Community Report
Randolph County
Caring Communities Partnership
February 15, 2002
The Randolph County Caring Communities Partnership (RCCCP) was recognized in January of 2000 as a Caring Communities Partnership. Located in rural, mid Missouri, Randolph County has a population of 25,000, includes 8 different communities and 5 school districts.
The RCCCP consists of five neighborhood site councils (one in each of the five school districts), a 12 member Board of Directors, a 43 member Local Resource/Advisory Team, one executive coordinator and several different needs based committees. Together, there are over 350 individuals engaged in promoting the well being of children and families in Randolph County.
The neighborhood site councils meet monthly and provide the local input that drives and sustains our initiative. The Local Resource/Advisory Team consists of representatives from area service agencies, businesses, churches and the 8 Missouri state agencies partnering in the initiative. The role of this team is to carry out supporting functions for the site councils. The Board of Directors functions as the decision making body and is comprised of local citizens representing the 5 neighborhoods/school districts in Randolph County.
- Building consensus and working toward common goals
- Effective use of resources
- Identification of gaps in services
- Facilitating creative development of strategies utilizing existing resources and talents in the community
- Enhanced leadership and decision-making opportunities for neighborhood residents
Over a 12-month period, the Board, Local Resource/Advisory Team and community members were introduced to results-based planning. This process, guided by the mission and vision of the RCCCP resulted in the creation of 5 countywide action teams. The action teams included members from the RCCCP who share an interest in specific issues. The action teams were formed to address child safety, literacy, teen pregnancy, youth substance abuse and involving faith communities. A sixth action team, a funding team, was created to support the work of the action teams and the RCCCP as a whole.
The Local Resource/Advisory Team of Randolph County has played a large role in the success of the partnership. Team members lend secretarial support, chair countywide action teams, help write grants and support all of the work of the partnership. The Randolph County Health Department offers the aid of one of their employees to work one day a week with partnership activities. They also assist with the Magic City Express transportation system, which was established through partnership facilitation, by allowing their support staff to serve as dispatchers.
It has been a challenge to educate community members and agencies in the results-based planning process. The partnership is still young and strives to overcome the problems of players coming to the table with their own agenda and control issues.
In spite of these issues, the RCCCP has been very successful in increasing collaborative efforts in the county. New partners are brought to the table on a monthly basis as new committees and sub-committees are established. The partnership has been successful in recruiting youth as members of site councils and action teams. Local financial support for different strategies is also evolving. The 2001 Missouri KIDS Count ranked Randolph County at 86. This is the first time in several years that our ranking has been below 100.
As we continue to use result-based planning, increase collaboration and local governance, the Randolph County Caring Communities Partnership will continue to see success.
Sincerely,
Tammy Gibson
Partnership Executive Coordinator
