Community Action Agency programs honored
COLUMBUS – Fifteen Community Action Agency programs were recognized at the annual Best Practices Awards banquet on Friday, Jan. 24, at the Hyatt on Capitol Square, 75 E. State St. Eleven additional programs received honorable mention.
The Best Practices Awards for 2003, co-sponsored by Ohio State’s John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy and the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA), is designed to honor Community Action Agency programs that are innovative and effective in meeting the needs of clients. The Best Practices Awards competition is a collaborative effort between a major university and a statewide association of Community Action Agency programs, and is serving as a model for other states. The purpose of community action programs – which are locally controlled, private, non-profit organizations – is to reduce poverty and to help low-income people become self-sufficient. Board presidents and directors of Community Action Agency (CAA) programs statewide were asked to nominate programs that meet the outlined standards.
“Working with OACAA on the Best Practices Awards was a wonderful way for the John Glenn Institute to support best practices in the public sector, and we value the collaboration,“ said Cindy Holodnak, director of management development programs for the John Glenn Institute.
The competition’s panel of judges used their combined experiences to evaluate the programs and to select this year’s Best Practices Awards winners. Anand Desai is a professor in the School of Public Policy and Management at Ohio State, and has taught quantitative and research methods at the School of Public Policy and Management for 15 years. Leanne Puglielli, an adjunct professor in Capital University’s Executive MBA program, teaches organizational behavior, performance management and the Baldrige Integrated Management System. Roberta F. Garber is the executive director for Community Research Partners, which is a partnership of United Way of Central Ohio, the City of Columbus, the John Glenn Institute at The Ohio State University and the Columbus Foundation.
The judges for this year’s Best Practices Awards reviewed the nominees with respect to documented outcomes, innovation, and replicability, with bonus points awarded when collaboration played a positive role.
“These awards are a chance to show policy makers in Ohio what their investment in community action programs is producing,” said Phil Cole, executive director of OACAA. “With the involvement of the John Glenn Institute, we can show objectively that our programs are effective, innovative and help low-income Ohioans escape the bonds of poverty.”
This year’s Best Practices Awards winners, who were identified as exemplary in meeting one of the following six goals, are as follows:
Category 1: Low-income people become more self-sufficient (Family level)
• HHWP CAC Individual Development Accounts in Findlay, Ohio
• Opportunities Industrialization Center of Clark County The Learning Opportunity Center
• WSOS Marine Mechanics Skills for Life Program in Fremont, Ohio
Honorable Mention
• Council for Economic Opportunities in Cleveland Youth Education Intervention Services
• Highland County CAO WIC Outreach and Community Relations in Hillsboro, Ohio
Category 2: The conditions in which low-income people live are improved (Community level)
• Newark’s LEADS CAA Emergency Home Repair/Handicap Accessibility Program
• SCOPE Housing in Dayton, Ohio
Honorable Mention
• Highland County CAO Highland Heights Opportunity Knocks in Hillsboro, Ohio
• SCOPE Harding Place Transitional Housing Program in Dayton, Ohio
• SELF The Supportive Housing Program in Hamilton, Ohio
Category 3: Low-income people own a stake in their community (Community level)
• SCOPE Micro-Enterprise Business Development and Training in Dayton, Ohio
Honorable Mention
• Ross County CAC Head Start In-Home Day Care Provider Collaborative in Chillicothe, Ohio
Category 4: Partnerships among supporters and providers of services to low-income people are achieved (Agency level)
• Gallia Meigs CAA Partners in Housing in Cheshire, Ohio
• Highland County CAO Kids World in Hillsboro, Ohio
• Ohio Heartland CAC Mansfield Summer Nutrition Program
• SELF Church Hospitality Network in Hamilton, Ohio
• WSOS CAC Senior Summit in Fremont, Ohio
Honorable Mention
• Cincinnati-Hamilton County CAA Summer Youth Employment Program
• Highland County CAO Medicaid Outreach in Hillsboro, Ohio
• Ross County CAC Senior Prescription Program in Chillicothe, Ohio
Category 5: Agencies increase their capacity to achieve results (Agency level)
• CMACAO Professional Development Conference
• Tri-County CAC Serving Champaign, Logan & Shelby Result Base ODM
• WSOS CAC West Millgrove Project in Fremont, Ohio
Honorable Mention • Columbus’ CMACAO Increased Organizational Capability Through VISTA
Category 6: Low-income people, especially vulnerable populations, achieve their potential by strengthening family and other supportive systems (Family level)
• Kno-Ho-Co Ashland CAC Coshocton Dental Clinic
Honorable Mention
• HHWP CAC Accessible Housing in Findlay, Ohio
The awards banquet coincided with the 2003 OACAA Winter Legislative Conference, entitled “Whatever It Takes . . . To Fight the War on Poverty.” Community Action Agency programs were founded under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Currently, there are more than 900 CAA programs nationwide.
