1. National ROMA Peer to Peer Trainers Developing an Individual Strategic Action Plan for 2005-06

2. STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN As you work toward developing a plan for 2005-06, the following questions may be helpful as you identify strategies and actions you will be undertaking to strengthen the CSBG network in your community.

3. Who am I?  What have I been involved in so far in my community?  What is my current and projected role in my community? (Training, support services, lead or participate in discussions regarding agency improvement and revitalization and/or community planning)  What can I do to be a change agent/catalyst for change and to support the improvement of CAAs to enable them to identify and meet the anti-poverty needs in my community?  What is my responsibility (leadership, coordination, participation) for poverty-related programs in my community?

4. What is my Community? · Is it a single agency, group of agencies, state, region, entire nation?

5. What is my vision for my community?  If a miracle happened, and my community was exactly like I want it to be, what would be different?  What does the ideal community (as I defined my community) look like after the miracle?

6. Where is my community now? Can I identify the status of the CSBG network in my community? · Is there evidence of strategic thinking in the CAAs regarding a connection among the vision of a community with no poverty, assessed community need, CAA mission, selection of programs and services provided, and partnerships maintained? · Is there evidence of the ability of the CAAs to identify outcomes for families and communities, to measure and document these outcomes, to aggregate and analyze the outcome data, and to use the analysis of the data for decision making? · Are agencies working closely with and respected by their geographic and customer communities? · Are agencies integral partners in the leadership of their communities? · Can I identify the relationship between the state and the local CAAs? Between the state and the association? Between the association and the local CAAs? Between our state and national efforts and trends?

7. What needs to change?

8. What do I hope to accomplish? Can I identify some thing(s) that will move the CSBG network to increased capacity to achieve results? · What will change?

9. How will I know when we have been successful? What will the change look like? · How will CAAs be different? · How will the relationships among the state, the association and the local CAAs be different? · How will the state interface with the national network differently?

10. What strategies will help move my community to the shared vision? · Can I identify specific strategies and action steps that are needed to move the CSBG network to increased capacity to achieve results?

11. What resources do I need to be successful? · How much time away from my agency (or my regular work) do I need to commit to these strategies? · What support do I need from my agency or state leadership to encourage agency participation? · How can I use and/or strengthen relationships with my community network? · What financial support will I need? (for travel, materials, etc.)

12. What resources do I already have? What partners do I have? How much support can I count on from these partners? How much support do I have from local agencies, state offices and associations, national groups? Other resources?

13. When we meet next year, what will I have achieved? · What is different? · What segments of the community have adopted strategic plans or developed a community wide vision? · Will did I do to find resources? Developed a new resource ? · What activities have I done and what was the impact of the activities?

14. Identify current situation in community. What needs to change? Identify outcome to be achieved. What is your vision? What will change? STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS Identify the resources you have available. Identify the supportive partnerships and linkages you have available. Identify the resources you need to secure. Identify outcome indicators: the number/percent of change you will see. What will the change look like? Measure and document the change. How will you know? What will you report? © Community Action Association of, “Model for Planning,” for the National ROMA Peer-To-Peer Training Program, September, 2005 Identify the partnerships and linkages you need to secure. Analyze the data. What will you do to improve? Re-assess resources and partnerships (available and needed) Identify strategies that will be implemented to address the current situation and that will achieve the desired outcome. How do the strategies relate to your mission?