Working to Create Opportunities for America's Children and Families and their Communities

Resources
Strengthening Kindergarten Transition - Des Moines- Vancouver(30 pgs, 971.5 kb, 07/06) Communities Get the Results They Want from Peer Matches (44 pgs, 908 kb, 10/03) Guide for Peer Match Facilitators (12 pgs, 435 kb, 4/04)

Resources

Major Initiatives

Center for Community Partnerships
Community Decision Making
Strengthening Families Through Early Care & Education

Project Description

Since its inception in 1999, CSSP has helped design and operate the Technical Assistance Resource Center (TARC), a division of the Annie E. Casey Foundation that connects people participating in the Foundation's Making Connections initiative with helpful knowledge, tools, promising practices and learning opportunities for strengthening families and building stronger neighborhoods. Because learning is such an important goal of Making Connections, TARC has dedicated significant resources, time, and talent to understanding what kind of knowledge and expertise is and will be most useful for improving results for families in tough neighborhoods. Our experience so far suggests that the most effective help follows a few key principles.
List or Chart A look at the requests that have come from Making Connections sites to date show that we tend to provide help and learning in several broad categories. The following strategies often are used in combination or in sequence to provide the best possible resources and help:

What is the Center's Role?

Center staff members play a variety of roles in supporting the Community Change Initiatives (CCI) and TARC work. Several CSSP staff members are part of the TARC management team at the Casey Foundation, and Center staff are often called on to provide assistance directly to Making Connections sites. Frank Farrow, the Center's director, also directs the Casey Foundation's CCI Unit, which houses the Making Connections initiative and TARC. Our primary responsibilities include:

What Products and Resources Are Available?

A number of products and tools the Center has helped TARC produce are available including:

Case summaries of many of the peer matches we've arranged
Tools and approaches for building the skills of peer consultants and peer facilitators
A series of Resource Guides on connecting families and neighborhoods to services, informal social networks, and economic opportunities
Materials for Orienting TA Providers to the Making Connections approach to TA
Peer Technical Assistance Case Summaries

Our Key Partners

The Center works closely with the leadership and staff of the Casey Foundation and individuals and organizations in the Making Connections sites to carry out this work. For more information about the Casey Foundation and Making Connections, visit the Foundations' website. For more information about TARC's services and products see TARC website.

More Information

For more information, contact Bill Shepardson, Senior Associate at (202) 371-1565, or bill.Shepardson@cssp.org