Section 4: Sustainability

Funding and Resource Sharing

Leveraging resources to sustain or expand staffing, programming, or other approaches requires creativity. Funding, though important, is just one element. Here, we encourage you to think broadly about the resources at your disposal and to consider tactics listed below:

Know your assets

Define and think about assets broadly. Leverage stakeholder expertise and “know how” around key issues. For example, some will have participated in the kinds of collaborative effort required by TJC, so tap them for lessons learned or tactics to secure funds or cultivate new resources. Ask agency partners to cross-train staff involved in the initiative. Ask for in-kind donations that will allow the initiative to distribute resources.

Inventory local resources and funding trends¹

Many cities and counties maintain a directory of local or regional foundations, philanthropic organizations, and civic groups. Review these directories to determine their funding interests and reach out to key contacts². Think creatively about the needs of your initiative and how they may align with the funding interests of these groups.

Leverage successes

Document progress, milestones, and other successes that you can share with prospective funders as evidence of that your approach works and is worth their investment. While some funders will want to see your claims backed up by data, others will be moved by client statements.

Think creatively about your partnership and approach
Partner with other agencies on grant applications; leverage their experienced grant writers.
Leverage past expertise to demonstrate your jurisdiction’s ability to collaborate, coordinate, and implement initiatives.
Consider “cost-sharing” for a staff position.
Redeploy underutilized staff and consider co-locating to maximize information sharing efficient staff collaboration.³
Although many funders are financially constrained today, they may be willing to fund part of your request or match an amount⁴; likewise, they may be willing to provide in-kind resources or share their cache of volunteers to assist with service provision.

Taken together, these tactics will enhance the long-term sustainability and viability of your effort if implemented thoughtfully and early. Consider forming a sustainability work group early in the initiative to brainstorm options, develop a plan for sustainability, and take steps toward that goal.

Resources

1. Douglas County, KS Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division Reentry Program. 2008. Inmate and program fact sheets.

2. Douglas County, KS Sheriff’s Office Correctoins Division Reentry Program. 2010. Reentry Newsletter Volume III, Issue I.

3. Douglas County, KS Sheriff’s Office. 2008. Douglas County Jail Serves as National Model for Reentry Program. Press release for radio on the TJC initiative.

4. Douglas County, KS Sheriff’s Office. Douglas County Reentry Program Selected by National Institute of Corrections and Urban Institute’s “Transition from Jail to the Community (TJC)” project.Press release on the TJC initiative.

5. Douglas County, KS Sheriff’s Office. Fact Sheet on the TJC Initiative.

6. Institution for Education Leadership. Building Sustainability: In Demonstration Projects for Children, Youth and Families. Prepared for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

7. Hennepin County, MN, Department of Community Corrections & Rehabilitation. 2014. Corrections Connections Volume 8, Issue 4.

8. La Cross County, WI. Justice for All newspaper article series exploring different parts of La Crosse County ‘s criminal justice system.: Introduction, jail, electronic monitoring, treatment courts, probation, and the Town Hall coverage.

9. Murphy, Shannon. 2009. Transition from Jail to Community Initiative: Once County’s Experience, American Jails.

10. Orange County Sheriff’s Department . 2008. Facts at a Glance 2008 - Inmate Service Division Inmate Re-Entry.

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¹ Weiss, Heather, Julia Coffman, and Marielle Bohan-Baker. 2002. Evaluation’s Role in Supporting Initiative Sustainability. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project, p. 15.

² Ibid.

³ Blank, Martin J., A. Kwesi Rollins, and Carlo Ignacio. “Building Sustainability in Demonstration Projects for Children, Youth and Families” prepared for OJJDP. Washington, D.C.: Institution for Education Leadership (IEL), p. 11. Here, Blank et al. provide guidance on redeploying funds but we apply the recommendation to staffing.

⁴ Ibid, p. 12