Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Collaboration Framework topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Eaton County HSEC outlines collective‑impact work, referral tool and landlord outreach
Summary
Kelly Dempsey of Eaton Community Health described how the Eaton County Human Services Collaborative Council has shifted to a collective‑impact model, collected survey data from frontline staff and residents, launched landlord education sessions and is building a referral coordinator tool to close referral gaps.
Kelly Dempsey, co‑executive director of Eaton Community Health and chair of the Eaton County Human Services Collaborative Council (HSEC), briefed the committee on the group’s shift to a collective‑impact model and updated members on action‑team work and engagement metrics.
Dempsey said HSEC has moved from monthly updates to a cross‑sector approach that includes a steering committee and a backbone team; she credited consultant Dr. Penny Foster Fishman for helping embed best practices. She reported roughly 88 engaged HSEC members representing 38 organizations and average monthly attendance of about 30 participants, roughly double pre‑2020 levels.
As part of a "radical listening" process, HSEC surveyed about 130 frontline workers and just over 300 residents; that data will inform a phase‑4 data sense‑making process. Dempsey described three continuing action teams: (1) an "easier to find services" team focused on improving 211 data accuracy (with an upcoming in‑person 211 updater event); (2) a landlord engagement and affordable‑housing education team that has run two sessions to educate landlords on local programs; and (3) a team developing a universal referral and follow‑up form plus a small database of referral coordinators to shorten referral cycles and improve follow‑up for clients.
Dempsey said Eaton Community Health has committed funding for the HSEC coordinator for three to five years and that the HSEC also uses grants to support action‑team events. She described the coordinator role as part‑time and central to organizing action‑team work, listserv communications and ongoing alignment across agencies.
A committee member praised the transformation of the collaborative council from a monthly update forum into a results‑focused network that engages landlords and frontline workers. Dempsey said HSEC’s work is beginning to be adopted regionally and that the group will return to the committee next year with additional updates.
The committee accepted the update and voted to adopt the annual resolution that recognizes the HSEC under the county’s purview; no general fund allocation was reported at this meeting.
