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Building Connected Communities. Lea Stevens Director, Northern Connections. Northern Connections. Who are we? Unit of DCSI, office located at Elizabeth Report to Minister Piccolo Small team – Lea Stevens (Director), Bev O’Brien (Deputy Director), and an Administrative Officer Our role
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Building Connected Communities Lea Stevens Director, Northern Connections
Northern Connections • Who are we? • Unit of DCSI, office located at Elizabeth • Report to Minister Piccolo • Small team – Lea Stevens (Director), Bev O’Brien (Deputy Director), and an Administrative Officer • Our role • Improve the economic and social prosperity of the northern suburbs • Work with the Cities of Playford and Salisbury, Town of Gawler, District Council of Mallala and Light Regional Council • By supporting, facilitating, coordinating, connecting and leading
Our region • Our people • Not homogeneous region in terms of population, socio-economic status, etc. • Most people doing ok (some very well) • Significant proportion of our people are locked out of opportunities by a range of issues – unemployment, mental illness, poverty, homelessness, disability etc – and a high concentration of these individuals and families reside in certain suburbs • Our services • More than 300 services between three levels of government and non-government sectors • Many ‘targeted interventions’ layered on, different funding streams (leading to fragmentation and duplication), often short-term, many pilots • People with 8-12 (or more) services and/or workers in their lives • Many millions of dollars being spent – often with little change in outcomes
What this means for communities • Full potential for social and economic prosperity is not realised • People become • dependent on services • disempowered • socially isolated • ‘uncreative’ about solutions • Communities become • Fragmented • Reliant on government to fix their problems • Policy makers/ services become • Stuck in a groove of doing the same thing even though the outcomes for clients do not change
How are we tackling this? • A regional collaboration (focused on three priority areas - jobs, workforce and infrastructure) • Understanding our patch • Using evidence to inform our planning • Joining up effort and working differently • Using resources more efficiently and reducing duplication • Identifying the ‘game changing’ projects/ initiatives/ infrastructure • Positive psychology (Seligman) – a model of wellbeing and flourishing for individuals and communities • Focuses on change through empowering individuals • Schools & communities / workplaces / with jobseekers • Supporting new models of working • ‘Enabling change for (Aboriginal) families and services’ (TACSI) • Family by Family (TACSI) • Case management (BAFW – Playford LAG)