Reflecting on Our First Year of Reframing
January 12, 2017Happy New Year to the National Reframing Human Services Network! As our sector looks to the year ahead of us, we know how important it will be to effectively engage the public as vocal advocates for human services. Fortunately, we spent 2016 preparing for this moment. We thought we would share some key highlights from the National Human Services Assembly’s (NHSA) first full year of mobilizing the human service sector around FrameWorks Institute’s research-based reframing recommendations.
NHSA’s goal in 2016 was to provide the sector with the tools and resources necessary to start reframing communications with the Building Well-Being Narrative. Our strategies included broad dissemination nationally, as well as more targeted efforts with specific national, state, and local partners.
2016 Mobilization Highlights
- 58 Workshops. 3,000 Participants. NHSA’s Reframing Team led a total 58 workshops, webinars, and presentations in communities across the country, attracting over 3,000 participants over the course of the year. We partnered to provide learning opportunities nationally and at the state and local levels:
- National. We conducted workshops and presentations at conferences and summits for many of our national partners, including the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, The Arc, APHSA, Feeding America, the Lutheran Services in America Disability Network, and Volunteers of America.
- State & Local. We partnered with state and local organizations to conduct trainings targeted to the needs of specific communities, including Austin, Chicago, Denver, New York, Peoria, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
- Doubling our Reach. The Reframing Network newsletter list doubled in size, with almost 1,300 people now signed up and receiving biweekly tips and resources on reframing human services.
- Targeted Implementation. In the fall of 2016, we initiated ongoing, targeted implementation efforts, including strategic guidance and technical assistance, with select national and local partners, including: The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, Volunteers of America, One Voice Central Texas, the Human Services Council (New York), and Illinois Partners for Human Service. We will share the results of our partners’ reframing work through this newsletter over the next several months.
We’re excited about the progress that we made together in 2016 and we look forward to our continued work as a field in 2017. Please stay tuned for more.