The Healthy Start EPIC Framework presents four guiding principles that can help Healthy Start grantees to maximize the effectiveness of their services to reduce infant mortality, improve birth outcomes and eliminate health disparities. Utilizing the EPIC principles enables grantees to strengthen community service systems to best meet participant needs across all phases of the perinatal period. The second principal is…

Partner for collective impact

Establish a Community Action Network (CAN)—a coalition of consumers, providers, and community leaders to enact community-level change. A major focus of the CAN is reducing disparities in perinatal outcomes through cross-sector information sharing, collaboration, and linkages.

To apply this principle, HS grantees should sustain or build their capacity to:

  • Recruit a diverse, cross-sectoral representation of consumers, community members, agencies and business leaders
  • Support coordination and integration of activities among CAN members to create positive system and community change
  • Convene partners and establish a common agenda that includes a shared mission and priorities
  • Address complex perinatal health issues identified by the CAN

Resources

Collective Impact – This article by John Kania and Mark Kramer reviews background information and the five components that lead to collective impact success. Kania, John and Kramer, Mark. Stanford Social Innovation Review Winter 2011.

Collective Insights on Collective Impact – A sponsored supplement produced by Stanford Social Innovation Review for the Collective Impact Forum.

Learning Centre, Tamarack Institute – The Learning Centre has a community engagement resource library, publishes a monthly e-magazine and hosts several communities of practice.  Tamarack, An Institute for Community Engagement.

Collective Impact Forum – A community of practice for sharing experience and knowledge to accelerate the effectiveness and adoption of collective impact.  Includes forums for funders, backbone organizations and partner organizations. FSG and the Aspen Institute for Community Solutions.

2014 Healthy Start Convention Slides, Tamarack Institute:

Healthy Start Project Checklist – Helps HS Projects to track progress in implementing key elements of Healthy Start. Checklist questions are aligned with the 4 EPIC principles. HS EPIC Center