Community Services Initiative (CSI)

In 1999, the United Way of Lincoln/Lancaster County and the Joint Budget Committee of the City of Lincoln and Lancaster County (JBC) commissioned a comprehensive community needs assessment on human services provision for Lincoln/Lancaster County. The report identified several priority areas, and in an effort to further prioritize and implement the recommendations made by this plan, the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center (PPC) and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center on Children, Families and the Law (CCFL) were asked, in November 2000, to provide facilitation and technical assistance for the plan. This University-Community partnership was named the Community Services Implementation Project (C-SIP). In November 2003, the name of the project was changed to Community Services Initiative (CSI).

CSI's mission was tso endeavor to ensure that planning and implementation of the Human Services plan was a community-wide effort that encouraged real community input, not a proscriptive process controlled solely by funders. Thus, the major objective of CSI was to encourage participation by representatives of service agencies, consumers, citizens, funders, and other stakeholders in priority area groups (referred to within CSI as Community Coalitions). The Community Coalitions shaped the content and process as implementation took place for each of the priority areas. Each of the community coalitions developed an action plan that included outcome goals, action steps and action strategies. The plans included measurable benchmarks that will continue to be assessed over time to help determine progress.

Seven priority areas identified for further action include: Basic and Emergency Needs, Behavioral Health, Early Childhood and Youth Development, Family Violence, Housing, Medical Health Care, and Transportation. The implementation of the action plans for each of these priority areas is allowing the community, service providers and funders to shape the next generation of human services in Lincoln/Lancaster with an eye toward reducing duplication, increasing efficiency, and ensuring comprehensive coverage and access to needed services for citizens and consumers in the city/county. CSI served as the coordinating entity in the process and provided technical and data-warehousing assistance in the process of establishing a coordinated planning process for human service delivery in Lincoln and Lancaster County.

In 2003, the Community Services Planning Cabinet was established from the consolidation of previous advisory and steering committees and provides oversight of the project. Each of the Community Coalitions is represented on the Cabinet, as are the primary funders. The Cabinet will continue to oversee the direction of the project, work to ensure sustainable funding, and build public awareness for its effort.

Effective January 2005, the Univeristy of Nebraska Public Policy Center completed its role as support for this proejct turning that role over to the Human Services Federation. For more information on the continuing evolution of this process, please visit the CSI Web site at http://www.hsfed.org.