Types and Levels of Partnerships

Strategic Partnerships come in many different shapes and sizes. Partnerships are complex and over time can have varying levels of trust, experience, turf issues or can need more or fewer resources (e.g. energy, staff and money). This guidance establishes four dimensions of partnerships: networking, cooperation, collaboration and integration. Each of these dimensions can mature over time by becoming more purposeful, intentional, developed and sophisticated. These four distilled or idealized categories of strategic partnerships are represented through a chart. These categories are not mutually exclusive, such that a strategic partnership that you may be engaged in will probably not fit neatly into one category. Real world partnerships may have elements of multiple categories. The purpose of this chart, and our attempt to provide these categories, is to aid in evaluating your partnership as to what degree it achieves your intended level of strategic partnership and to identify areas for improvement.

The successful, maturing strategic partnership addresses differences in organizational cultures, values and diversity, and continually reinvents itself to strengthen its ability to achieve its outcomes. Reinvestment strategies are supported and allow for agencies to keep and use unspent revenues from one fiscal year to the next to provide an incentive for positive outcomes. Successful implementation requires addressing client rights and responsibilities and forming solutions to confidentiality and data-sharing barriers. Moreover, successful partnerships have leaders who see the whole as more important and functional than the parts.

Networking, cooperation, collaboration and integration are described in more detail and an example of each is given to better explain the differences between the four dimensions.

Networking

Networking is defined as the process undertaken by individuals from two or more completely independent agencies or entities for the purposes of information sharing or episodic joint activities that are informally coordinated. Networking can occur through informal information sharing, time-limited ad hoc meetings and low-level coordination amongst individuals within organizations. Networking may occur with all levels of staff; however, policies and accountability among the agencies or entities do not typically address the relationship and it is therefore informal. Networking may or may not require formal evaluation or monitoring of the relationship.

Additional examples:

Using technology (e.g. Wikispaces, video technology, dedicated web site) to share information.
Collecting donated items from various groups for holiday gifts, prom and job interviews for distribution to children, youth or families.
Child welfare worker service brokering and advocating with independent service providers.
Publishing and regularly distributing relevant publications (e.g. Annual Reports and agency report cards).
Sharing emergency contact information (when relevant) and a clear identification of what constitutes an emergency.
Accessing relevant professional meetings, conferences, workshops, seminars and other cross-training.
Developing robust information management systems that can easily access and report ad hoc information.

Cooperation

Cooperation is defined as the process of working together for a common purpose to achieve a common goal. Typically, cooperation is used to create a seamless system or an easier, non-duplicated point of access for children, youth and families. At a management level, cooperation involves sharing strategic direction and coordinating mid-to long-term plans. Cooperation also operates at the practice level – coordinating service plans on a regular basis. Cooperation is harmonious and mutually beneficial. Each agency’s or entity’s mission is supported by the joint activities. Written agreements, memorandums of understanding or contracts are typical with cooperation arrangements, but not required. Relationships are characterized by increased trust, and consumers and stakeholders often see little difference among the partner agencies because boundaries are less important and not a barrier to access. At this level of strategic partnership, most individuals in the agency or entity must be aware of and able to support the focus of the partnership. The partnership measures the goals and accounts for activities and progress.

Example: An agency may find that after doing an environmental scan that an increased number of children coming to the attention of public child welfare are from households experiencing domestic violence. The leadership of the agency therefore begins networking and reaching out to those agencies that provide domestic violence services in the community. Additional assessment determines that the public child welfare agency and private providers are serving the same families and have common goals. They decide to support each other in the delivery of services by developing a regional sponsor group to address the root causes or by assigning liaisons to troubleshoot issues as they emerge.

Collaboration

Collaboration is defined as the process of actively working together, requiring a sustained effort of work towards common outcomes at a systemic and practice level. Successful collaborations are formally established through written agreements, contracts, memorandums of understanding and other formal activities, and integrate outcome measurement. Often financial agreements are crafted to blend or braid funding. Interagency management teams, oversight groups or steering committees oversee the effort at a systemic level. Greater involvement of top level executives leads to greater success of the collaboration.

Often, collaborations form to provide a child-centered, family-focused, community-based approach towards cross-system delivery and management of services. Activities may include the cross-training of staff for the purpose of embedding each other’s practices, inclusive encouragement, empathy and recognition in the staff. Families often experience seamless access to and delivery of services.

Example: An agency may find that after doing an environmental scan that an increased number of children coming to the attention of public child welfare are from households experiencing domestic violence. The leadership of the agency therefore begins networking and reaching out to those agencies that provide domestic violence services in the community. Additional assessment determines that those families involved with the child welfare agency are waiting for appointments with the domestic violence counselors, and are therefore not able to meet the individual goals outlined in their service plans. As a result, the public child welfare agency and the domestic violence provider create a formal agreement and establish a method for evaluation in which the provider prioritizes those families, thus increasing the likelihood of expedited services and positive outcomes.

Integration

Integration is defined as a blending, uniting or joining of separate entities into one whole. This may take the form of several agencies or entities co-locating, joint funding and managing services in one location under one management entity for the purpose of serving children, youth and families. In order to fully integrate services, policies and practices, the entity may need to be restructured. Accountability and evaluation is established across all entities.

Families and stakeholders perceive a seamless, transparent system. Duplication and fragmentation of services are minimized. Regardless of the door of entry, families get what they need. Funding and service access silos are largely absent.

The integration of public human service and management entities often requires statutory or regulatory changes. Consequently, integration is the least frequent form of strategic partnerships, but it is the most durable and sustainable.

Example: An agency may find that after doing an environmental scan that an increased number of children coming to the attention of public child welfare are from households experiencing domestic violence. The leadership of the agency therefore begins networking and reaching out to those agencies that provide domestic violence services needed to assist in prevention in the community. Additional assessment determines that children, youth and families are not able to access the domestic violence services and as a result can not attend case management and therapy appointments. In this case, it is decided that domestic violence staff will be co-located within the public child welfare agency to increase accessibility and utilization. As a result of the integration of the two agencies, combined training is provided to all staff and services are streamlined and seamless.

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Additional Section:

Planning for the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership