Our Services

At Third Sector, we provide outcomes-focused technical assistance (OFTA) directly to federal, state, and local agencies & their community partners. Through our OFTA engagement strategy, we assist agencies in reviewing, revising, and improving how they build, manage, and measure the impact of publicly funded social service programs. Our work is aligned to four practice areas: behavioral health, economic mobility, childcare/early education, and diversion/reentry. 

Our Service Areas

We work with government partners and communities in six areas that collectively determine how well a social service system achieves its intended outcomes:

DataData: Technology, methods, frameworks, and behaviors that affect data collection, data analysis, data sharing, and data use

Potential Project Areas: Data-sharing structures, Metrics and measurement structures, Continuous improvement practices

ServicesServices: The activities delivered by agencies to improve life outcomes of certain populations within a community

Potential Project Areas:  Revised referral & enrollment practices, Revised service guidelines, Continuum of care structures

FundingFunding: The contracting and delivery systems that deploy public funds into communities in alignment with policies

Potential Project Areas:  Outcomes contracts, Equity-adjusted funding formulas, Inclusive service provider solicitations, Potential funding sources

PolicyPolicy: Decisions in legislation, regulations, and official guidance that determine service priorities, restrictions, and funding levels

Potential Project Areas:  Rule exploration and clarification, Recommendations to revise SOPs, rules & regulations

Internal CultureInternal Culture: Values, perceptions, and structures that drive people’s behavior within a government agency

Potential Project Areas:  Organizational assumptions and agreements, infusion of equity techniques in all other building blocks

External RelationshipsExternal Relationships: Formal and informal ways of interacting, power dynamics, and the level of trust between government agencies, service providers, and community members

Potential project Areas:  Inter-agency coordination structures, Community-voice engagement structures

Equity-focused Technical Assistance

Third Sectors commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion means that all our TA is delivered using an equity lens. This means that we:

  • Prioritize: Advocate for policies and practices that prioritize resource allocation and support to  underserved and marginalized individuals and groups among government agency staff, community partners, and program participants 
    • Center Voices: Intentionally center the voices and perspectives of underserved and marginalized individuals and groups in decision-making in ways that build accountable relationships
      • Consider Implications: Build systems to continuously understand and address implications of resource, policy, and operational decisions (including unintended consequences) on underserved and marginalized individuals and groups
        • Anti-racist Engagement:  Use an anti-racist engagement approach with clients, partners, and communities with a particular focus on empathy, inclusivity, and equity 

        How We Work

        Third Sector’s Outcomes-Focused TA is delivered through a variety of techniques:

        Interactive facilitation:

        • Collaborative, interactive workshops using adult learning and human-centered design principles
        • Ongoing virtual consultations in smaller groups
        • Focus groups and key informant interviews
        • State-of-the-art project management

        High-quality materials:

        • Reports
        • Presentations and webinars
        • Contract and procurement redesign
        • Economic modeling
        • Toolkits, workplans, and guides
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