In the United States, between 12%-16% of children experience developmental, behavioral, and/or emotional delays. If undetected and untreated, these delays could have a profound impact on the lives of children and their families, and on society as a whole.
In California, leaders from San Bernardino County and Riverside County (known collectively as the Inland Empire) recognized that early childhood systems must work collaboratively to maximize their resources and leverage opportunities to proactively address developmental delays in their counties.
The Inland Empire’s regional partners, First 5 San Bernardino, First 5 Riverside County, and Loma Linda University Children’s Health, invited VIVA Social Impact Partners to help them form a strategic alliance under the nationally-recognized Help Me Grow systems model. This partnership will help them leverage existing resources to ensure their communities identify vulnerable children, link families to community-based services, and empower families to support their children’s healthy development.
Through an intensive strategic planning process, VIVA assisted Help Me Grow Inland Empire to identify and engage system advocates, map the area’s assets, and set the partnership’s North Star. VIVA also planned and facilitated three large stakeholder events to support the strategic planning process and build support, and created a website and introductory video to support the community launch of Help Me Grow.
Key activities of this engagement:
- Asset Mapping
- Collective Impact
- Communication Strategy
- Coordinated Staffing Structure
- Governance and Operational Structure
- Meeting Facilitation
- Organizational Development
- Partnership Development
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Strategic Planning
- Systems Change