CAST alignment team presents vision-and-values plan, seeks tools to improve staff collaboration as child-protection caseloads rise

At the March meeting of the CAST Human Service Zone Board in Cass County, an alignment team presented a finalized vision-and-values alignment document and outlined near-term steps to improve cross-department communication, staff leadership and worker wellness while board staff reported rising child-protection caseloads and requests for outside assistance.

The alignment team said the work began in 2023 with a benchmarking survey and visioning sessions led by consultant Jason Matthews of JM Strategies Group, then moved through a cultural assessment and a second alignment team made up of frontline staff representing multiple departments. The team’s document frames the zone’s mission as “united in providing people centered services to our community” and identifies expectations and actions under three priorities: working as a unified agency, fostering belonging and encouraging leadership at all levels.

“Keep it simple,” the team said was a guiding principle for implementation. Team proposals presented to the board include identifying subject-matter experts (SMEs) across floors, publishing a centralized SharePoint with contact points and quick-reference resources, sampling onboarding and check-in…