Revised: January 2019
By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston
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| Ashley Shaw (HOME YRC), Dan Wms (TSA), Bryce Peterson (Salem Hlth) |
Williams said he was having lunch one day with Salem Health's Bryce Peterson, who was looking for an agency to take over the North Salem SIT. He said he "told Bryce, 'Why not us? Do you think there would be a conflict of interest, or anything else, with us doing it?' And he [Bryce] said, 'No'. And I said, 'Neither do I'."
Williams said he told Bryce,
Why don't we throw our hat in the ring? We'll hold the first meeting, we'll talk about the direction that we think that we're going to head and the direction that we're going, some of the things we've talked about and started, and go from there? And, if everybody's in agreement, then we will take it on, and we will move forward with it.
Williams said he'd been on Salem Health's steering committee "toward the end" (he attended one of 15 meetings) and that he'd spoken with Brent Demoe, whom he referred to as the "founder of the SIT program in Polk County" (Donna Middleton initiated SI in Polk County, years before Demoe arrived on the scene). Williams said Brent had told him that "the SIT program"
[W]orks really well in a rural area. It works really well in a smaller area. But in Salem, because Salem is so big, it wasn't quite -- holding to one catchment area, holding to one place...is really difficult to do because then you can only help people in that one area.
So, Williams said, he put together a group, consisting of Bryce, TSA's Social Services Director Jason Ramos, Angela Parada from Salem Housing Authority, Ashley Shaw from MWVCAA's HOME YRC, Cassandra Hutchinson of NWSDS, Janet Herb from DHS and Kristin and Memo from NWHS, and they decided, as TSA "couldn't really continue to run this as a SIT program because of the criteria and what the SIT program criteria was, that you had to be in one catchment area to do that", to change the name to Salem-Keizer Collaboration and expand the service area to all of Salem and Keizer, except for West Salem, which has its own SIT.
Other than the name change and expanded service area, Williams said, SKC will be "keeping the same criteria as the SIT program."
The only difference between us [SKC] and what the SIT was set up to do is that we're going to expand the area. This doesn't mean to say we can't change it at some point...I didn't want to walk in this room and all of sudden change it on you in mid-stream. I want to be able to talk and look at it and see what we need to do.
Translation: he has already decided to make changes but wants to make it look like they're coming from the partners.
I'm going to send out some questions on a Survey Monkey...that we would like for you to respond to. So, as we move forward, we develop this in a way that works for all of us. Because here's the thing. I want you here, in this room. I need you, and you need each other to be in this room together, and the only way that we can do that, and to help people that are in need, is if we're in here.
Williams said Memo had asked him "how long is Salvation Army in this for? And I looked at him and said, as long as you are. [Pause.] We're in it for the long haul. I was asked if we were in it only for as long as the money lasts? No. We're in it for the long haul." "But", he added,
It depends on what happens today. If we say as a group today that this is a meeting that means a lot to you, if you want to continue under the name Salem-Keizer Collaboration, no longer a SIT program, then I need to know that. Because if we do that, then we have a lot of plans moving forward that we need to get started on. The [fiscal] agent for this will remain Shangri-La...so the money never comes into our bookkeeping...So I need to know -- here's the thing -- see this beautiful banner back here that Salem Health got for us? What I want to know is, if we're in, we need to be on this...I want to put your logo, your agency on this banner to say, we're in this together...If it is [something you want to do], then we're going to hire somebody to do this...it's not going to be anybody on staff right now, we're going to hire somebody to run this program for us...We have a grant for the first year, and we're going to have goals. Every quarter, I told the grantee [sic], that we would get them goals...and we would give them a report to tell them where we're at with this. And, what the goals are going to be is, how many lives did we touch in this room and how many agencies showed up every month to work together...Those are our goals...[If you agree], we will be moving forward with hiring somebody, we will be...getting a URL, so that that way the web page will go directly to...[TSA's] social service page...we want that person before we get to the next meeting...So, are we in?"
Noises of mild assent emanated from a few people on the right side of the room. "Okay", Williams said, "then we will be moving forward with that."
The North Salem SIT started out with $3,500 in General, or Team, funds (courtesy PH Tech), $19,408 from the Early Learning Hub (ELH funds are available to benefit children under the age of 6, including children in utero) and a share of the $15,000 Willamette Valley Community Health grant to Salem Health.
Williams told the group there was $3,178.83 left from WVCH (the agenda had that amount listed as the General Fund balance) and $17,222.29 left from the Early Learning Hub. Williams asked if there were any questions, "I can't answer." There were no questions. The meeting moved on to resource questions.
We asked Salem Health about the WVCH/General Fund balance. We learned that Shangri-La, the fiscal agent for the Salem Health teams, held all three teams' "general balance" funds and the $15,000 WVCH grant funds in a single account. All three teams also shared a debit card account. To calculate what amount should be transferred to each team, Salem Health divided the ending balance on the joint account ($7,576.48) and the ending balance on the debit card account ($2,182.34) three ways, and added to or subtracted from that total each team's book ending balance ($751.70 for Woodburn, $1,013.14 for N. Marion, and -$74.11 for N. Salem). Based on those calculations, Salem Health transferred funds to each team as follows: $4,004.64 to Woodburn, $4,266.08 to N. Marion, and $3,178.83 to N. Salem.
A recap of the meeting sent out the day after the meeting characterized it this way.
The afternoon was filled with great positive energy, lots of laughs, impactful discussions, and incredible networking! Much feedback of support and encouragement for the Salem Keizer Collaboration team continues to grow in order to impact those in our neighboring communities!
Trigger warning: If this meeting or its description here left you feeling hopeful, grateful, or good, what follows could be disappointing.
The meeting we attended was not filled with "great positive energy, lots of laughs, impactful discussions [or] incredible networking." Williams had filled his presentation with TSA/Kroc promos, complete with Kroc Center day pass and coffee mug giveaways, program guides, scholarships, invitations to "Kroctoberfest" and the "Red Kettle Kickoff", right down to the altar call of "Are we in?" His audience was polite, some were grateful, but more than a few seemed reserved, even skeptical, and here's probably why.
TSA proposes The Salem-Keizer Collaboration as the successor to the North Salem SIT pilot. Not to rub it in, but one does need to keep in mind that, from a service integration standpoint, the pilot was a failure. Knowing that, what is TSA's plan for success? What will that look like, and how will it be measured? Surely, it can't just be the number of people served, or how many agencies show up?
Williams says both that SKC is "no longer a SIT program" and that "the only difference between us [SKC] and what the SIT was set up to do is that we're going to expand the area." So which is it? Is TSA attempting service integration, or isn't it?
We know from experience that service integration is not as easy as it might look. At a minimum, success requires a program coordinator with
- significant local social service experience, relationships, and knowledge,
- the necessary skill set,
- administrative support,
- hours sufficient to meet demand.
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| The "Salem-Keizer Collaborative" Oct 3, Kroc Center |
Such a plan might work for a relatively small group whose members attend consistently, but not a large and fluid group like SKC, with its vastly expanded service area, is likely to be.
Again, we know from experience that a room of 60+ people is not the most collegial setting, nor is it conducive to group decision-making or problem solving. One can't even read the name tents on the side opposite, or be heard without a microphone, in a group that large.
So, given all the limitations of a large group, why did TSA decide to expand? The obvious answer is convenience. One meeting of service providers instead of six, potentially. Will the trade-off -- losing the community orientation, the unifying focus on the local schools, the deep involvement of school counselors, area churches and neighborhood groups -- be worth it? Can the size problem be overcome by splitting into SLF-type "action teams" at some point during the meeting? Maybe. But, why bring together 60+ social workers, only to split them up again?
If convenience is paramount, why not forget the meeting, put those admin dollars toward direct aid, and just send every funding request through for a vote "as is", the way Salem Health ended up doing? For that matter, why not forget the voting? The team approves requests anyway. That really would be convenient.
The need for service integration in this community is not in dispute, and awareness of its absence has grown well beyond the professional community. A recent survey of Salem residents found that a majority remain less than satisfied with the City’s coordination of social services to serve needs of homeless (emphasis added). For years, the City (through its Housing Authority) has hosted monthly networking meetings of homeless/housing providers at the Union Gospel Men's Mission, and it hasn't been enough. The community really doesn't need another networking meeting.
Aside from TSA's not having much of a plan for SKC and the overall lack of transparency, we note the failure to:
- communicate directly with the team before October 2,
- acknowledge and thank North Salem SIT coordinators Skye Hibbard-Swanson and Sheri Beehner, both of whom were present for the October 3d meeting,
- provide an accurate accounting of funds spent in 2017-2018 (the final ledger issued in June was neither complete nor accurate) (probably not practically possible, because of the way the accounts were kept),
- acknowledge and thank Salem Health for its continued financial support (we are hearing $25,000 for 2018-2019),
- provide instructions on how to submit funding requests,
- acknowledge and address satisfactorily the conflict of interest that exists when a partner/advocate takes on the role of coordinator (Bryce told us on August 21st that he had discussed the conflict issue with Williams and that Williams had assured him it would be dealt with properly. He did not say he and Williams had agreed there was no conflict.)
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