Community Tool Box - Sustain the Work or Initiative

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Sustain the Work or Initiative:

Example of Sustaining the Work or Initiative for the CTB Community WorkStation

The RRISK Project: Promoting Community-Based Alliances to Reduce Risky Behaviors in Our Youth

As told by Anita Mason, Director of the RRISK Project in Ulysses, Kansas, to Valorie Carson, research associate with the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development at the University of Kansas.

Background

The RRISK Project was created in response to a community's concern about the increasing/high rate of teenage pregnancies in Grant County, Kansas. Grant County is a largely rural and unincorporated county in southwestern Kansas, with only one incorporated town (Ulysses) of 7,000 people. However, it's rate of teen pregnancies is one of the top ten in the state. In January of 1999, it received a four year, community matched grant from the Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) to establish a long term initiative to reduce risk factors associated with increased risk for pregnancy among teenagers. The grant required the initiative to attain matching funds from local businesses and outside grant makers, in an attempt to promote the long-term sustainability of the project and greater investment by the local community. For example, a $30,000 match was required the 2nd year of the grant from local businesses, and $45,000 was required the 3rd year. Matching grants and inkind support were sought from grant makers other than KHF, in addition to county and city government and local school districts.

1. Deciding whether the initiative needs to be sustained

In order for the initiative to have a long term impact on teen pregnancy rates in Grant County, community members realized that it must be an ongoing effort, and consequently at the end of the 2nd year they developed a sustainability strategy. Their goal was to significantly affect one generation, through 12 years of sustained effort, and subsequently measure the impact of the intervention. One measure of success would be if Grant County could move from one of the top ten in rates of teen pregnancies to one of the lowest ten in the state of Kansas. RRISK members had created a large organizational structure made up of 70 volunteers from the community who participate on a monthly basis in addition to three full time and one half time staff members. They felt they had the resources and need to actively plan for long-term sustainability of the project.

2. Clarifying the goals and context

RRISK's vision was to promote community based alliances to reduce risky behaviors and to encourage healthy lifelong decisions for the youth of their community. They chose to focus on six action components as ways to achieve their goal: 1) improve sexuality education, 2) enhance access to health services for youth, 3) educate the community through mass media, especially the adults in the community, 4) develop a peer support and education network, 5) provide alternative activities for local youth, and 6) develop community alliances. While the KHF grant focused on reducing risk for pregnancy, RRISK anticipates that its focus will widen with time to broader issues of youth development, including drug and alcohol use among teens, intentional and unintentional injury, and teen sexuality. However, their vision will remain the same.

The RRISK organization is made up of a Governance board, in addition to several standing committees. These include an abstinence committee, finance committee, public relations committee, male involvement committee, and middle and high school youth advisory committees. Each of these committees is responsible for having a monthly event related to the project's vision. Paid staff include the director, office coordinator, youth liaison, and health educator (half time). Staff are used to support and develop community leaders.

The current foundation of funding is made up of approximately one-third grants, one-third internal fundraising, and one-third cash and inkind donations. As well to the KHF grant, RRISK received federal block grants and several small private grants (e.g. the United Way). Walmart and other local businesses have also provided financial support and inkind donations. Currently, RRISK conducts three fund and awareness raising events on a yearly basis. In May they raffle off a "gift a month" prize and in October they have a chili cook-off. They solicit voluntary donations each school year during student enrollment as well. The initiative is sensitive to economic and demographic changes in Grant County that may affect funding and support in the future. Grant County was strongly hit by recent oil and gas recessions, which have affected its tax base. The population of the county has been decreasing overall, and demographically it is increasingly Hispanic, increasing the need for Spanish-language materials and media outreach and greater cultural sensitivity. As the county's resources and needs change, RRISK anticipates that its sustainability strategies may need to be altered as well.

3. Creating a business plan to anticipate needed resources for sustainability

RRISK's primary priority is the establishment of ongoing sex education and peer support and education programs. In addition, it would like to establish the youth advisory board as a permanent school organization and permanently fund part of the youth liaison's position to work with the youth advisory board. Other projects include the "5th Quarter" program, which provides kids with alternative activities following football and basketball games during the school year. In creating a long term business plan, it does not see itself as providing many of the services itself. Instead, all projects are done in collaboration with other groups (such as the local schools and sexuality education, and local churches and the 5th Quarter program) in order to increase the probability that the services or programs will continue after the initiative ends or shifts focus.

The primary focus of RRISK's programs is middle and high school age children and secondarily, grade school children. Grade school age children are reached through summer day camps in which they participate in exercises around team building, self-esteem, ethnic relations, healthy decision making and behaviors, and how to access adults for help. Programs for both girls and boys are available. Teenage-focused programs revolve around issues related to AIDS/STD's, drug and alcohol prevention, and sexuality. Youth and their parents are informed about the various programs through monthly newsletters, which are sent to eligible youth identified from school address lists and newsletters are additionally posted at local Daily Donuts and laundry mats. In order to better serve the growing Hispanic community, the newsletter is translated into Spanish every three months. The changes that result from the initiative's programs and changes in policy and practice are being tracked through the University of Kansas' web-based documentation system in addition to through focus groups and local surveys.

The following is the RRISK Project's anticipated budgets for the year 2000 through 2002.

Account	Year 2000	Community Match	Year 2001	Community Match	Year 2002	Community Match
Personnel:
RRISK	72,485.00		70,000.00	3,559.00	62,000.00	13,766.00
Fringes	12,500.00		9,500.00	3,500.00	6,000.00	7,500.00
Contracted Services	10,515.00	23,239.00	500.00	14,500.00		14,000.00
TOTAL	95,500.00	23,239.00	80,000.00	21,559.00	68,000.00	35,266.00

Consultant	2,500.00	1,000.00	2,500.00	2,500.00	1,500.00	3,500.00
Equipment		1,000.00		1,500.00		1,500.00
Supplies	3,500.00	3,200.00	3,000.00	3,000.00	3,000.00	3,200.00
Travel	5,500.00	1,200.00	4,500.00	1,000.00	4,500.00	1,500.00
Grad. Training	8,500.00	8,500.00	9,000.00	8,500.00	7,500.00	10,500.00
Educ. Materials		600.00		600.00		1,000.00
Mini Grants		1,000.00		1,200.00		8,000.00
Indirect Costs (3.75%)	4,500.00		1,000.00	3,500.00	500.00	4,000.00
TOTAL	24,500.00	16,500.00	20,000.00	21,800.00	17,000.00	33,200.00

GRAND TOTAL	120,000.00	39,739.00	100,000.00	43,359.00	85,000.00	68,466.00

4. Setting specific goals for generating financial resources and sustainability

RRISK is using multiple strategies to ensure that the programs and policies that have been achieved through its efforts are maintained long enough to make a significant impact on the youth of their county. One way has been through establishing a health educator position that is partially funded by the county commissioners. Another way is by becoming an existing line item of another organizations. RRISK has become a charitable contribution line item for Electric Cooperative in their yearly budget, and is asking Pioneer Electric, Pioneer Communications, Amoco, and several local banks to incorporate a charitable contribution to the RRISK project in their yearly budgets in order to ensure consistent financial support for the project. Additionally, RRISK has tried to incorporate their programs and activities into the activities of other organizations who share similar missions, with the hope that they will eventually take over the funding of the program. For example, RRISK members have been working with the school districts to establish and enhance sexuality education in the schools, which was originally funded by funds from KHF but are increasingly paid for by the school district itself.

Grants from both local and federal sources have been used to support RRISK initiated activities. In addition to the original Kansas Health Foundation, RRISK was awarded a federal rape prevention and education grant, which was used to help fund both salaries for the health educator and youth liaison positions and male youth programs sponsored by the male involvement committee. An award from the Baughman Foundation, a local grant maker, supported the summer day camp programs for elementary age children. RRISK has also tapped into federal government programs as a way to provide support staff for the organization. Through Green Thumb, Inc., a national not-for-profit organization funded by the Department of Labor, RRISK hired an older person to complete clerical tasks in exchange for training them in various (computer and office? work-related?) skills.

The RRISK project's members found out quickly that in a small, financially-interdependent community, it was very important to solicit in-kind support from local businesses first and in turn, to publicly recognize and promote those businesses that contributed within the community. The Grant County Feeders supplied beef for the annual bar-b-que held for freshmen and seniors at the high school. Local grocers provided snacks for youth programs and various business donated door prizes for the annual fund raiser. When the project needed to purchase materials for various projects, they did so at local businesses when possible. Leaders within the projects felt that cultivating relationships with local businesses benefited both the businesses and RRISK. Fundraisers included enrollment donation drives, raffles, and chili cook-offs. Additionally, RRISK receives public funding from the city council on a yearly basis, which is budgeted from their state drug and alcohol prevention funds. Currently, RRISK's budget is 50% dependent on grants, 20% dependent on fundraising, and 30% dependent on cash and in kind donations.

RRISK decided that it would not develop third party funding or fee-for-service funding strategies, as they felt it was inconsistent with their philosophy. While they had considered creating an endowment with the project's eligibility for bonus grant money, federal constraints regarding revenue made it untenable at the present time. A differently structured form of an endowment may be revisited in the future. Similarly, membership dues have been rejected as a strategy for raising funds, as it could potentially restrict who becomes involved.

As RRISK continues to implement new programs and practices, support ongoing projects, and expand their mission, they will actively seek out new opportunities and utilize many of the strategies.