Strategic Planning Toolkit for Communities
Overview: Four-Step Process
Step 1: Build Partnerships and Raise Awareness
1.1: Initiate a call to action.
1.2: Agree on a common vision of success.
1.3: Organize a structure for developing the plan.
Step 2: Gather and Use Data to Inform Strategies
2.1: Review current youth violence research and evidence.
2.2: Collect and share local data on youth violence.
2.3: Use the data to inform strategy selection.
2.4: Identify resources and assets.
Step 3: Write the Plan
3.1: Develop strategies and goals.
3.2: Match resources to strategies and goals.
3.3: Develop measurable objectives and activities.
Step 4: Implement the Plan
4.1: Work the plan.
4.2: Revisit and update the plan.
Overview: Four Step Process
The Forum’s four strategic planning steps build on one another—the results from each step inform and support the next—but the implementation phase is not the end of the process. It is only the beginning of a new way to coordinate resources and information around a challenge of critical importance.
Strategies are developed locally, based on research, evidence, local data, and knowledge of local assets and opportunities. They represent a balanced approach—a combination of prevention, intervention, enforcement, and reentry strategies—that has proven successful in reducing youth violence in cities throughout the nation.
The written plan itself should not be lengthy, but it should take into account all of the mobilization and assessment work that has been completed, moving forward from there.
Forum cities have used a six-month timeframe for creating their multi-year plans. Consensus among Forum sites is that the timeline was tight but reasonable and kept them on task.