Bright Spot: Riverside, CA | Inspiring Front Line Staff

Inspire a shared sense of mission and progress in front line staff by setting a regular meeting to share stories and community data.

Check out this bright spot if…

• Your community’s front line staff and stakeholders feel disconnected
  
• You want to try it!

Summary

The Riverside CoC built strong leadership structures, processes and activities to inspire front line staff. The leaders encouraged all contributing parties to participate with passion, and actively listened to problems that front line staff were facing. Leadership helped front line staff to problem solve and clear the path to making progress. By actively engaging these staff members, the community went from having 300 veterans on their By-Name List to reaching functional zero in 12 months. Looking forward, the community actively looked for the next improvement that would move the needle towards the goal and plan on working together to implement changes.

Key action: Developing a collaborative culture

By adjusting the CoC’s leadership structures, the Riverside team developed a collaborative culture among front line staff. Beginning with case conferencing, the team shifted their language and thinking from “my veterans” to “our veterans” to acknowledge that every organization in the community has responsibility for serving veterans. Furthermore, the leadership team and front line staff looked at data weekly to track progress toward reaching functional zero. Lastly, the leadership celebrated housing placements and recognized front line staff for their work with simple gestures of appreciation.

Key Action: Responsive Leadership

In response to staff feedback gathered through the improved communication between front line staff and leadership, the Riverside CoC moved to a one By-Name List that was shared by the VA, SSVF, and community providers. Coinciding with this shift, the leadership made sure to focus on how the By-Name List was used to target individualized support and housing throughout the process. Overall, they shifted from “the homeless” to the individual in a housing crisis, thus understanding that each person has unique needs that need to be met.

Fail Forward Moments

• At one point, the community kept two By-Name Lists. Having dual lists caused ongoing confusion about which one was the “real list.” To create a collaborative culture, leadership realized they needed to consolidate lists to eliminate rifts in understanding between providers.
  
• The community’s initial goal to end veteran homelessness was based on projections and the PIT count. The community’s morale took a hit when it reached the goals in terms of housing placements, but realized there were still over 300 homeless veterans to house. Using more up-to-date quality data in goal-setting, and regularly reviewed progress could have helped Riverside set more realistic expectations.

Want more information?

Contact Lynne Brockmeir (lbrochme@rcmhd.org) at Riverside County Mental Health.