Vol. 28, No. 1
April 2025

Best Practices in Engaging Community Stakeholders

Engaging stakeholders is a key component in improving child welfare outcomes. Several challenges that children and families face tend to be complex; therefore, implementing solutions requires a multi-faceted approach. County departments of social services (DSS) cannot do it alone. It is often challenging to engage stakeholders in meaningful ways to be at the table and to actively participate in the process. Even when concerned parties participate, since DSS is the responsible party, they are often the driver, and stakeholders are there to help. It's also difficult to keep stakeholders engaged for the long term, which is required to address complex challenges.

In 2017, the Capacity Building Center for States identified the following key elements for successful collaboration:

• Strong leadership and commitment at all levels
• Communication and engagement
• Shared understanding of needs, strategies, and goals
• Trust
• Collaborative infrastructure
• Community-oriented and family-centered efforts

These elements should seem familiar because they mirror those strived for when engaging families. However, how they are implemented with community partners is not easy. Let's review some specific strategies.

Strong Leadership and Commitment: In a nationwide evaluation of successful System of Care efforts, the role of leaders was highlighted as key to success. Leaders set the tone, ensure buy-in, provide regular and ongoing communication, and provide opportunities for partners to participate and impact the work at DSS agencies. Key takeaways from a five-year evaluation (National Technical Assistance Center, 2010) found that leaders should:

1. Assess their organization's readiness for change and determine the supports and resources needed to facilitate the change process
2. Model the behavior they want staff members to adopt
3. Dedicate considerable time to developing and communicating the vision for partnership
4. Ensure there is a succession plan so the work can continue under a leadership transition

Communicating and Engaging: As a starting place, leaders should be following the NCDHHS DSS practice standards for Communicating and Engaging (see box for specific standards that apply to engaging and communicating with community partners). In addition, the Administration for Children and Families recommends that leaders communicate regularly and frequently with both internal and external stakeholders on progress with overall goals (National Technical Assistance Center, 2010). Strategies identified for communication include holding cross-agency staff meetings to address client-based concerns, developing a glossary to use common language and clarify professional jargon, encouraging and expecting transparency about challenges and capacity, and, when possible, providing written documentation to facilitate clear and open exchanges of information (Capacity Building Center for States, 2017).

Shared Understanding of Needs, Strategies, and Goals: Before shared goals can be developed, it is important to identify the right partners for the project. Consider all partners who have an interest and role in improving outcomes. Often, it's easy to use our "go-to partners" for all stakeholder engagement rather than widening the pool and customizing who is engaged for different contexts. Consider faith-based organizations, family and youth voices, and small community organizations that are doing good work. The more partners you have at the table, the more likely the issue will be explored and addressed in new and innovative ways. "Committed, hard-working members are the foundation of a thriving community partnership. They should represent a diverse group of people from various agencies, organizations, and community groups, as well as individuals who are involved with populations similar to those being served or are concerned about related issues" (Children's Bureau Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, 2010).

Once stakeholders are at the table, identify shared goals. Different stakeholders have different priorities, which can be a barrier to successful collaboration. Therefore, take the time to develop new partnerships and understand the mission and vision of the organization, and work to find areas of common ground. Identify goals and outcomes that will meet the needs of all partners and the community, even if it means that your top priority is not the first item to be addressed under the agenda. Working on a common goal ensures the work is truly shared. As one director stated, it is important to "share the risk [and] the success" (National Technical Assistance Center, 2010).

Trust: Building partnerships requires the development of trust among stakeholders, some of whom may have never before been invited to collaborate with a child welfare agency. As with any relationship, partnerships with the community need to be nurtured over time to create long-term commitments to working collaboratively. Consider creative ways to build trust and understanding with your stakeholders. Examples of effective strategies include:

• Inviting partners to sit on agency committees
• Engaging in cross-training with staff from multiple organizations
• Meeting with each partner, individually, to build relationships and participate in meaningful ways
• Inviting partners to cross-agency meetings to share what you do and who you serve (National Technical Assistance Center, 2010)

Where to Begin

Whether you are establishing new partnerships or re-establishing old ones, assessing agency readiness and capacity is an important first step. The Capacity Building Center for States (2017) recommends considering the following questions:

• What are some of the unresolved challenges you have with your existing or potential provider partners?
• What gaps exist in your service array that could benefit from new collaborations?
• What strengths do you bring to the table, and what do your provider partners bring?
• Are there external factors, such as the political environment, other existing collaborations, or certain community dynamics that can help or hinder your collaboration?
• Have you set aside time for implementation planning?
• What knowledge, skills, and abilities do staff have related to relationship building?
• Do staff have capacity, training, time, and resources available for effective collaboration?
• What tools do you have to help orient staff toward more collaborative work with providers?

In addition, there are tools and resources to help you get started. The Children's Bureau highlights a collaboration primer developed by the Health Resources and Educational Trust that includes checklists, key questions, and strategies for overcoming challenges.

Children and families exist in communities; therefore, communities must play a key role in ensuring that all families can thrive. While opening the doors of a DSS agency and inviting others to partner and share responsibility for change may be intimidating, the potential positive outcomes for concerned parties make it worth the effort and risk.

References for this and other articles in this issue