SAMPLE SUSTAINABILITY VISIONS AND DESIRED RESULTS
Long-term sustainability is most likely to occur when there is a compelling vision of what needs to be
sustained, supported by specific community results or outcomes that the organization is committed to
achieving and sustaining (rather than trying to simply maintain existing programs and services). To
clarify what is meant by “vision” and “desired results” in the context of sustainability, this brief provides
sample vision statements and descriptions of desired results that were taken from sustainability plans
developed by children and family service agencies/collaborations in California.
SAMPLE VISION STATEMENTS
Vision for countywide collaboration of service providers to address mental health and other special needs
of young children:
We envision a comprehensive, integrated, culturally responsive system of care working with
children pre-natal through five and their families in areas of mental health and other special needs
and integrated with the broader continuum of care.
Vision for countywide network of family resource centers:
Families are part of caring communities that put children and families first and ensure that all
families and children have what they need to succeed.
Vision for public/private partnership for newborn home visiting services:
Our vision is that every family in Santa Barbara County creates a nurturing and healthy environment
in which their babies will thrive.
Vision for countywide collaboration to enhance early care and education:
A strong system exists to support high quality early care and education services which are
recognized as essential for a vital community.
Vision for an individual family resource center:
The vision is that the FRC will be the central hub for families to access the resources they need, to
connect families to other available services, and to engage families as leaders in the community.
Vision of nonprofit organization serving Oaxaqueña indigenous individuals and families:
Our vision is to achieve the well-being, equity, and self-determination of the indigenous
communities, consistent with our mission to implement programs that impel civic participation and
the economic, social and cultural development of the indigenous communities.
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SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONS OF RESULTS TO BE SUSTAINED
Desired results to be sustained by countywide collaboration of service providers to address mental health
and other special needs of young children:
1. Universal access to information and services for anyone with a concern about a child.
2. Shared philosophy of screening and assessment across all providers addressing mental health and
other special needs.
3. Universal screening and coordinated assessment of children to ensure early identification of
special needs.
4. Coordinated support services available for children with identified special needs that optimize
their development, health, well being and functioning in the community.
5. Communities, families and individuals impacted by early mental health and other special needs
will accept, embrace and understand differences as unique aspects of the life experience.
Desired results to be sustained by countywide network of family resource centers:
1. Families are able to meet basic emergency needs.
2. Families and communities have knowledge of resources and family support systems.
3. Community support exists for families with young children; services are available in multiple
ways to fit the unique circumstances of each family.
4. Parents are actively involved in the community and in advocating for themselves and their
children’s needs.
5. Families who need assistance in accessing services are connected to resources that provide the
necessary assistance.
Desired results to be sustained by public/private partnership for newborn home visiting services:
1. Children have better health during their first years of life because
 Mothers receive adequate postnatal care;
 Infants receive regular and preventative health care;
 More mothers breastfeed their children;
 Parents understand how to address the health needs of their children; and
 Potential health problems are identified and addressed as early as possible.
2. Children are able to develop physically, emotionally and cognitively in an optimal way because
 Parents understand how children develop;
 Parents understand the critical role they play in their child’s development; and
 Potential developmental problems are identified and addressed as early as possible.
3. Families are healthier and able to function optimally because
 Healthy parenting practices are being used;
 Families are connected to and are able to access resources that help address the stress and
other challenges of parenting; and
 Potential obstacles to optimal family functioning are identified and addressed as early as
possible.
4. Community support for families with young children is improved – in other words, systems of
support services for families are improved – because
 Services are provided to families in a more coordinated, integrated and non-duplicative
manner;
 Home visiting services able to identify gaps in other types of services and work with
community services to address unmet needs;
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Individualized service plans and strategies for families are coordinated, including interagency referrals; and
Advocacy occurs for providing services in the natural environment of families in a
culturally responsive, high quality manner.
Desired results to be sustained by countywide collaboration to enhance early care and education:
1. Early care and education programs are high quality, as indicated by:
 There is a system in place for ongoing early care and education program improvement;
programs exceed minimum licensing standards.
 There is a system that parents can use to easily identify levels of quality for early care
and education programs/services.
 Comprehensive data exists, is updated regularly and is used to inform the community,
conduct planning, and acquire needed resources.
 A system exists for the ongoing recruitment, support for education (including social
services) of high quality workforce; and that workforce is retained.
2. The community supports early care and education programs, as evidenced by:
 Parents and community members consider early care and education an essential element
of the community.
 Public and private sector polices support the early care and education system.
3. ECE programs are available, affordable and have the capacity to meet community needs, as
evidenced by:
 Barriers to developing/opening centers and facilities are reduced.
 There are sufficient quality early care and education programs in every geographic area
of the county, which can be accessed by any family that need or want them.
Desired results for a family resource center with an early childhood development component:
1. By age six, schools in the community know every child by name – they know the needs of all
children and have planned how they will meet those needs.
2. Every family will know all services that are available in the area, emphasizing services located
directly in the community, and will be able to take advantage of those services.
3. Family units will value education and value their role in promoting the education of their children
and the health and general well-being of all family members, while maintaining their cultural
identity.
Desired results for a school-based family resource center with integrated parent education services:
1. Enhanced child development across all domains, as defined by the DRDP, with focus on
literacy/language and social-emotional development for pre-kindergarten age children.
2. Engage and support for parents to build their knowledge, skills and social-emotional development
for effective parenting of their children, including parental engagement in their academic success
and motivate parent-child interactions.
3. Ensure that families know about and are able to access local resources that can help the family,
such as health insurance, medical and dental care, and many other types of services. This goes
beyond just referring families to other services; it is often necessary to provide active assistance
(e.g. set up appointments, fill out forms and arrange transportation) to enable families to access
resources.
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4. Increased community leadership, as evidenced by more parents that have strong connections in
the community and are actively involved in community affairs.
5. Sustain the infrastructure necessary to achieve the preceding outcomes; infrastructure to sustain
includes the staffing, facilities, equipment, materials and other items needed to operate the
programs and services that help create the other desired outcomes.
Desired results for a nonprofit organization providing oral health services:
The results we seek to achieve is to improve oral health by identifying and preventing the onset of
Early Childhood Caries (ECC) in children ages 0-5 years living in our county. The ultimate result is
that young children will enter preschool and kindergarten with optimal oral health and readiness to
learn.
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