Collaborating With Community-based Organizations Through Consultation and Technical Assistance

Community groups and human service organizations are under a tremendous amount of pressure to strengthen their programs and measure the effectiveness of their work. These challenges have prompted many to seek consultation and technical assistance in order to better plan, develop, and evaluate their services and resources and be more responsive to the needs of funders and the community.

In this volume, practitioners and researchers present methods and strategies for assisting and collaborating with groups and agencies serving families. Helping a community or organization involves many tasks (reaching out to the community, building leadership, developing and planning for action) and requires specialized knowledge and skills. Contributors combine a research-based, theoretical framework with practical guidance to explain this process and offer cross-cultural case studies in a wide range of settings.

The book begins with a discussion of the role of the coach or capacity-building consultant and the related but distinct activities of consultation, technical assistance, and service. The value of empowerment theory, adult learning theory, and change theory, among other theories, are outlined. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of cultural competence-the need to balance diverse needs, ethical mandates, and dilemmas is crucial. The book concludes with a detailed, step-by-step guide for helping an agency or program perform a self-evaluation.

Skilled consultation and assistance enable organizations to better support and strengthen families. While this book is grounded in research, it also reflects the lived experiences of each contributor and illuminates the complex yet vital role of the consultant.

Patricia Stone Motes is associate director and research associate professor at the Institute for Families in Society (IFS), University of South Carolina.

Peg McCartt Hess is an independent consultant and former associate director at the Institute for Families in Society (IFS) and former professor at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work and the Columbia University School of Social Work.
Patricia Motes (Ph.D., South Carolina State University, Clinical-Community Psychology) is the Associate Director for Planning and Development at the Instititue for Families in Society (IFS), University of South Carolina. Peg Hess (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign) is the IFS Associate Director for Research and Scholarship. She is the former Associate Dean of the School of Social Work, Columbia University and Professor of Social Work. Her books include Nurturing the One, Supporting the Many (Columbia, 2002) and Child Welfare for the 21st Century (Columbia, 2005).