Community Capacity for Children, Youth and Families

Robert Chaskin

The University of Chicago

No individual can live alone, no nation can live alone, and anyone who feels that he can live alone is sleeping through a revolution.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is the world as it is. This is where you start.

- Saul Alinsky

Overview

• Community as an organizing principle

• Defining “community capacity”

• Strategies for building community capacity

• Promise, limitations and challenges

Why community?

• Where needs and circumstances come together

Why community?

• Where needs and circumstances come together

• Manageable scale

Why community?

• Where needs and circumstances come together

• Manageable scale

• Assets and influences:

– Built environment

– Organizations and institutions

– People and relationships

Community Influences on Family Functioning and Child Well-Being

Community Influences on Family Functioning and Child Well-Being

• Compositional factors– Poverty– Crime, safety, physical disorder– Racial isolation– Residential stability

Community Influences on Family Functioning and Child Well-Being

• Compositional factors– Poverty– Crime, safety, physical disorder– Racial isolation– Residential stability

• Processes and mechanisms– Social ties and value consensus– Institutional resources– Routine activities and resource use

Orientations to “community”

Orientations to “community”

• As context

Orientations to “community”

• As context

• As target of intervention

Orientations to “community”

• As context

• As target of intervention

• As unit of action

Community Capacity

The interaction of human capital, organizational resources and social capital that can be leveraged to solve collective problems and improve or maintain the well-being of a given community

Community Capacity

Characteristics of Community Capacity Sense of community Commitment Ability to solve problems Access to resources

Community Capacity

Characteristics of Community Capacity Sense of community Commitment Ability to solve problems Access to resources

Levels of Social Agency Individuals Organizations Networks

Social Networks

Social Networks

Community Capacity

Characteristics of Community Capacity Sense of community Commitment Ability to solve problems Access to resources

Levels of Social Agency Individuals Organizations Networks

Functions

Planning, decision making, and governance Production of goods and services Information dissemination Organizing and advocacy

Conditioning Influences Safety Residential stability Density of acquaintance Structure of opportunity Patterns of migration Race and class dynamics Distribution of power and resources

Strategies Leadership Organizational development Organizing Organizational collaboration

Other Outcomes Better services Influence on decision making Economic well-being

Strategies

• Leadership

Strategies

• Leadership

• Organizational development

Strategies

• Leadership

• Organizational development

• Interorganizational collaboration

Strategies

• Leadership

• Organizational development

• Interorganizational collaboration

• Community organizing

Challenges and Limitations

• People versus place

Challenges and Limitations

• People versus place

• Contested ground

Challenges and Limitations

• People versus place

• Contested ground

• Limitations of the local

Promise

• Context of opportunity

• Addressing basic needs

• Connecting to broader spheres

• Foundation for action, planning and advocacy