the etobicoke children’s centre 2016 to 2019 … · the etobicoke children’s centre 2016 to...

The Etobicoke Children’s Centre

2016 to 2019 Strategic Plan

Report

May 2016 Confidential for Internal Purposes Only StrategiSense Consulting Cultivating Leadership | Transforming Organizations !

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Table of Contents !

1.! Background and Context!........................................................................................................!3!

2.! Approach to Strategic Planning!.............................................................................................!4!

3.! Assessment of the Internal and External Environments!......................................................!6!

4.! Environmental Scan!.................................................................................................................!6!

5.! Strategic Implications!...............................................................................................................!8!

6.! Vision, Mission & Values!..........................................................................................................!9!

7.! Areas of Strategic Priority!......................................................................................................!12!

8.! Conclusions and Next Steps!................................................................................................!14!

!!!! Appendices Appendix 1: Documents Reviewed for Environmental Scan Appendix 2: Strategic Plan Summary Chart Appendix 3: The Etobicoke Children’s Centre 2016-2019 Strategic Scorecard Appendix 4: Draft Implementation Plan and Monitoring Template

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1.!Background and Context The Etobicoke Children’s Centre (The ECC) plays an effective and vital role in the provision of mental health and developmental services to children, youth and their families in Etobicoke. The ECC is a not-for-profit corporation responsible and accountable to its clients and the community it serves. Recognizing a need to proactively respond to new circumstances resulting from key issues and trends internally and externally, the Board of Directors of the Etobicoke Children’s Centre embarked upon a planning process in January 2016 that would set the direction for the Centre for the next three years. Facing changes in the demographics of Etobicoke area, increasing demands for more and varied services and programs, and continuing fiscal restraint within the children’s mental health and developmental sectors, the Board felt that it was imperative to examine and sharpen the focus of the work done by the Centre. StrategiSense Consulting was retained to facilitate the process and assist the Board in the development of a new strategic plan. This report documents the strategic panning project and is divided into 8 sections:

•! The first section, Background and Context, describes the background and context for this project.

•! The second section, Approach to Strategic Planning, describes the approach for the development of the strategic plan and key definitions.

•! The third section, Assessment of the Internal and External Environments, highlights the key findings with respect to the internal and external environmental scan.

•! The fourth section provides the synthesis of the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing The ECC in a SWOT Analysis.

•! The following section highlights the Strategic Issues resulting from the Assessment of the Internal and External Environments and the SWOT Analysis and presented to the Board and Senior Management at their strategic planning retreat.

•! Mission and Vision statements affirmed during the discussions of the Board and Senior Management at their retreat along with a decision to revisit the Values statements in the future are presented in the sixth section.

•! Strategic Priority areas are presented in the seventh section. •! Conclusions and Next Steps are presented in the final section.

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2.!Approach to Strategic Planning The ECC recognized the importance of using a consultative approach to strategic planning that involved internal and external stakeholders at key stages in the project. The approach to strategic planning involved four separate phases, described below. !! Phase One: Project Initiation, involved establishment of a Strategic Planning Steering

Committee comprised of Board members and the Executive Director, identifying the approach and workplan as well as stakeholder engagement plan.

!! Phase Two: Exploration and Analysis, involved reviewing the current strategic plan,

conducting interviews and focus groups and preparing a draft environmental scan report that included a review of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for The ECC. As well, an analysis of community demographics and trends, a review of the changes pending in the children’s mental health and developmental sectors, and a review of the internal strengths and areas for improvement for the Centre was also conducted and documented in the report. The report was reviewed with the Strategic Planning Steering Committee and then sent to the board and the senior management team in advance of the planning retreat.

!! Phase Three: Strategic Planning Retreat, included a one-and-a-half-day retreat with board

members and senior management to review the implications of the environmental scan; review and affirm the vision, mission and values; and identify strategic questions and themes, and areas of strategic focus for the next three years for The ECC.

!! Phase Four: Reporting, which included a series of meetings with the Steering Committee

and management team to review and refine the areas of strategic focus, identify objectives and alignment with the strategic scorecard. Staff and middle management team input was also obtained on a draft of the strategic focus statements. The final report was approved at the April 2015 meeting of the Board.

The key elements of this document are: A Vision Statement that describes how the “world” will be improved, changed or different, if The ECC is successful in achieving its purpose. A Mission Statement that clearly describes why The ECC exists and what it does as an organization. A Values Statements that describes the principles guiding The ECC’s daily work. During the strategic planning process, the Board identified that it will be re-examining and revising the Values Statements.

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Strategic Priority Statements and Approach Summary that outlines the key areas of strategic focus, commitment and resource allocation for the next three years. The Strategic Scorecard that illustrates how the organization links the longer-term strategic priorities to operational and governance performance indicators for the organization.

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3.!Assessment of the Internal and External Environments Sixty-six individuals representing 5 stakeholder groups provided input to this assessment through interview or focus group sessions. One-on-one interviews were conducted by telephone or in person with the Executive Director and key informants representing peer and/or partner agencies, and funders. Staff and the Board participated in focus group sessions. Table 1, following, summarizes the stakeholder consultation reach. !

Table 1: Stakeholders Consulted Stakeholder Group Number of

Participants Board members 8 Staff 29 Management 10 Executive Director 1 Key Informants 18 Total 66

!!Documentation related to The ECC including the ECC previous strategic plans, financial statements, AGM materials, and annual reports. External policy statements, position papers and reports related to the autism, developmental services and mental health sectors for children and youth were also reviewed. Appendix 1 contains a list of the documentation reviewed for this assessment. !

4.!Environmental Scan The analysis of the internal and external assessment is synthesized in the strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis provided below. The summary provides a sense of the capabilities of The ECC and the nature of the changing environment within which services are provided and coordinated.

Strengths Internal and external interviewees recognize The ECC as having a strong management team. They are described as responsive, engaging, and collaborative. Core competencies include responding to short-term client demands through its walk in clinic. Internal and external stakeholders perceive that programs and services have demonstrable impact, are of high quality and employ evidence-based practice. The organization is felt to have high tolerance for change and uncertainty and much needed expertise that is often leveraged by other organizations.

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Weaknesses Chronic underfunding, operating in a marginalized sector, programmatic gaps due to to lack of resource. High workload by staff and a need for more resources to provide competitive salaries, increase staff capacity and professional development. A need for succession planning at the management and board levels was identified. Also, inconsistent data entry and review processes were felt to be a risk given increased accountability and reporting requirements that are linked to funding.

!Opportunities Moving on Mental Health, Special Needs Strategy, Patients First and other documents provide clear direction that the future means further collaboration and working together at agency, system and government levels. Provide input into Toronto’s Core Services Delivery Plan given The ECC’s implementation of evidence based practices and quality improvement experience. 2016 budget announced expanded funding and services to children and families dealing with autism including ABA services, particularly in family treatment, diagnosis and education; these may not need to be as intensive as the ABA program service. Also consider identified needs for coordinated intake processes across agencies. Potential opportunity from ABA/IBI reviews, including expansion of early intervention services. Leverage current strengths and efforts in performance measurement. !

!Threats Mental health needs among children are expected to increase by 50% by 2020 so the sector will be challenged to move quickly to increase capacity and implement improvements. In addition, agencies have tended to focus investment on direct service rather than on governance and governance improvement so there may be challenges if governance capacity requires strengthening to meet the Moving on Health deliverables – significant investment may be required. In addition, Moving on Mental Health/Lead Agency model and potential negative impact this may have on organizational autonomy and funding. Funding models do not currently meet the needs of children, youth and families across Ontario and there is limited flexibility regarding use of funding. Funding mechanisms differ substantially between programs and agencies and are not based on a consistent framework which may make partnering challenging. In addition, funding models currently do not appropriately recognize the required resourcing for culturally and linguistically appropriate services nor reflect community need which may make local planning challenging. Service delivery partners facing funding pressures that may impact their ability to provide services and may result in increased service demand for The ECC. Potential threat from IBI/ABA reviews Additional threats identified include the need to strengthen recruitment and retention of staff, tenancy at the Hartsdale Site, and the future impact of Ontario Registered Pension Plan (ORPP) on organizational finances.

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5.!Strategic Implications Strategic implications are the fundamental questions affecting The ECCs vision, mission, values, service level mix/program scope, clients, financial status, management/leadership, and governance. Synthesis of the findings from the SWOT Analysis resulted in the following strategic implications, posed as questions for consideration by the Board and Senior Management: !

a.! Strategic Focus – What are the core competencies for The ECC. What does the organization do better than others and what are its core offerings? How can the organization remain strategic within sector reform? What implications does our stage of maturity as an organization have on how we define our mandate? Should we focus on a particular sub-population age-group or service? Do we continue to expand/enhance all of our programs and services or do we make a strategic choice to focus future growth in a particular program/service need and opportunity? Given future directions of the sectors we operate within, how can we differentiate the organization?

b.! Resources – How do we ensure we keep up with the demand? What do we predict

will be the funding scenarios moving forward? What are the implications? How do we balance our focus and resources to ensure we have the capacity to pursue our priorities and opportunities? How do we focus, strengthen and diversify our funding base (including fundraising)? How do we invest in our people, processes and technology?

c.! Partnerships, Collaboration and Integration – What should our role be in the service areas we are in/want to pursue? Do we lead? Do we partner? What types of partnerships can support us in moving forward? (clinical, shared back-office, fundraising, other?) Are there specific partner organizations that can support us in dealing with our strategic issues? How do we explore those partnerships?

d.! Operational – Given wage issues how do we retain our best people? or recruit new? How to deal with staff workload issues? Do we have a succession plan? What is our contingency plan for the site If we stay, how do we afford maintenance of the site?

e.! Organizational Learning and Innovation - How can we continually improve the way we work and deliver programs? How can we innovate around the delivery of our services? Where do we focus our monitor and improvement efforts - at program and organizational levels? Where do we put our emphasis to support integration and

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coordination of our services? What opportunities are there to explore new and innovative uses of technology, including IM/IT?

The Board and senior management team at their planning retreat affirmed the mission and vision and agreed that these would continue as is for the next cycle of the strategic plan. The values statements were reviewed and determined to require a revision. A subcommittee of the Board will be charged with conducting this review and editing during the 2016 to 2017 timeframe. !

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6.!Vision, Mission & Values The three dimensions of vision, mission and values frame the purpose or “what” of the organization, describes it aspirations, and the principles or qualities influencing how the people within the organization will regard and treat each other and clients communities, and partners as it strives to achieve its priorities. The vision and mission were affirmed during the strategic planning retreat and will continue to guide the organization. The values statements were reviewed during the retreat and it was determined that during 2016, the Board will revise the statements to a more concise and focused list. !!Our Vision Children, youth and their families succeeding in their daily lives! Our Mission The ECC improves child, youth and family well-being by providing effective community based mental health and autism services Our Core Values The Etobicoke Children’s Centre provides early intervention and treatment services that address the psychological, social, emotional, behavioural and/or developmental needs of children, youth and their families. The ECC is committed to ensuring that principles of diversity and equity are practiced at all levels of the organization and governing body. The ECC believes: •! All individuals have strengths and are capable of learning, adapting and growing. "Kids do

well if they can!" (Dr. Ross Greene) •! Family, friends and community are important to children and youth and are essential

sources of support and strength. •! Children and youth need acceptance, nurturance, support, care,

discipline and consistency. •! Abuse, harassment, intimidation, violence and bullying are not acceptable nor tolerated. •! Diversity strengthens and improves lives. •! Challenges are a normal part of life. •! Everyone is responsible for their actions and is capable of taking steps to improve upon

mistakes. •! Non-judgmental, respectful and inclusive approaches are essential to forming good client

relationships. •! Trust, integrity, compassion and communication are key to developing healthy

relationships and sustaining change. •! Children, youth, and families have the right to be involved in service planning and

decision-making processes.

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•! Systemic approaches and practices that are individualized, coordinated, collaborative, and integrated will support success and sustainability.

•! Goals and outcomes must be achievable, monitored, reviewed, and evaluated. •! Service practices must be knowledgeable, ethical, accountable, and effective.

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7.!Areas of Strategic Priority Five areas of strategic focus have been identified through the strategic planning process. These directions will contribute to achieving the vision while operating consistent with the mission. They will enable The ECC to continue to build on its strengths and be responsive to the needs and opportunities of the communities that it serves. The ECC’s areas of strategic focus describe where efforts, commitment and resource allocation will be targeted for the period 2016 to 2019. The ECC’s five areas of strategic focus are: 1.! Well-being of Infants, Children, Youth and Family; 2.! Operational Excellence; 3.! Resource Enhancement; 4.! Innovation; and 5.! Strategic Partnerships. 1.! Well-being of Infants, Children, Youth and Family We understand and meet the needs of our clients. In order to achieve this focus, The ECC will:

•! Contribute to the ongoing development of a coordinated, accessible, responsive children’s mental health and autism services system to ensure that our clients receive the services they need, where and when they need them.

•! A strong evaluative culture which leads to accountable and effective services that

make a difference to our clients and community. 2.! Operational Excellence We continuously improve the services we deliver. In order to achieve this focus, The ECC will:

•! Enhanced processes, systems and infrastructure that result in improved efficiencies and productivity.

•! Strengthen organizational approaches, practices and systems to attract and retain talented people committed to achieving our vision.

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3.! Resource Enhancement We will seek greater resources to serve our clients better. In order to achieve this focus, The ECC will:

•! Diversify and expand our resource strategies to ensure sustainability. 4.! Innovation We create opportunities to foster innovation. In order to achieve this focus, The ECC will:

•! Take a leadership role to support communities of practice to enhance innovation, knowledge transfer, and uptake of evidence-based and informed practices.

5.! Strategic Partnerships We collaborate and structure formal relationships with others. In order to achieve this focus, The ECC will:

•! Build partnerships and explore new organizational forms which contribute to improved

infant, child, youth and family well-being.

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8.!Conclusions and Next Steps Over a 4-month period, The ECC identified key strategic issues, reaffirmed its Mission and Vision statements and identified opportunities to strengthen its values statements. Key strategic priorities for the period 2016 to 2019 were also identified and approved by the Board of Directors. The Board and senior management of The ECC believe that approved strategic priorities will be critical to the success of The ECC in the years to come. Key next steps include the development of an implementation or operational plan, advancing the strategic scorecard and examining approaches for logic model development. Appendix 2 contains a Strategic Plan Summary Chart that provides an overview of the strategic focus, strategic statement and strategic objectives. Appendix 3 contains the draft Strategic Scorecard, completed by the Leadership and Management Team, for information purposes that maps the strategic plan to the scorecard domains. Appendix 4 contains a Draft Implementation Plan and Monitoring Template that is recommended for The ECC to support identifying and aligning implementation activities to targets and measures arising from the Strategic Plan and scorecard. It is recognized that the political, social and economic climates are constantly evolving and that The ECC may need to adapt to changes occurring within the community. However, this plan is an important starting point from which The ECC can focus its efforts to ensure that children and their families in Etobicoke succeed in their daily lives. ! !

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Appendix!1:!!Documents!Reviewed!for!Environmental!Scan!!!

•! 2013 Etobicoke Children's Centre Financial Statement •! 2013-14 Audited Financial Statements Signed •! 2015 Etobicoke Children's Centre Audited Financial Statement •! AGM Sep 24 All documents at the meeting •! Board of Directors Calendar Sept 2015-June 2016 •! The ECC Annual Report 2009-2010 •! Executive Committee Terms of Reference (under review) •! Governance For Agencies In Ontario - excerpt •! Investing in the Future of Children, Families and Communities - Strategic Plan 2012-

2015 •! Kinark Child and Family Services (KCFS) and The Etobicoke Children’s Centre (The

ECC) Pre-Feasibility Study Merger Report •! Lead Agency System Management Capacity Building Funding •! Moving on Mental Health •! Moving on Mental Health •! Number of Clients Served by Program •! Ontario's Special Needs Strategy •! Organizational Chart without names April 2015 •! Pre-Feasibility Study Merger Report •! Profile of Wards and Neighbourhoods served •! Service Description Schedule •! Strategic Agenda - 2012-2015 •! Strategic Agenda - Expanded Version (Version May 13) •! Strategic Agenda - Shortened Version (Version April 12) •! Strategic Agenda and Goals •! Strategic Scorecard •! Strategic Scorecard Summary •! Subcomittee List 2016 •! The Community of Etobicoke •! The ECC Terms of Reference Board of Directors Oversight and Stewardship

Committee •! The ECC Terms of Reference Community Engagement Committee •! The ECC Terms of Reference Nominating Committee •! The ECC Terms of Reference Strategic Governance Committee •! The Etobicoke Children's Centre Mission Statement •! Toronto Autism ABA Services !

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Appendix!2:!!Strategic!Plan!Summary!Chart!!The Strategic Plan is summarized in the following chart.!!

Strategic Focus Strategic Statement Strategic Objectives A. Well-being of Infants, Children, Youth and Family

We understand and meet the needs of our clients.

1.! Contribute to the ongoing development of a coordinated, accessible, responsive children’s mental health and autism services system to ensure that our clients receive services they need, where and when they need them.

2.! A strong evaluative culture, which

leads to accountable and effective services that make a difference to our clients and community.

B. Operational Excellence

We continuously improve the services we deliver.

1.! Enhanced processes, systems and infrastructure that result in improved efficiencies and productivity.

2.! Strengthen organizational systems to attract and retain talented people committed to achieving our vision.

C. Resource Enhancement

We will seek greater resources to serve our clients better.

1.! Diversify and expand our resource strategies to ensure sustainability.

D. Innovation We create opportunities to foster innovation.

1.! Support communities of practice to enhance innovation, knowledge transfer, and uptake of evidence-based and informed practices

E. Strategic Partnerships

We collaborate and structure formal relationships with others.

1.! Continue to build partnerships and explore new organizational forms focused on improving infant, child, youth and family well-being.

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Appendix(3:((The(Etobicoke(Children’s(Centre(2016<2019(Strategic(Scorecard(( The ECC’s Strategic Scorecard, incorporating ECC-wide and program specific initiatives, was provided to the Board of Directors in draft stages for information purposes and maps the strategic plan to the scorecard domains. This scorecard has been designed to ensure linkage and alignment of the strategic agenda with specific activities in the mental health and autism programs. The ECC’s Leadership and Management Team is currently reviewing and incorporating specific mental health and autism initiatives into the scorecard. Scorecard Quadrant

Strategic Focus

Objectives Corporate Initiatives Mental Health Initiatives Autism Initiatives

Client Stakeholder Satisfaction

A. Well-being of Infants, Children, Youth and Family We understand and meet the needs of our clients

1.! Contribute to the ongoing development of a coordinated, accessible, responsive children’s mental health and autism services system to ensure that our clients receive services they need, where and when they need them.

a.! Ensure alignment with provincial and regional (Toronto) strategy for mental health and autism services by collaborating with and influencing local lead agencies.

1.! Conduct a review and evaluation of The ECCs programs and services to ensure a focus on community needs, our core competencies and enhanced client and family outcomes.

2.! Continue collaborative work with the Lead Agency and other partner organizations to influence the reform process and advocate for services that best meet our communities needs.

3.! Redesign intake services to align with the new city-wide intake model.

1.! Note to draft: incorporate Special Needs Strategy/working with Surrey Place

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Scorecard Quadrant

Strategic Focus


2.! A strong evaluative culture, which leads to accountable and effective services that make a difference to our clients and community.

a.! Identify mechanism for client and family engagement and feedback at all levels of the organization.

b.! Seek opportunities for further inclusion of diversity practices.

c.! Implement targets, outcomes, evaluation and feedback.

To be completed. To be completed.

Key Processes B. Operational Excellence We continuously improve the services we deliver.

1.! Enhanced processes, systems and infrastructure that result in improved efficiencies and productivity.

a.! Assess and pursue opportunities for using process and service improvement approaches such as LEAN.

b.! Continue to implement electronic

record keeping. c.! Review administrative and back office

requirements and processes in relation to future needs.


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Scorecard Quadrant

Strategic Focus


2.! Strengthen organizational systems to attract and retain talented people committed to our vision.

a.! Identify opportunities for learning, professional development and staff advancement and succession planning.

b.! Develop our staff leaders and their capacity to develop their staff including ongoing performance feedback, coaching, and succession planning.

c.! Cultivate a healthy and supportive

culture, leadership capacity and teamwork of our Board, staff, families and partners.


3.! Strengthen our Board and governance practices that will support system transformation and lead to system improvement.

a.! Identify and implement development, evaluation and succession activities for the Board with an emphasis on organizational performance measurement.


Resources

C. Resource Enhancement We will seek greater resources to serve our clients better.

1.! Diversify and expand our resource strategies to ensure sustainability.

a.! Conduct a feasibility assessment of fee-for service opportunities.

b.! Develop a fundraising strategy and explore opportunities to partner with other agencies.

c.! Explore opportunities to collaborate

with other agencies to share scarce resources.


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Scorecard Quadrant

Strategic Focus


Innovation D. Innovation We create opportunities to foster innovation

1.! Support communities of practice to enhance innovation, knowledge transfer, and uptake of evidence-based and informed practices

a.! Develop initiatives to strengthen service innovation and the exploration of new approaches.


Leadership E. Strategic Partnerships We collaborate and structure formal relationships with others.

1.! Continue to build partnerships and explore new organizational forms focused on improving infant, child, youth and family well-being.

a.! Develop a partnership framework. b.! Identify and assess opportunities for

partnerships and new organizational forms such as integration.

c.! Approach and implement prioritized

partnerships.


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Appendix(4:((Draft(Implementation(Plan(and(Monitoring(Template( The Monitoring Template below has been developed to allow for the creation and incorporation of appropriate targets and measures. This can be a tool for both management and the Board to use to assess progress. The ECC management will review this tool and develop appropriate targets and measures.

Strategic Direction Objective Program and Corporate Initiative Target Measure 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19