So, just how do these great programs get started? What motivates people to carefully examine a problem - figure out a great solution and then put all of the pieces together to make it happen?

Macomb County Community Services Agency confronted these questions when it embarked upon a multi-year project to revamp the entire way that it operates.

As many of you know, Community Services provides a multitude of services to those in need in Macomb County. They provide chore services to senior citizens, home repair and weatherization improvements for low-income homeowners, food for the hungry, and Head Start classes for pre-schoolers from at-risk families. In fact, MCCSA has been providing critically needed services to Macomb County residents since 1965.

In 2003, Community Services decided to take a step back and look objectively at the way they operated. A grant from the Department of Human Services provided funding to hire a consultant who could guide them through the process of dissecting their department and finding ways to work more efficiently.

The consultant facilitated focus groups - some with staff - others with actual clients as well as other agencies in the county. One of the most important discoveries they made was that there was a strong need to adopt a more "whole person" approach to providing services.

Over the years that the agency grew, so did the number of layers. Whole units of staff were specific functions such as getting children enrolled in Head Start or rehabilitating dilapidated housing. While each served an important purpose, there was little opportunity for communication between units. Often, people were referred to the agency because they were having a problem. They would ask for help for a specific problem - and get it - and then move on. In reality, a lot of these folks were eligible for multiple programs.

Through the strategic planning process, the agency developed ways to provide "wrap-around" or "case management" services. Now, when someone shows up for help, there is a central application that attempts to uncover all needs, not just the ones that the client might be aware of. In this respect, needy individuals and families walk into a one-stop shop that helps to link clients with all needed services as well as referrals to other agencies that can offer help.

The program has vastly improved staff morale as it offers a more personalized approach to providing service.

It gives me great pleasure to recognize Macomb County Community Services Agency with a NACo Achievement Award in recognition of their courage to undertake a strategic planning process and then implement it.