Chapter 1: The Technical Assistance Process
Consistency of Vision, Mission, Goals, and Objectives

Most agencies have mission statements that succinctly set forth the philosophy and intentions of the program. In the process of defining the technical assistance problem, it is important to compare program visions with mission statements. There must be consistency between them if the jurisdiction or program is to move forward. If an examination of the jurisdictional or program vision and mission finds they are inconsistent, one must be brought in line with the other before continuing the process. Change might be appropriate for either the vision or the mission of the program or jurisdiction, but to work toward change without consistency would be frustrating and unproductive.

Goals set forth the broad, yet concrete, steps required to achieve the jurisdiction's or program's vision and mission. Goals should be expressed in measurable terms. Objectives provide active strategies for achieving each goal. Consider the first example in Table 1:c and the consistency between each element.

Table 1:c Agreement Among Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives Mission: The Central City Corrections Agency will provide services for juvenile offenders that ensure public safety, hold youth accountable for their unlawful behavior, and build competencies so they may become productive and law-abiding citizens. Vision: This program strives to improve community safety by conducting risk assessments on juvenile offenders so those (and only those) who present a danger to public safety are removed from the community. Goal 1: By the end of the next fiscal year, the agency will select or develop an assessment instrument, institute the assessment process, and document that all new youth entering the program are appropriately assessed. Objectives: Staff will collect and review juvenile assessment instruments from other agencies, juvenile justice organizations, commercial companies, and literature reviews. Staff will develop an assessment protocol that includes the instrument to use and assessment procedures to conduct. Program records will be audited annually to assess compliance with the assessment process, identify placement decisions made based on assessments, and document the outcome of placement decisions. Goal 2: Intake staff will make appropriate placement decisions based on findings from the assessment process and will decrease out-of-community placements by 20 percent. Objectives: Intake staff will document the community safety issues for each out-of-community placement made. Only youth with documented public safety concerns will be placed in residential care outside the community. Goal 3: The incidence of repeated delinquent behavior by program youth remaining in the community will decline by 25 percent in the year following initiation of the assessment protocol. Objectives: Each new arrest of a juvenile in the program will be documented. Arrest data for the study year will be compared with similar data from the previous year to show improvement in community safety by decreases in officially reported criminal conduct by program youth.