Inside
This page provides residents with an overview of the 100% Family Services Directory, which is both a guide to services and a way for the local initiative to assess the capacity of service providers to meet needs.
The 100% Family Services Directory Project is part of the county-wide 100% New Mexico initiative. The initiative is a county-focused capacity-building process, headed by local stakeholders who are identifying barriers to vital services and working to ensure easy and timely access for all family members.
The Family Services Directory Project was created to engage local stakeholders in the process of assessing the capacity of ten vital service areas to meet the needs of local residents living within a county’s borders. These services were coined as the “services for surviving” and “services for thriving” in the book 100% Community: Ensuring 10 vital services for surviving and thriving. The directory is created and curated by local stakeholders. Directory staff always connect with and discuss a service with the organization before posting it.
The goal of the Directory Project is to create an online directory (which can also be replicated in print form) to link residents to vital services. The Directory is part of a community capacity-building process that seeks to understand barriers to services and remove them.
Always improving services
The 100% Family Service Directory provides an opportunity for residents to rate service in a variety of areas (such as cost, accessibility, hours, cleanliness, etc), which action teams can review and make a plan to address. This feedback helps local action teams work with service providers to address problems and improve services.
The 100% Family Services Directory is always growing, as services grow to meet the needs of all children, students, parents and caregiving grandparents. Contact us today to learn how to assess your local providers and create the directory.
How is this directory different from most?
The Family Services Directory is different from most other online directories in many ways. Before a directory is produced, county stakeholders review data on the accessibility of ten vital services. The directory is an assessment tool for local change agents who are working to increase service across the entire county.
The goal is for local stakeholders to take ownership of a directory that serves all the communities within a county’s borders. Local people know their residents and their local service better than those outside the region. Through the process of assessing ten vital service areas, directory designers are able to identify which service areas need to be strengthened and where.
The problem with many directories, including searches online for services, is that there is no assessment of the service being posted. For example, a person may launch a youth group but have no training in youth development. Nor might the person pass a background check. Some services require certain types of licenses and some providers require certain types of accreditation. Without a local screening process, there is not a guarantee that a particular service is reliable, safe or dependable. We know that local people know their communities best and can vet all service agencies before posting them on a local directory.
Always improving services
The 100% Family Service Directory provides an opportunity for residents to rate service in a variety of areas (such as cost, accessibility, hours, cleanliness, etc), which action teams can review and make a plan to address. This feedback helps local action teams work with service providers to address problems and improve services.
The 100% Family Services Directory is always growing, as services grow to meet the needs of all children, students, parents and caregiving grandparents.
