Guest Post by Sara Sibley, BS
Program Manager 

 

For me, Spring not only signals the end of cold winters and imminent warm weather. Spring is also National Forum season!

At the Help Me Grow (HMG) National Center, Forum season is long and culminates in a three-day event, this year running from May 23-25 in Greenville, SC. Though the effort is intense, the staff buzzes with excitement in the weeks leading up to the gathering.

 Our anticipation grows in part because the size and scope of the Forum grows every year. In 2016, the Forum will host representatives and leaders from 26 affiliate states in the Help Me Grow National Network!

Not only does affiliate attendance rise annually, but interest in the Help Me Grow system and the National Forum continues to increase from non-affiliates. This ongoing, multi-source growth prompts me to ask the following two questions.

• What is the value of affiliation to the HMG network?
• Is the growth of the affiliate network, and interest in the HMG system and Forum, attributable to the value of affiliation?

After years of conversations with and survey responses and feedback from affiliates, I believe I have an answer.

Understanding What Affiliates Need

To frame the concept of value for HMG affiliates, I applied some value creation parameters and approached my thinking in two complementary steps:

1. identifying the needs of the HMG affiliate network; and
2. itemizing and categorizing the ways in which affiliation addresses these needs in a meaningful way.

I identified three value creation categories for HMG affiliation to help articulate the “Pains” an affiliate may encounter (the issues that keep them up at night), along with anticipated “Gains.” The three categories are Functional, Social, and Experiential (including personal/emotional components),¹ and I defined each as follows.

Functional: The creation of an efficient system of developmental promotion, early detection, and linkage to services, including the reduction of duplicative and competing work across agencies and organizations.

Social: To bring more stakeholders into the conversation around early childhood system building. Early childhood system building is difficult. There are many obstacles affiliates may encounter in the forming of partnerships and engagement of stakeholders in various sectors.

Experiential:  A commitment to families and family engagement and a desire to implement systems that meet the needs of children and their families. To streamline a system, thereby relieving the difficulties and frustration families often encounter in their search to connect to needed services.

How Affiliation Relieves Pains and Creates Gains

Using the value creation categories as a guide, I analyzed the products, opportunities and experiences that states receive through affiliation with the National Network. The VALUE MAP² below demonstrates the value that affiliation to the National Network can bring to each area.

Functional: The creation of an efficient system of developmental promotion, early detection, and linkage to services, including the reduction of duplicative and competing work across agencies and organizations.

• A national brand and model for affiliate use to leverage support, build cohesion, bring capacity, and contribute to a shared mission and social impact³
• Objective and actionable recommendations from a team of National Center staff, and a network of knowledgeable and seasoned affiliates
• Tools and resources to support affiliates in the process, including webinars, E-notes, and learning collaboratives
•  A manual with detailed information and resources to assist states in the planning and implementation of a HMG Examples of resources developed by states-strategies that have proven effective in the development of a HMG system and innovations
• National Center expertise and guidance surrounding best practices, evaluation, and research – including engagement of National leaders and experts in the areas such as child development, population health and policy

Social: To bring more stakeholders into the conversation around early childhood system building. Early childhood system building is difficult. There are many obstacles affiliates may encounter in the forming of partnerships and engagement of stakeholders in various sectors.  

• Strategies to facilitate discussion among various stakeholders for early childhood system development
• Recommendations from National Center staff and first-hand accounts of strategies to garner buy-in and achieve cross-sector collaboration.
• Support for federal and state advocacy, including policy briefs
• Annual National Forum to share knowledge and information, meet with, and learn from other affiliates.

Experiential: A commitment to families and family engagement, a desire to implement systems that meet the needs of children and their families. To streamline a system, thereby relieving the difficulties and frustration families often encounter in their search to connect to needed services.

• A network of forward-thinking, like-minded individuals from affiliate states with a shared mission and vision to Advance Developmental Promotion, Early Detection & Linkage to Services
• Access to national testimonies on the impact of HMG from parents, providers and policy leaders
• Access to leading experts on strengthening protective factors through systemic change
• A shared understanding that families drive the work that we do, captured in a quote from Founding Director, Dr. Paul Dworkin: “A keystone of our work—and what supports the widespread appeal of Help Me Grow—is a broad commitment to family engagement. Families, not state-operated programs and services, are the most crucial influence on children’s healthy development.”

I now had a visual representation of the value of affiliation for current affiliates. But this led me to my second question: What brings so many new states to the Help Me Grow system? Why do they attend the National Forum? What is the value of the National Forum for those that are not currently a part of the network?

The National Forum Marries the Three Categories of Value

At the National Center, we lightheartedly compare the planning and execution of the annual HMG National Forum to that of a wedding, except no one gets married. Or do they?

In reviewing the agenda of the upcoming seventh annual National Forum, I understood immediately why the HMGNational Forum benefits attendees, whether affiliates or not: It marries the Functional, Social, and Experiential categories of value, relieving pains and creating gains 

In the Functional realm, the sheer number of breakout sessions (21!) is impressive, while the breadth of expertise and experience shared in them is downright inspiring. At these breakout sessions, attendees get to dive deeper into the topics, problems, and questions often started on a conference call or webinar around topics such as developmental screening, child health professional engagement, collaboration with federal initiatives, data collection and evaluation, and parent engagement.

The in-person, intensive, and cross-sector nature of the Forum addresses the core needs of Social value. And the shared experience of the Forum get to the very core of the Experiential category. More than 200 people come together at the Forum—all dedicated people who share a passion for early childhood system building and improving the health and welfare of children and families in their communities.

That third piece of the value map, the experiential piece that is very personal, is my favorite. The affiliates’ words bring this to life, and it is especially powerful when gathered together. Watch this video from last year’s 6th Annual HMG Forum and you will understand why so many people, including me, are passionate about Help Me Grow.

The marriage of three areas of value is perhaps one of the reasons we observe a growing number of affiliate and non-affiliate representation at the annual National Forum. Perhaps there is not a “marriage ceremony” on the last day of the Forum, but there are no doubt, partnerships, friendships, and alliances formed.  

Join us this year in Greenville, South Carolina to network, learn, and share with the Network!   

 

1. Gupta (2014) Creating Customer Value, Harvard Business School Publishing, 8176
2. Osterwalder, Alexander et al (2014) Value Proposition Design, Wiley ISBN978-1-118-96805-5
3. Kylander, N., & Stone,C. (2012) The Role of Brand in the Nonprofit Sector. Stanford Social Innovation Review