Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Purpose: In response to an increasing need for human service agencies to promote systems change, enhance community well-being and maximize limited resources, collaborative partnerships have become an increasingly popular strategy to expand service delivery ((Foster-Fishman, et al., 2001, Roussos & Fawcett, 2000). Yet, despite their increased popularity little research has been conducted to demonstrate how organizations develop effective partnerships that promote sustainable community change (Goodman et al., 1998). The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to the long-term sustainability of a collaborative partnership to address homelessness. This study examined the collaborative process of TCP, a broker organization founded in 1998 to mediate and nurture relationships among partnering organizations to fulfill requirements to receive Continuum of Care funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). A previous study of TCP (Ivery, under review) explored the relationship between organizational characteristics and motives for participation in the partnership. A critical challenge for the partnership at that time was TCP's ability to facilitate a planning process that included varying levels of involvement and engagement among its affiliated organizations (Ivery, 2004). Since the data were collected in 2003, TCP's organizational structure has been re-organized. This study examined how changes within the broker organization influenced the partnership's process and outcome for sustainable community change.

Method: Board members, TCP staff, task force members, organizational representatives and the former executive director were interviewed. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conduced with fifteen key informants who had participated in TCP's planning process between 1998 and 2006. The interview transcripts were analyzed through an open coding process (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) by two coders. After the initial review of each transcript, the data were categorized to detect patterns in themes across the interviews.

Results: The analysis revealed information about internal and environmental factors that will affect the long-term sustainability of TCP's collaborative partnership. Staff transitions within the broker organization, a strong association with the former executive director, community perceptions of the partnership, stakeholder participation, strategic relationships with state and local government, and an evolving mission that reflects the needs of the community were the primary factors identified by the key informants that will influence TCP's ability to sustain the partnership. Advocacy, research, community education, and technical assistance were the most frequently identified areas in which TCP can provide leadership that will make them an integral part of the community infrastructure.

Conclusion and Implications: A limitation of the existing literature is the absence of longitudinal studies that capture the dynamics of partnerships within the context of environmental change. This study will contribute to the literature by providing a case example of factors that influence partnership participation and stability over time. The findings will be helpful for social work students and administrators as they develop strategies to facilitate collaborative partnerships that will be able to sustain themselves over time.