Strategic/business plan
Strategic plans or business plans are important for making the case for prioritizing funding, policy, and practice improvements. If necessary, the plan identifies the need for additional personnel; increased capacity for mental health and substance use treatment services and support services, such as housing and employment; and infrastructure improvements, such as information systems updates and training. Any programming requests in the strategic plan should include evidence-based approaches that are carefully matched to the particular needs of the population.
Local Examples
Delaware County, OH Delaware County Sheriff’s Office
- The Delaware County Sheriff’s Department and local Stepping Up team worked with Stepping Up Ohio to make a business case for investing in housing and supportive services. The plan illustrates the cost to public systems of one person cycling through emergency systems such as emergency departments, jail, and shelters, compared to the cost of housing and supportive services over the same time period.
- Based on this work, local funders came together to work toward the creation of the Delaware County Housing Alliance, whose mission is to make Delaware County a community with safe, quality, attainable housing for all. Its projects include creation of sober living options, a men’s homeless shelter, and youth crisis stabilization housing.
For more information on this example, see these resources:
San Luis Obispo County, CA
- The three-year strategic plan lays out the county’s Set, Measure, Achieve goals.
- For each of the Stepping Up four key measures, the plan outlines recommendations for starting or enhancing interventions that impact the measures, including actions necessary, potential funding sources, timeline for implementation, and primary contacts.
For more information on this example, see these resources:
DuPage County, IL
- DuPage County conducts assessments every three years to reprioritize community action toward needed goals.
- Following the National Association of County Health Officials’ Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process, county officials administer four different assessments to capture different forms of data.
- Once priorities are set, existing partner organizations working in the priority areas use information from the latest assessments to develop goals for the following three years.
For more information on this example, see these resources:
Type
Policy & Practice
Measures
N/A
Last updated: November 7, 2022