
health are identified as food supply, housing, economic and
social relationships, transportation, education and health-care.
The higher the quality of these resources and supports, and the
more open the access for all community members, the more
community outcomes will be tipped toward positive outcomes.
Thus, improving
conditions at the individual and community level involve
improving societal conditions, including social and economic
conditions (freedom from racism and discrimination, job
opportunities and food security), the physical environment
(housing, safety, access to health care), the psycho-social
conditions (social network and civic engagement), and
psychological conditions (positive self-concept, resourcefulness
and hopefulness).
The intervening
factors promoted by the public health field include: building a
sense of community, increasing social networks and social
supports, increasing opportunities for civic participation and
leadership, increasing political influence and establishing and
strengthening organizational networks.
Social Network
Research and Theory has identified the developmental process
necessary for social networks to serve as vehicles for change
for individuals and within neighborhoods. Individuals first
connect by bonding or
linking with people most
like them. Individuals within the network or the network itself
must then bridge with or connect to people or groups they may
not otherwise engage, increasing access to resources, such as
education, employment, training opportunities and then
ultimately expand one’s opportunity, and access, to build
alliances with individuals in positions of power over resources
for economic and social development.
|
