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Sonoma County PACEs Connection (CA)

Thoughts About Next Steps for Sonoma County ACES Connection

At our September meeting, we talked about creating an organizational structure for Sonoma County ACES Connection. I have attended plenty of community meetings (perhaps too many) where the deliberations about Vice-Chairs and Secretary-Treasurers just seemed to suck all the energy out of the room. I want to reframe that discussion.

 

When you first heard about ACES, something clicked and you got excited. You came to the meeting with a passion about ACES. What is that passion? What could our group to do that would make you feel your time and effort was well-spent?

 

For some, spreading the word about ACES is key. Seeing the “aha” moment in people’s faces and mobilizing the community is your passion. For others, improving your skills and building local resources is what excites you. Things like developing that new self-assessment tool, and finding the right staff contact make you happy. Or perhaps you are a “people person.” You seek to bridge differences and keep the communication flowing. You know that sharing those personal stories about ACES keeps us all centered and focused.

 

Personally, I tend to fall in the “planner” group. I like imagining where a group could be in six months or two years and love when a plan comes together. And of course we need those folks who are the “producers” who say, “No, we’ll need a bigger room, I’ll get it.”

 

I developed this draft committee plan (the file is also attached), based on the idea that people should work on those areas that most excite them. If you have more than one passion, and the time to work on multiple committees, then do so. The committee names and functions can be changed. If there is an important missing component, let us know. We are at the point where stuff is starting to happen and we need a way to tap into people’s skills, interests and passion so that it happens well. I look forward to our discussion later this month.

 

Sonoma County ACES Connection (SCAC)   Draft of Mission and Structure

Working to make Sonoma County a more trauma-informed community by:

  • Informing the public of the individual and societal impacts of ACES and the benefits of resilience and trauma-informed practices 
  • Linking together concerned persons in order to share experiences, provide support, learn from others and work towards common goals;  
  • Advancing and continually improving our skills, knowledge and practices for the betterment of our community, and;
  • Working to promote trauma-informed practices in health, education, justice and other service systems through training, advocacy and collaboration.

Committee

Purpose

Tasks

What’s Your Passion?

Community Education

Educate the general community about ACES

  •   Create, train and maintain a Speaker’s Bureau
  •   Identify priority audiences and formulate an outreach plan
  •   Respond to requests, conduct trainings and collect metrics
  •   Advocate for community and legislative change

Spreading the word about ACES and expanding our community

“Make it bigger”

Best Practices

Gather and disseminate information about local resources and best   practices

  •   Create and maintain a library/database of local trauma-related services, resources, procedures and other practical tools.
  •   Review, evaluate and refine existing materials
  •   Seek out and/or develop new tools as needed
  •   Make recommendations about best practices

Improving our professional skills and advancing local trauma-informed practice

“Make it better”

Operations & Planning

Formulate the group’s mission, vision, roles, procedures and strategic plan

  •   Create formal bylaws and procedures
  •   Develop an action plan to define and guide where SCAC is going
  •   Promote and define collaborations with other entities
  •   Measure and evaluate progress and improve practices

Envisioning, assessing evaluating and improving. “Make it more directed”

Membership & Outreach

Recruit members and provide ongoing support to membership

  •   Identify underrepresented areas in SCAC membership and recruit members from those areas
  •   Update & develop website and other content
  •   Support and encourage member participation & interaction
  •   Advocate for member needs and interests as needed

Sustaining the community on an interpersonal level.

Valuing and sharing personal narratives.

“Make it more connected”

Resource Development

Garner funds and resources to support and sustain the group’s overall mission

  •   Identify grant and other major funding opportunities
  •   Solicit local funds and in-kind contributions to support activities
  •   Provide logistical support for local events and activities
  •   Manage SCAC budget

Finding the resources, funds, and donations to move forward and do our work

“Make it happen”.

Steering

 

Coordinate committees and manage business between meetings

 

  •   Facilitate regular communication between committees  
  •   Set monthly SCAS agendas
  •   Coordinate multi-committee projects and regular business
  •   Act on behalf of SCAC as needed

Composed of Committee Chairs (and SCAC Officers, if any)

Attachments

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Comments (4)

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Hi, Allen -- This is terrific! Thanks for thinking about this.

My only suggestion would be to have an assets-mapping committee -- two or three people who keep track of what organizations have started to become trauma-informed and where they are on their journey. Or maybe you're already seeing that as part of the membership committee? If not, the assets-mapping folks can be the source to provide information for the membership and best practices committees. 

Looking forward to talking about this at the next meeting! 

 

Love this! Thank you for continuing to push the needle Sonoma County ACEs Connection! May we (ACEs Connection coordinators) share this with other communities as a source of inspiration and guidance?

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