Center Sponsors Seminar on a Systemic Approach to Homelessness    

The Collins Center presented a seminar last month entitled, "A Systemic Approach to Solving Homelessness and Other Public Problems."  The seminar was held on the UMass Boston campus and was co-sponsored by the McCormack Graduate School's (MGS) Center for Social Policy.  The forum explored the limits and traps of traditional thinking as opposed to systems thinking. 

Seminar instructors were David Peter Stroh, a systems thinking expert with thirty years of experience and a founding partner of Bridgeway Partners of Brookline, an organizational learning and leadership development consultant practice, and John McGah, executive director of the MGS Give US Your Poor campaign to end homelessness.  Stroh and McGah have been applying the discipline of systems dynamics to homelessness in presentations and workshops across the United States as well as in Canada.

A systemic approach works to identify the interconnections of factors affecting an issue and prompts the question: "What are the short and long term consequences of any policy we implement?"  Through system principles and tools, including causal systems maps, participants are able to better see the consequences of actions and the structures in place that determine outcomes more so than actions reacting just to symptoms of a problem.

The seminar drew a diverse audience of approximately 60 participants.  Among them were  foundation representatives, homeless service providers, advocates, state representatives' staff, police officers, teachers, consultants, researchers and former state senators.  Together they explored ways to capture the complexity of homeless problems and how to create a process for identifying leverage points for systemic change. Participants learned about tools and practices that have broad application to a number of issues facing state and local practitioners addressing public affairs.  

"We wanted to have people understand that the problem of homelessness is more complex than people realize ... and to explore why solutions don't get implemented despite best intentions," said David Peter Stroh.  Although the event largely focused on applying systems theory to homelessness, the principles and tools discussed would be applicable to any complex system or public issue.  The instructors also explored applications to prison systems, famine, public safety and drug use.

Working together and separately, Stroh and McGah use unconventional methodologies that, among other things, shed light on widely employed practices which are intended to help ameliorate homelessness, but in fact either don't work or make problems worse. Using conventional "stovepipe" thinking, providers, agencies and others often invent and deploy solutions to homelessness without reference to the dynamics associated with other players and problems in the field.

One classic result of the short-term, narrowly focused thinking that prevails today is the emergency shelter. Important though they are as "first responders" to people in need, these shelters can also have the unintended effect, McGah and Stroh pointed out, of hiding the larger social challenge by visibly clearing homeless people from the streets and effectively removing the community's motivation to take the essential next step of providing permanent housing. "The sense in the community," said Stroh, "becomes: If we can put a roof over someone's head, we don't have a problem anymore; out of sight out of mind. Citizens and officials are happy; there's no more funding required. And shelter providers are happy, too since they're getting funded for their services." But, "Is the homeless person in question really any closer to getting permanent housing?" Stroh asked pointedly.

For more information on Systems Thinking visit the following links:

www.bridgewaypartners.com  

www.appliedsystemsthinking.com/  

www.giveusyourpoor.org/solutions/systems.php  

Center Retained to Recruit New Town Manager for Dracut and New Fire Chief for Ipswich

The Board of Selectmen in Dracut recently voted to use the Executive Recruitment Services of the Collins Center in their search for the Town's next Town Manager. Dennis Piendak, Dracut Town Manager for almost twenty-five years, has announced his intention to retire. Dracut, with a population of approximately 30,000, adopted a home rule charter in 1985 that created the position of Town Manager. Center staff will work with the Board of Selectmen to recruit and interview candidates.   

Active recruiting will commence in the fall and an appointment to the position is expected to be made early in 2012.  A Profile of the Town and a description of the position will be posted shortly on the Center's website.

Additionally, Ipswich Town Manager Robert Markel retained the Center to coordinate the search for the town's new fire chief. The position is currently vacant.

The Center will review the resumes of interested applications for the position, select individuals for interviews, develop the interview questions and coordinate the Town's screening panel. After that process is completed, the Center will provide a list of finalists to the Town Manager for final selection. The Center expects the process to be completed by the end of September 2011.

The Collins Center recently completed the recruitment of a new Town Manager in Chatham and is also currently assisting the Town of Framingham in its search for a new Town Manager.

For further information about the Center's executive recruitment and interim management services, please contact Richard Kobayashi at richard.kobayashi@umb.edu or call (617) 489-8812. For information on these  services specifically for police and fire departments, please contact Kym Craven at  kimberly.craven@umb.edu or at (617) 287-4824.

Study Underway to Determine if the Town of West Boylston Could Join an Economic Target Area

The Town of West Boylston has retained the Collins Center to help it explore the possibility of joining an Economic Target Area (ETA), and, potentially, assist in the program's application process, depending on the results of the initial research.

ETA is a designation made by the Commonwealth's Economic Assistance Coordinating Council (EACC).  ETAs are municipalities or portions of municipalities that, based on criteria specified in state law and regulations, have the ability to participate in certain tax incentive and other economic development programs.  Over 200 municipalities or portions of municipalities are currently part of an ETA.

The Town of West Boylston's Master Plan, put together by the Town-Wide Planning Committee in 2005, lists fourteen strategies for achieving the Town's seven economic development goals.  Strategy #7 is to "[b]ecome a member of an Economic Target Area (ETA)." Since the Master Plan was written, the Town has continued to consider ETA designation an important strategy in achieving its development goals.

The Center will first help the Town determine whether it qualifies to receive an ETA designation by collecting and analyzing the data required to demonstrate that the Town fits the program's criteria.  If the research concludes that West Boylston has a good chance of joining an ETA, the Center will then help the Town organize the necessary information and assemble the application to the EACC.

For more information about the Center's economic development services, please contact Michael Ward at  michael.ward@umb.edu or at (617) 287-4876.

StatNet Summer Meeting on Public Works Attended by Municipal Officials from 11 Municipalities in Three States   

New England StatNet hosted its summer meeting at Worcester City Hall on Wednesday, July 20th.  The meeting's topic was municipal public works and how different communities use public works data to make operational decisions.  The meeting included municipal officials from eleven different communities in three different states, as well as representatives from four academic/research institutions and two consulting firms.  Two municipalities were first-time StatNet attendees. 

The meeting's main discussion covered a wide range of public works-related topics, including snow removal, solid waste, recycling and road maintenance.  In addition, officials from Ipswich and Providence presented a case study on using work order systems for public works management.

StatNet is a network of municipalities in New England using CitiStat or other data-driven performance management approaches. The group is coordinated by the Collins Center and gathers three times a year for in-depth discussion of municipal governance issues and works on other collaborative efforts as well.

Formerly known as MassStat, StatNet is now into its third year of existence. In addition to public works, meeting topics have included: human resources, inspections, customer service/constituent relations, and police. In May, StatNet hosted its first all-day performance management training, drawing a standing room only crowd. More than 120 representatives from New England municipalities, state agencies and non-profit organizations attended the event, held Wednesday, May 18th at the University's Healey Library Conference Center.

StatNet's fall meeting will focus on the CitiStat process itself, that is, the use of data to improve municipal processes and the quality of government service, and will be held in October or November.

If you are interested in learning more about StatNet or any of its initiatives, please contact Michael Ward at (617) 287-4876 or michael.ward@umb.edu.

Littleton Fire Department Engages Center to Help With Strategic Planning 

Littleton Fire Chief Stephen Carter has engaged theCenter to assist the Town's fire department with itsstrategic planning efforts. Earlier this year, Captain A. Steele McCurdy graduated from the Department of Fire Services' Chief Fire Officer's course, a thirteen-week training program for senior managers in municipal fire departments sponsored by the Center in conjunction with the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy.

Chief Carter noted that, while the fire department command staff had met with the members of the department to discuss strategic planning, additional assistance from an outside agency during the development of the strategic plan will enable all department members to actively participate in the process while at the same time obtaining unbiased guidance from experienced public safety professionals. 

The strategic planning process will include meetings with members of the department, a review of general operations, an evaluation of the current mission, vision and values of the department, a review of the department's organizational structure and job descriptions, and a review of basic incident data.  This process will provide the department with a framework to guide future efforts.  

Palmer Town Manager Interviews to Begin  

The Republican, July 27, 2011

Central Falls Receiver Proposes Slicing Some Pensions in Half  

WRPI.com, July 19, 2011