Stanislaus to weigh hiring center to help address homelessness
Stanislaus County leaders could approve a contract Tuesday with the Center for Collective Wisdom to guide the first phase of a long-term prevention initiative, which will start with trying to address the root causes of homelessness.
The county’s “Focus on Prevention” is a 10-year transformational effort to tackle some of the leading social problems, including homelessness, the disintegration of families, gangs and repeat criminal offenders.
The center, based in Southern California, would work with the county under a $148,000 contract. It would organize a “convening” on homelessness in October and work with a stewardship council and action councils to promote dialogue.
Local government leaders lament that a huge percentage of the county’s budget is spent on law enforcement and well-regarded social programs that don’t have the desired impact.
Though its theories are not for everyone, the Center for Collective Wisdom has a history of working with Stanislaus County, local nonprofit groups and agencies in Southern California.
Co-founder John Ott has been a lecturer in public-policy studies at Duke University, co-founded a leadership program at Duke and co-wrote the book “The Power of Collective Wisdom.”
County Chief Executive Officer Stan Risen said Ott has earned the respect of community groups and given free advice since October on designing Focus on Prevention for the county. “From the start, he has been able to take our vision and help establish a structure for Focus on Prevention,” Risen said. “He listens and knows how to shape a shared agreement.”
Starting in 2008, Ott worked with county Behavioral Health and Recovery Services to strengthen its early intervention programs.
By engaging community groups, staff and residents in dialogue, Ott helped to develop recommendations for the Los Angeles County welfare-to-work program, which was saddled with a huge budget shortfall in 2002, the center’s website says. The Conoco Phillips Refinery in Carson adopted the center’s collective wisdom concepts to build collaboration in its workforce.
The center maintains that when people gather in groups, “a depth of awareness and insight, a transcendental knowing, becomes available to us, that when accessed, can lead to profound action.”
The county is forming a stewardship council with representatives from sectors of the community including the arts, entertainment, sports, business, education, faith, government, the media, neighborhoods, nonprofit groups and philanthropy.
According to a staff report, almost 20 people have agreed to serve on the committee, including Gallo Center for the Arts Chief Executive Officer Lynn Dickerson, Superintendent of Schools Tom Changnon, Jeff Pishney of Love Our Cities, Modesto City Manager Jim Holgersson, former Modesto Councilman Brad Hawn, Center for Human Services Executive Director Cindy Duenas and United Way of Stanislaus County CEO Francine DiCiano. In addition, four action councils will be formed to facilitate dialogue and coordinate action.
The city of Modesto will provide the venue for the conference on homelessness, scheduled for Oct. 1 at Modesto Centre Plaza. In a second phase in 2016, Focus on Prevention will be concerned with strengthening families and activities to prevent homelessness. Additional phases and meetings will focus on supporting young children and reducing crime.
Modesto had a blue ribbon commission study homelessness about four years ago. The panel talked about better coordination of food programs for the homeless, considered patrols to make families feel safer in parks, and recommended a day center where the homeless could connect with services and work to get off the streets.
City Councilwoman Jenny Kenoyer said she is optimistic about the new county initiative. “What happened with the blue ribbon committee is that it never tried to solve the problem,” Kenoyer said. “It just identified what the problem was and nothing happened.”
Bee staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at kcarlson@modbee.com or (209) 578-2321.
Stanislaus Board of Supervisors Watch
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St., downtown Modesto. The following items will be considered:
▪ Giving approval for Dr. Dao Tran to come out of retirement to work as on-site psychiatrist at Modesto Recovery Services. The county has struggled to fill the position since Tran’s retirement.
▪ Hearing the Health Services Agency’s annual report on public health.
▪ Approving provider agreements with Catholic Charities, Peer Recovery Art Project Inc. and the Stanislaus Office of Education for Mental Health Services Act prevention and early intervention services.
This story was originally published March 30, 2015 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Stanislaus to weigh hiring center to help address homelessness."