Nuts and Bolts Objective: 

 

Improved outcomes in physical, mental and oral health for children in selected communities of poverty in western and central New York through strategic investments in organizations committed to and capable of increased accountability for outcomes.

 

Anticipated Outcomes:

 

·          Specific physical, oral and/or mental health outcomes for children served by grantees are improved by incorporation of best practices into organizational programs and operations. 

·          Community resources are used more efficiently and effectively through improvements made during the grantee projects and these gains are demonstrated to be sustainable over time. 

·          Service delivery systems are better integrated with capacity for improved population-based health.

·          A learning community among the participating grantees is developed and sustained.

·          CHF will have a closer relationship with organizations who can be effective partners for the foundation’s future work. 

 

 

Background

 

It is apparent in both western and central New York that organizations that currently serve the primary care, oral health and mental health needs of the children in communities of poverty in the Foundation’s regions could benefit from:

 

More evidence-based care models;

Implementation of best practices;

Measurement systems and evaluation to assess progress; and

Quality and operational improvements to achieve better outcomes.

 

By focusing on improving the outcomes and impact of work already being done, for which existing organizations have revenue, we believe our investments through Nuts and Bolts will have a long-lasting impact. 

 

Therefore, the target audience for Nuts and Bolts was that set of organizations striving to achieve a culture and infrastructure that is driven by outcomes, quality and ongoing evaluation and improvement.  As western and central New York non-profits face growing competition for increasingly limited resources, targeted investments by CHF to move these organizations to a higher level of effectiveness will generate a significant return towards improving the lives of children in communities of poverty. 

 

 

Types of organizations funded under Nuts and Bolts

 

Funded organizations are involved in some aspect of providing or facilitating primary care, oral health and/or mental health services for children (see Age below) who reside in targeted areas of poverty (see Geography below). 

 

Geographic targets for Nuts and Bolts

 

CHF identified 25 zip codes in the regions we serve where the highest concentration of children in poverty reside.  (A summary of the analysis used to identify these zip codes is available upon request.) The organizations funded under Nuts and Bolts the serve, as part of their client base, children that live in one or more of these zip codes.  Note: the organizations were not required to be physically located in one of the zip codes. 

 

Zip Code(s)	County	City or Town
14048	Chautauqua	Dunkirk
14701	Chautauqua	Jamestown
13045	Cortland	Cortland
14203, 14204, 14208, 14211, 14212, 14214	Erie	Buffalo, West Side
14201, 14202, 14207, 14213	Erie	Buffalo, East Side
14301, 14303	Niagara	Niagara Falls
13440	Oneida	Rome
13501, 13502	Oneida	Utica
13202, 13203, 13204, 13205, 13210	Onondaga	Syracuse
13069	Oswego	Fulton
13126	Oswego	Oswego

 

Age

 

Target ages for this project are from birth through age thirteen.  We are focusing our efforts on “pre-high school” children.  Nuts and Bolts applicants were given the flexibility to select age range(s) within this target that were appropriate to their organizations and programs. 

 

 

Project Focus Areas

 

Nuts and Bolts projects strengthen the programmatic offerings of the applicant(s) and/or their operational infrastructure.

 

Our investments in programmatic improvement focused on in programmatic strategies, training and implementation of best practices that will result in better outcomes for children served and impacted by these programs.

 

Investments in administrative and operational systems enhancement targeted improvements directed at more efficient/effective use of organizational and community resources that will result in better systems and use of resources directed at children in communities of poverty.

 

 

Evaluation

 

Grantees are responsible for their individual project’s evaluation.  However, CHF has engaged team from Columbia University to conduct and overall program evaluation and to provide feedback and assistance to grantees in setting up and carrying out their individual data collection and evaluation systems.  This approach provides an additional grantee educational opportunity and collection of data and evaluation that is driven by an objective third party.

 

 

Grantee Selection Process

 

The Nuts and Bolts Request for Proposals was designed as a two phase process, Letters of Intent and selected organizations were invited to submit Full Proposals. 

 

The review of the Letters of Intent submitted under phase one resulted in 23 organizations receiving invitations from CHF to submit Full Proposals. Phase two was limited to those 23 organizations. 

 

Nuts and Bolts Learning Community

 

CHF will sponsor two educational sessions in 2006 and two more in 2007/2008 for the grantees on topics relevant to the funded organizations.  Because the Foundation wants to support a community of learning among grantees, these sessions will provide additional networking and learning opportunities, as well as a forum to learn about preliminary individual and collective evaluation results.   A final session in 2008 will include the grantees, other foundations and interested parties to highlight lessons learned, successes and possible next steps.  All grantees are required to send representatives to all educational sessions regardless of the duration of their funding from CHF.

 

 

Nuts and Bolts Grantees

 

Click here for a list of the Nuts and Bolts grantees