Strategic Plan

South Plains Community Action Association, Inc.

September 2017

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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... 1

2. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 2

3. The Strategic Planning Process ..................................................................................................... 2

4. Summary of Agency-wide Community Needs Assessment .......................................................... 4

5. Poverty in the South Plains Community Action Service Area ....................................................... 5

6. Purpose, Process, and Participation ............................................................................................. 9

7. Mission, Vision, and Value Statements ......................................................................................... 9

8. Summary of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges ........................................ 11

9. Goals, Objectives, and Performance Indicators .......................................................................... 13

10. Next Steps ................................................................................................................................... 17

Appendices

A List of Participants

B Complete List from SWOT Analysis

C Goals Matrix

D Customer Survey Summaries

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Executive Summary The 2017 Strategic Plan, developed by South Plains Community Action Association, Inc. (SPCAA)

serves as the guide to fulfilling the agency’s mission and holding staff accountable for reaching

the long-term goals that were developed at the strategic planning retreat and subsequently

approved by the Board of Directors. The Strategic Plan followed, and was developed from,

SPCAA’s Community Needs Assessment, which was approved by the Board of Directors in June

2017. This needs assessment included county statistics, client and stakeholder input, and an

extensive data analysis, and identified these five areas of greatest need:

Utility Assistance (individual need)

Employment opportunities in the community (community need)

Home repair programs (individual need)

Safe and affordable housing (individual need)

Housing emergency assistance (individual need)

These items will be included in the annual Community Action Plan.

In July 2017, SPCAA’s senior and front-line staff and the board and board committee, met to

develop the strategic plan. SPCAA employee Christina Cristan, NCRT, was the facilitator for the

session. The plan was informed by the national anti-poverty goals in the Results Oriented

Management and Accountability (ROMA) guidance, and helps to ensure that needs from the

family, agency, and community levels are identified and addressed.

A SWOT analysis was performed, and from that, long-term goals and objectives were

developed; the results of the community needs assessment, which listed the unmet needs in

our service area, were also taken into account. Based on this work the following goals were

developed:

Achieve operational excellence

Develop a culture of innovation

Expand services and/or service area

Collaborate with community partners

Strengthen communities by addressing the roots of poverty in our region

SPCAA’s executive director and senior staff have made a commitment to make regular reports

to the board and the planning and priorities committee on the progress that has been made

toward meeting the goals in the strategic plan. This vital step will keep the board and

committee informed and help them understand the needs in the communities we serve.

The Strategic Plan is an important tool in SPCAA’s mission of HELPING PEOPLE. CHANGING LIVES.: it

gives us the roadmap to follow to impact positive change.

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Introduction For over 50 years, SPCAA has provided opportunities to individuals and families living on the

Texas South Plains. While its core services are provided in 14 counties, other contract-specific

projects encompass almost 100 counties in Texas. This vast service area includes some of the

most sparsely-population areas in the continental United States. SPCAA currently provides its

services in seven program divisions:

Child Care Services

Community Services

Head Start/Early Head Start

Health Services

Housing

SPARTAN Transportation

Workforce

While the annual budget fluctuates due to changes in funding levels, the typical annual

operating budget is generally around $30 million. In a typical year, some 1.8 million units of

service will be provided across the entire agency.

The Strategic Planning Process The organizational standards, as presented by the Office of Community Services, ensures that

all eligible CSBG entities have the appropriate organizational capacity to be effective

administrators of the programs to provide services to low-income individuals and families. The

information gathered via the required reporting will enable OCS to gauge accountability and

performance management in individual agencies. Strategic Planning is one of the nine

organizational standards categories; five of the 58 standards deal directly with strategic

planning:

Standard 6.1. The organization has an agency-wide strategic plan in place that has been

approved by the governing board within the last five years.

Standard 6.2. The approved strategic plan addresses reduction of poverty, revitalization

of low-income communities, and/or empowerment of people with low incomes to

become more self-sufficient.

Standard 6.3. The approved strategic plan contains family, agency, and/or community

goals.

Standard 6.4. Customer satisfaction data and customer input collected as part of the

community assessment is included in the strategic planning process.

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Standard 6.5. The governing board has received an update on progress meeting the

goals of the strategic plan within the past twelve months.

The SPCAA strategic plan illustrates the continuous use of the full Results Oriented

Management and Accountable (ROMA) cycle, comparable system assessment, planning

implementation, achievement or results, and evaluation. As a recommend Best Practice, the

development, implementation, and maintenance of an agency’s strategic plan should be

overseen by a National Certified ROMA Trainer (NCRT). It is important to note that three NCRTs

– Christian Cristan, Luis Perez, and Henry Tarango – participated in the development of SPCAA’s

strategic plan, with Ms. Cristan serving as the facilitator.1

The following illustration shows the ROMA cycle, where each phase leads logically into the next

one, until the cycle is complete and starts again.

The ROMA Cycle is a graphic representation of IM 49 created for “Planning for Results” ©2006, B. Mooney and J. Hakopic, National ROMA

Training Project, Association of Nationally Certified ROAM Trainers, with funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services –

Office of Community Services. See www.tdhca.state.tx.us/community-affairs/csbg/ROMA-index/htm

1 Organizational Standard 4.3

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The complete organizational standards framework is shown below:

Thematic Groups Categories Standards

Maximum Feasible

Participation

Customer Input and Involvement

`

58 Standards for private, non-profit

eligible entities

Community Engagement

Community Assessment

Vision and Direction

Organizational Leadership

Board Governance

Strategic Planning

Operations and Accountability

Human Resources Management

Financial Operations and Oversight

Data and Analysis

Summary of Agency-wide Community Needs Assessment

In late 2016, SPCAA retained the services of Heartland Grant Solutions to

prepare an agency-wide community needs assessment. Heartland collected approximately

2,000 surveys, which were used in conjunction with a vast array of demographic information,

interviews, analysis, and other means to determine the greatest needs. The final report, which

was approved by the SPCAA Board of Directors in June 2017, listed the top five needs in each of

the 15 counties in the core service area, and aggregated the top five needs across all counties.

These top five aggregated needs are:

Utility assistance (individual need)

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Employment opportunities in the community (community need)

Home repair programs (community need)

Safe and affordable housing (community need)

Housing emergency assistance (individual need)

Poverty in the South Plains Community Action Service Area (from Community Needs Assessment, 2017)2 A major force shaping low income neighborhoods has been the transformation of the urban

economy, which for the past fifty years and more rapidly, in the past two decades has become

more decentralized, global, and heavily reliant on finance, services, and technology rather than

on its once larger and more powerful manufacturing base (Abramson, Tobin, and VanderGoot,

1995; Massey & Eggers, 1993). As a result, these macroeconomic changes have fueled a

concentration of poverty and joblessness in the SPCAA service area. The primary industries in

most parts of the service area are agriculture, retail, service, or hospitality positions (in the

more urban area of Lubbock). Jobs in these industries are often low-paying and do not offer

benefits or retirement options, which contributes to long-term generational poverty.

Poverty is manifested differently for certain segments of the population. The economy and the

large concentration of seniors living on a fixed income was noted as an important predictor of

poverty in the service area in interviews conducted for the community assessment and also

demonstrated in the composition of the populations’ median and per-capita income levels.

Seniors in poverty tend to have unstable housing arrangements and increased food insecurity.

Poverty among families is greater among single-parent families and families with young

children under five years of age. One causal factor may be the cost of childcare and the

difficulty of single-female householders have in the service area due to a gender-pay gap, as

well as a tendency of women to leave the workforce to care for small children, which can limit

their occupational mobility. For families that do receive governmental assistance, the eligibility

cliff is a disincentive to increasing their earnings because as earning increase, other government

assistance is reduced. Research by Shipler (2004) echoes this trend among low-income groups.

Community assessment survey respondents also commented that individuals may lack

motivation and fear they will lose benefits if they obtain additional work.

Populations of color, specifically Hispanics, in the service area are also disproportionally in

poverty. The disparity could be due to lack of educational attainment and other systemic

barriers that limit the ability of Hispanic populations to access health care and postsecondary

education. In turn, the ability of populations of color to enter into occupational roles that pay a

living wage is limited. Data from the community assessment indicates that Hispanics have the

2 SPCAA Community Needs Assessment; prepared by Heartland Grant Solutions and approved by the Board of Directors in June 2017.

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lowest education attainment rates, lowest rates of access to health care, and lowest incomes

when compared to their white peers. African American/Black populations also show a disparity

in income and health.

Poverty among all groups can be attributed in part to a local social and economic system that

creates and reproduces poverty. If poverty were caused as a result of one’s independent

actions, we would anticipate a much smaller population impacted by poverty. Because the

service area population in poverty exceeds more than 77,000 individuals, it can be assumed

that there are systemic forces at work in perpetuating generational and situational poverty.

Data collected for the community assessment indicates the largest drivers of poverty are

depressed wages with few employment opportunities that can improve mobility for low-

income residents. Inadequate transportation also makes access to jobs, childcare, and social

services costly and difficult, exerting a strain on the service delivery system. Lack of

transportation jeopardizes the health of rural towns in the service area as individuals cannot

reach grocery stores, retail outlets, or health service agencies without undue burdens.

The term “neighborhood effects” is used to describe the simultaneous presence of

neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage with other social problems, including high rates of

unemployment, crime, adolescent delinquency, teenage childbearing, social and physical

disorders, single-parent households, child maltreatment, high levels of mobility, poor child and

adult health and mental health, and poor developmental outcomes for children and

adolescents (Coulton, Korbin, Su & Chow, 1995; Policy Link, 2002; Roosa et al, 2003; Sampson,

2001; Sampson, Morenoff & Gannon-Rowley, 2002). A review of the data for the service area

shows that the population experiences the following:

Socioeconomic disadvantages that exceed the rates found at the state and nationally, as

evidenced by the following poverty rates for individuals:

Poverty Rates for Individuals

Service area 19.3%

Texas 17.2%

United States 15.4% The counties with the highest rates of child poverty are Floyd, Crosby, Cochran, Terry,

and Lamb. The counties with the highest poverty rate among all ages are Dickens,

Cochran, Terry, Crosby, and Garza.

The rate of unemployment in the service area at 3.8% is lower than the rate found at

the state and nationally. However, when analyzed in terms of the rate of unemployment

change, the rate of employment in the serve area did not improve at the same pace as

nationally. The counties with the highest rates of unemployment are Cochran, Dickens,

Floyd, Hale, and Lamb. These counties also tend to have the lowest rates of educational

attainment.

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The service are crime rates are higher than state or national rates:

Crime Rates

Service area 584.7/100,000

Texas 422.1/100,000

United States 395.5/100,000 The highest incidence of crime is found in Lubbock County.

Risk-taking among adolescents and early parenthood also impact the wellbeing of the

service area population and the life chances of young adults and their children.

Births to Mothers under 18 Years of Age

Service area 3.3%

Texas 2.7% Low Birthweight Babies

Service area 8.4%

Texas 8.1% Births to Mothers without High School Diploma

Service area 21.4%

Texas 20.2%

Mothers Who Smoke During Pregnancy

Service area 7.4%

Texas 3.9% Garza far exceeds the other counties in the percent of pregnant mothers who smoke at

19.0%. Lubbock has the highest rate of infant mortality at 21.5% of all babies. This is

partially due to a more diverse population and the impact of high infant mortality rates

among women of color. The percent of babies born to single mothers is highest in Lamb

County (54.0%), followed by Cochran and Crosby counties (both 52.2%) and Terry

County (51.9%).

Factors that demonstrate a concern trend in the mental health status of the population

in the service area include:

Experience Mental Distress

Service area 12.4%

Texas 10.0% Binge Drinking

Service area 17.0%

Texas 14.7% The service area has lower mental health provider ratios throughout the service area

counties than the state average. In addition, the service area also has a significant

number of veterans, who are more likely to experience mental health and substance

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abuse issues. In Head Start, 4% of the Head Start child population experienced a mental

health or behavioral challenges that warranted a mental health consultation.

Educational attainment rates for adults impact their ability to get and maintain a job

with a living wage.

Population without High School Diploma (age 25 and above)

Service area 19.3%

Texas 18.0

United States 13.3% Population with associates or bachelors degree

Service area 19.7%

Texas 24.9%

United States 26.6% Educational disparities begin early in life and are complicated by lack of literacy and

limited English proficiency. Within the service area 16.2% of the population lacks literacy

skills and 3.6% of the population lives in a home that is linguistically isolated. The

counties with the highest percentage of population that have not received a high school

diploma are Garza, Cochran, and Bailey.

Food security is an “invisible” need in the service area. Lubbock County has access to

grocery stores due to its urban nature and serves as as the service area’s center for food

distribution. The data from Lubbock inflates the total service area food security

statistics. In the rural areas, food is less accessible and several counties have census

tracts identified as food deserts (Cochran [entire county is identified as a food desert],

Hale, Floyd, and Lynn). In addition, the rural areas are served by food pantries as

opposed to a food bank, which limits the quantity of food delivered to those in need of

additional food assistance.

Substandard housing is a critical need in the service area. The age of housing is older

than found in the state of Texas in all counties. Additionally in several counties, more

than 20% of all occupied housing units have one or more substandard conditions. Using

this measure, the worst housing conditions are found in Bailey County (39.2% of the

homes substandard) and Lubbock County (33.0% of homes substandard). In regard to

affordable housing, Lubbock and Lynn counties have the most residents that experience

a housing burden when compared to the income levels found in among the population.

The Needs Assessment also included a section on key findings, identified as needs that were

interrelated and interdependent. The most significant of these were:

Improved educational attainment is critical

Improved health to increase the wellbeing of low-income families will have a positive

impact on families and the community

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Additional assistant to single parents in Head Start will improve mobility for families and

break generational cycles of poverty

Living conditions have important implication for health and wellbeing

These points will be useful to SPCAA in the development of specific strategies to address the

top five needs in our service area.

Purpose, Process, and Participation

From the beginning of the strategic planning process, SPCAA wanted to have as

much participation from the Board of Directors and the various board committees. Because of

the long travel distances and the time involved, the agency determined that a one-day

workshop would maximize board participation.

Senior staff from the agency – division directors and other staff – were tapped to participate, as

were a large number of front-line staff. The idea was that front-line staff would bring unique

and valuable insights to the process.

Our community partner ATMOS Energy donated the use of their training room at their Lubbock

facility, which enabled the agency staff to be away from their offices for the day, and thus free

of the sorts of distractions that occur if you’re close to your desk. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks

were provided.

Mission, Vision, and Value Statements In accordance with Organizational Standard 4.13, the session included a discussion on the

agency’s mission, vision, and value statements.

Mission Statement

South Plains Community Action Agency Association, Inc. is different from the majority of

community agencies in two ways. Although the service area of our base counties includes only

15 counties, our entire service area encompasses nearly 100 counties, making our service area

larger than many entire states in the country. In addition, our wide range of programs –

provided through Child Care Services, Community Services, Head Start/Early Head Start, Health

Services, Housing, Transportation, and Workforce – means that the populations we reach are

much more diverse than is typical. 3 Org Standard 4.1: The governing board has reviewed the organization’s mission statement within the past five years and assured that: (1) The mission addresses poverty; and (2) The organization’s programs and services are in alignment with the mission.

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Like many community action agencies across the country, we adopted “HELPING PEOPLE.

CHANGING LIVES.” as our mission statement. The mission statement is on our buildings’

signage, on all agency vehicles, on the website and Facebook page, and all print materials.

During the 2010 Strategic Planning process, a long discussion on the mission statement was

conducted, and a new one was drafted. In an effort to be all things to all people, it was long and

wordy and complicated. Eventually, the group decided that there was not a better way to

convey our mission than the simple, four-word mission statement that was already in use, and

it was not changed.

During the 2017 strategic planning session, there was once again a long discussion regarding

the mission statement, beginning with an exercise where all participants were asked to write

down the current one. Fully half of the participants were unable to recall the current four-word

statement. The discussion then moved to the ROMA directive that a mission statement should

address include four key elements – population, services, outcomes, and relationships – and if

that was feasible and desirable for SPCAA.

The participants made several arguments against changing the current mission statement,

including:

Our diverse array of program participants include individuals who are not low-income,

and including that specific term in the mission statement seemed to exclude these

individuals.

Other participants noted the numbers of Limited English Proficiency persons in our

service area as well as English speakers with limited reading skills4, and stated that a

long and complex mission statement would represent a barrier to these individuals.

Our huge service area is not easily identified through a simple geographic description.

We provide service in the Panhandle, on the South Plains, in the Rolling Plains, the

Trans-Pecos region, etc.

The group as a whole felt strongly that mission statements should be simple and easy to

remember. The strategic planning group struggled to remember our very simple one, so

changing to a longer and more complicated mission statement seemed counter-

productive.

It was noted that there is already a stigma attached to participating in some of our

programs, and that the mission statement should not add to that feeling by including

words like “low income.”

There was a suggestion that each program division could draft a mission statement that

was more specific to their needs.

There was also a suggestion that the ROMA wording could be incorporated into SPCAA’s

vision statement.

We DO help people. And we DO change lives.

4 www.communitycommons.org: 16.32% of the total population in the core service area lacks basic literacy skills.

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Eventually, the group reached a consensus that the current mission statement is simple, direct,

and says what we do, and agreed that no change was necessary.

Vision Statement

The current Vision Statement is also simple – EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES THROUGH SELF-

SUFFICIENCY. The group’s consensus was that the current statement was an accurate reflection

of the agency’s vision, and no changes were recommended.

Value Statement

The agency’s values are as follows:

Leadership

Teamwork

Ethics

Communication

Quantity/Quality of Service

Honesty and Integrity

Respect for individuals

No changes were recommended, as the group felt the statement, which was developed during

the 2010 Strategic Plan was still an accurate reflection of the agency’s values.

Summary of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges

Working in teams, the participants were asked to list the items they identified as strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and challenges. As each team presented their list, the rest of the

group provided additional comments. A complete list of all items discussed can be found in

Appendix B; the following list has been edited for clarity.

Strengths (internal)

S1 Variety of services

S2 Large rural service area

S3 Well-trained and enthusiastic staff

S4 Board members who support the agency and are engaged in the process

S5 Strong leadership and teamwork

S6 Well-established community partnerships

S7 Fiscal responsibility and accountability

S8 Agency’s programmatic policies and procedures

S9 Availability of supplemental funding

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Weaknesses (internal)

W1 Lack of consistent and coordinated training, especially in the following:

o For support or front-line staff

o On technology (current and future)

o To cross-train throughout the agency

o To continually reinforce the agency’s mission, vision, and values statements

W2 Lack of services for homeless individuals

W3 Lack of funding

W4 Lack of communication

W5 Lack of resources in small communities to support our existing programs

W6 Employee issues

o Worker injury or other liabilities

o Fraud and abuse

o Loss of good and/or long-term employees

W7 Rising costs of doing business (e.g. – cost of providing health insurance)

Opportunities (external)

O1 Utilization of new technology

O2 Seek funding (especially unrestricted funds) from outside agencies, government

entities, or for-profit organizations

O3 Partnerships with other agencies

O4 Train staff to become models for other community action agencies

O5 Expand the service area and/or add new programs that match the agency’s mission

O6 Establish a life skills program

Threats (external)

T1 Politics

o political uncertainty with the current administration

o many of our programs are politically unpopular

T2 Stigma of people asking for help, or participating in our programs

T3 Legislation that can impact what we do; instability in the government funding process

T4 There are more needs than there is funding

T5 Negative outside perception of our programs and of our program participants

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T6 Possible loss of partnerships with businesses, ISDs, etc.

T7 Competition from rival agencies

T8 Cyber threats, natural disasters, or other catastrophes

T9 Bad publicity

o on social media

o from disgruntled former employees

T10 Lack of leadership/poor decision making

T11 Litigation

T12 Bad audits or monitoring reviews or being found in non-compliance in programs

Goals, Objectives, and Performance Indicators

SPCAA has developed the following five core strategies as a result of the

agency’s needs assessment and strategic planning process. (Please see Appendix C for a matrix

that shows the relationship between the core strategies and the SWOT analysis.)

GOAL 1: ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE (AGENCY GOAL)

SPCAA will implement processes that ensure all resources are used in the most effective

manner and are leveraged to the fullest extent possible; staff is properly trained and paid a

competitive wage, and that all services are provided in a professional, compassionate, and

effective level.

(Builds on internal strengths S3, S5, S7; addresses internal weaknesses W1 and W4; builds on

external opportunities O4, and addresses external threats T9 and T10.)

Objectives:

Ensure employees are adequately trained and maintain necessary skills to perform their

respective job functions.

Establish a culture that is focused on providing the best customer service to clients.

Establish a reputation throughout the service area as an agency that is focused on the

well-being and development of its clients.

Establish buy-in within the organization.

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Strategies:

Establish an employee development committee to gauge and have direct oversight of

agency-wide staff development. Establish baseline tabulation methods to gauge overall

development of employees.

Use SPCAA’s social media and other methods to highlight employees who have provided

exceptional customer service.

Use SPCAA’s social media and other methods to highlight clients who have reached their

self-sufficiency goals and/or transitioned out of poverty.

Actively recruit employees throughout the organization to participate in the social

media strategies, making sure there is representation across program divisions and

geographic areas.

Measures, Year 1:

Achieve 100% compliance with Organizational Standards.

Appoint Employee Development Committee, which will meet three times.

Employee Development Committee formulates baseline tabulation.

SPCAA employees are highlighted one time per month on Facebook.

SPCAA clients are highlighted one time per month on Facebook.

Establish agency presence on Twitter, Instagram, and other appropriate social media

outlets.

Recruit and train a Social Media team.

Measures, Year 2 and 3:

Maintain 100% compliance with Organizational Standards; formulate organized method

to maintain and submit required documentation.

Employee Development Committee will continue to meet three times.

Needed training, identified during year one, will be implemented..

SPCAA employees are highlighted three times per month on Facebook.

SPCAA clients are highlighted three times per month on Facebook.

Maintain agency presence on Twitter, Instagram, and other appropriate social media

outlets.

Update Social Media team, as required.

GOAL 2: DEVELOP A CULTURE OF INNOVATION (AGENCY GOAL)

SPCAA will develop an Innovation Team, who will be charged with the specific responsibility of

looking at ways to develop additional sources of unrestricted funds, seeking new programs,

seeking opportunities to provide our existing programs in new areas, looking at ways to more

fully integrate existing and emerging technologies, seeking ways to better tell our story to the

general public, and developing new cross-agency programs that will address causes of

generational poverty in our area.

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(Builds on internal strengths S1, S2, S3, S5, S7, S8; addresses internal weaknesses W3 and W5;

builds on external opportunities O1, O2, O4, and O5; and addresses external threats T7, T8, and

T10.)

Objectives:

Appoint an Innovation Team, who will be charged with examining out-of-the-box

approaches to service delivery.

Develop plans to more fully integrate existing technologies into agency operations.

Seek ways to better tell the SPCAA story across the region.

Develop additional sources of unrestricted funds.

Strategies:

Appoint Innovation Team as quickly as possible.

Use social media and other outlets to tell SCPAA’s story in a way that focuses on the

successes we have helped our clients achieve.

Implement development plan to created better exposure and visibility in the region.

Actively research and identify foundation and non-Federal grant opportunities.

Measures, Year 1:

Appoint Innovation Team, which will meet six times per year, and report to Executive

Director and senior staff following each meeting.

Innovation Team will present four new ideas for development each year.

Innovation Team will seek funding for development of professionally-produced social

media campaign to tell SPCAA’s story.

Measures, Years 2 and 3:

Innovation Team will continue to meet; with new members added as necessary.

Innovation Team will continue to present four new ideas for development each year.

Innovation Team will track progress of ideas from prior year(s).

GOAL 3: EXPAND SERVICES AND/OR SERVICE AREA (AGENCY GOAL)

SPCAA will continually seek ways to provide new services in our existing service area and/or

provide current services in new areas; in all cases, the expanded services must fall within the

agency’s stated mission.

(Builds on internal strengths S1, S3, S4, S6, S7, S8; addresses internal weakness W5; builds on

external opportunities O1, O2, O4, and O5; and addresses external threats T6, T7, T8, and T10.)

Objectives:

Maintain constant awareness of programs that may become available for SPCAA to run,

while staying within the agency’s stated mission.

Maintain constant awareness of areas where SPCAA’s existing programs and services

may be expanded, while staying within the agency’s stated mission.

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Strategies:

Using agency knowledge and contacts, know what non-SPCAA programs may be in the

position for change.

Using staff expertise, know what current SPCAA programs could be modified to better

meet the stated community needs.

Measures, Year 1, 2, and 3:

Maintain awareness of any programs in areas adjacent to SPCAA’s service area that may

be up for recompetition.

Submit proposals for programs that SPCAA could operate, and that meet the stated

mission of the agency.

GOAL 4: COLLABORATE WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS (AGENCY GOAL)

Utilizing its decades of experience, SPCAA will continue to build collaborative partnerships with

other organizations and individuals to address needs and challenges of low-income populations.

(Builds on internal strengths S4 and S5; addresses internal weaknesses W3 and W5; builds on

external opportunities O2, O3, O4, and O5; and addresses external threats T7, T8, and T10.)

Objectives:

Continue to build a broad base of collaboration partners across the service area.

Use the collaborative relationships to address the needs and challenges of low-income

populations.

Strategies:

Develop and foster meaningful relationships with other agencies that focus on the

advancement of the low-income and impoverished.

Develop a recognition that poverty exists in every community and foster an authentic,

compassionate approach to creating opportunity to work with other agencies to address

the needs.

Measure, Years 1:

Working with the Innovation Team, identify five new collaborative partners, with a focus

on partners who serve highly rural parts of the service area.

Measures, Year 2:

Working with the Innovation Team, identify five new collaborative partners, with a focus

on non-traditional partners.

Measures, Year 3:

Working with the Innovation Team, identify five new collaborative partners, with a focus

on urban partners.

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GOAL 5: STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES BY ADDRESSING THE ROOTS OF POVERTY IN OUR

REGION. (COMMUNITY GOAL)

SPCAA will work to understand the reasons for poverty on the South Plains and will begin to

cultivate a comprehensive approach to addressing the core issues as a component to

developing pathways to self-sufficiency.

(Builds on internal strengths S1, S2, S4, S6 and S8; addresses internal weaknesses W2 and W5;

builds on external opportunities O3, O4, and O5; and addresses external threats T2, T4, T5, and

T7.)

Objectives:

Break families from their current norm and be an advocate for change.

Develop training programs that address financial literacy and other life skills.

Strategies:

Ensure families are trained through formal and basic life skills education to position

themselves for advancement.

Work with local business partners to develop educational programs for local residents.

Measures, Year 1:

Review similar educational programs at other community action agencies.

Report to staff, committees, and/or board to determine which programs could be

modified for our area.

Seek funding to begin program.

Measures, Years 1 and 2:

Implement program. Report and modify, as necessary.

Incorporate success stories from educational program into agency’s various social media

campaigns.

Next Steps

In order for the Strategic Plan to be a livable, workable document, SPCAA staff

will update it every three years, to be in the same update cycle as the community needs

assessment. This will allow the most current information on community needs to be included in

the strategic plan. Additionally, the Planning and Priorities Committee and the Board of

Directors (both of whom meet five times a year) will receive regular updates on the identified

goals and objectives and the progress that has been made in meeting them. SPCAA staff will

develop a chart to track progress.

18

The progress will be evaluated, and the strategies and targets updated as necessary. This

strategic plan will be completely updated in three years.

A-1

Appendix A – List of Participants

SPCAA Employees

Carrie Altman, Associate Director of Head Start/Early Head Start

Lousinda Anguiano, Center Coordinator, Morton and Levelland

Leigh Arrington, Associate Director Health Services, Director Project CHAMPS

Dalia Arvisu, Center Coordinator, Floydada

Brian Baker, Director of SPARTAN Transportation

Roger Cardenas, Deputy Director and Director of Health Services

Petra Cisneros, Section 8 Family Self-Sufficiency Coordinator

Christy Colley, Director of Child Care Services

Christina Cristan, NCRT, CSBG Program Coordinator

Kami Eller, Administrative Assistant, Head Start

Debra Garcia, Client Services/Child Care Services

Heather Harriss, Center Coordinator, Plainview

Melinda Harvey, Grants Writer/Planner

Cris Howe, Controller

Larry Martin, Risk Management Director

Adolfo Perez, Executive Assistant

Luis Perez, NCRT, Administrative Assistant

William D. Powell, Executive Director

Whitney Quick, Finance Director

Conni Rowe, Workforce Programs Outreach Specialist

Lessette Sanchez, Section 8 counselor

Monica Talamantez, Director of Workforce

Henry Tarango, NCRT, Director of Community Services

Christy Vargas, Weatherization Coordinator

Monica Warren, Center Coordinator, Brownfield

Board and Committee Members

Jeremiah Arguello, Head Start/Early Head Start Policy Council

Jaime Torres, Governance Committee

Louise Jones, Planning and Priorities Committee and SPCAA Board of Directors

Alma Rodriguez, Head Start/Early Head Start Policy Council Chair and Policy Council

representative on SPCAA Board of Directors

Marilyn Jennings, Head Start/Early Head Start Policy Council, Scholarship Committee, SPCAA

Board of Directors

A-2

Appendix B – Complete list from SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Variety of services

Large rural service area

Well-trained and enthusiastic staff

Board members who support the agency and are engaged in the process

Strong leadership

Teamwork

Community partnerships

Fiscal responsibility and accountability

Agency’s programmatic policies and procedures

Availability of supplemental funding

Weaknesses

Lack of resources to provide at least a yearly training to SPCAA employees on the

agency’s mission, vision, and values.

Lack of time to cross-train on a inter-agency basis

Lack of training for support staff

Lack of knowledge of all of the agency’s programs

Lack of services for homeless individuals

Lack of funding

Lack of communication

Lack of resources in small communities

Staff don’t always know about all programs in the agency

Lack of ways to bridge the “digital divide”

Opportunities

Utilization of new technology

Seek funding from outside agencies, government entities, or for-profit organizations

Partnerships with other agencies

Train staff to become models for other community action agencies

Expand the service area

Add new programs

Threats

Political uncertainty with the current administration

Stigma of people asking for help, or participating in our programs

Legislation that can impact what we do

Instability in the government funding process

A-3

There are more needs than there is funding

Negative outside perception of our programs

Many of our programs are politically unpopular

Possible loss of partnerships with businesses, ISDs, etc.

Competition from rival agencies

Cyber threats

Natural disasters or other catastrophes

Bad publicity, especially on social media

Disgruntled former employees

Lack of leadership/poor decision making

Litigation

Cost of health insurance

Bad audits or monitoring reviews

Being found in non-compliance in programs

Worker injury or other liabilities

Fraud and abuse

Loss of good and/or long-term employees

A-4

Appendix C – Core Future Strategies Matrix

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Strengths (internal)

S1 Variety of services

S2 Large rural service area

S3 Well-trained and enthusiastic staff

S4 Board members who support the agency and are engaged in the process

S5 Strong leadership and teamwork

S6 Well-established community partnerships

S7 Fiscal responsibility and accountability

S8 Agency’s programmatic policies and procedures

S9 Availability of supplemental funding

Weaknesses (internal)

W1 Lack of consistent and coordinated training, especially in the following:

For support or front-line staff

On technology (current and future)

To cross-train throughout the agency

To continually reinforce the agency’s mission, vision, and values statements

W2 Lack of services for homeless individuals

W3 Lack of funding

W4 Lack of communication

W5 Lack of resources in small communities to support our existing programs

A-5

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on

W6 Employee issues, especially:

Worker injury or other liabilities

Fraud and abuse

Loss of good and/or long-term employees

W7 Rising costs of doing business (e.g. – cost of providing health insurance)

Opportunities (external)

O1 Utilization of new technology

O2 Seek funding (especially unrestricted funds) from outside agencies, government entities, form for- profit organizations

O3 Partnerships with other agencies

O4 Train staff to become models for other community action agencies

O5 Expand the service area and/or add new programs that match the agency’s mission

O6 Development of life skills programs

Threats (external)

T1 Politics, especially:

Political uncertainty with the current administration

Many of our programs are politically unpopular

T2 Stigma of people asking for help, or participating in our programs

T3 Legislation that can impact what we do; instability in the government funding process

T4 There are more needs than there is funding

A-6

Ach

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De

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no

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and

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Are

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ora

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Co

mm

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ity

Par

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om

mu

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ies

by

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the

roo

ts o

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in o

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regi

on

T5 Negative outside perception of our programs, and of our program participants

T6 Possible loss of partnerships with businesses, ISDs, etc.

T7 Competition from rival agencies

T8 Cyber threats, natural disasters, or other catastrophes

T9 Bad publicity, such as:

On social media

From disgruntled former employees

T10 Lack of leadership/poor decision making

T11 Litigation

T12 Bad audits or monitoring reviews or being found in non-compliance in programs

A-7

Appendix D – Customer Survey Summaries

Please see the following pages for customer survey summaries.