Principles for Continuous Improvement: Santa Cruz Human Services Department’s Journey

We want to share the story of Santa Cruz’s Human Services Department (HSD) outcomes contracting transformation, in which they moved through the steps we outlined in the first and second blog series. By the end of their two-year engagement with Third Sector that focused on improving their TANF Welfare to Work (WTW) subsidized employment programming, Santa Cruz HSD had built a more collaborative relationship with their two providers and had developed new outcomes and metrics to regularly review and work towards.

This is the second post in our data-driven continuous improvement blog series. To read the first blog on best practices for creating a data dashboard, click here. In this post, we’ll share three tips for continuous improvement conversations. The data is ready. The graphs are finalized. The trends are highlighted. Your shiny new report detailing [...]

“What gets measured gets managed” is an oft-repeated line in the nonprofit performance management world, and one that we at Third Sector have found holds true. That’s why we work closely with our government and community partners to ensure that “what gets managed” are long-term, meaningful outcomes that demonstrate that individuals and families are better [...]

What makes your community listening sessions worthwhile and authentic? Do you learn something new? How do you create trusting, two-way relationships?

The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the growing movement for stronger partnerships between philanthropy and government, with increasing calls for philanthropy to invest in training government employees and leaders who are in critical positions, help governments identify and attract top talent, and support the creation or expansion of positions that fill specific skill gaps. The critical question for government agencies and foundations seeking to implement this strategy is how to put it into practice.

The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE), in partnership with Third Sector, have started work on a first of its kind initiative to leverage Pay for Success (PFS) to improve retention and completion outcomes for underrepresented students. The Partnerships to Achieve Student Success (PASS) initiative aims to [...]