SHA Strategy Update – Emerging from a Transition Year with Progress towards Strategic Plan

By Board President Jeffrey Wilson

Since the last communication from my predecessor Cindy Mitchell Dinsmore in September 2015, SHA has made great progress towards our three-year strategic plan while also experiencing significant transition.

During the summer of 2015, SHA completed a comprehensive strategic plan and then in October 2015 SHA learned our federal funding would not be renewed.  As a result SHA leadership restructured the agency by reducing staff by half and accelerated aspects of our strategic plan to enable a deeper, longer-term impact with each youth served.  Despite this difficult transition, the agency kept the focus on our mission and strategy and emerged from the experience more focused and determined to deliver high quality programming to Indiana youth.

As we move forward into the next fiscal year starting in October 2016, which is also SHA’s 73rd year, we look to build on these achievements while also reflecting on how best to deliver the remaining aspects of the strategic plan.  SHA continues to benefit from strong staff and board leadership and outstanding Health Educators that truly make a difference in kids’ and teens’ lives.

Below is an update of where SHA stands on each of our four strategic priorities:

1. Strengthening Program Delivery
   1. During the 2015/2016 school year SHA:
      1. Served  30,495 youth ages 5-14
      2. Delivered 70,308 hours of educational programming
   2. Classroom teacher evaluations demonstrate 90-98% approval ratings of SHA’s Health Educators
   3. New kINDness collective was launched for K-12 healthy relationships in partnership with Domestic Violence Network, Playworks and Irvington Community Schools
   4. New IU Health Strong Schools partnership to provide Step Up for Kindness!™ in IU Strong Schools
   5. Step Up for Kindness!™ 18-month research analysis and report from Dr. James Brown and Dr. Isaac Karikari of Indiana University School of Social Work published demonstrating improved metrics on bullying awareness, prevention activity and peer reporting in Indianapolis Public Schools as a result of SHA’s program
   6. Human Growth & Development curriculum for youth in 4th, 5th, and 6th was updated to continue focus on medically accurate and age appropriate programming
   7. Making A Difference!™ evidence-based teen pregnancy & STD prevention programming was expanded to more schools for 7th grade teens
   8. CARE™ (Communicating with And Respecting Each other) curriculum was piloted with teens in 8th grades to focus on the social emotional aspects of teen dating relationships and prevention of dating violence and assaults.
2. Increase Awareness of Brand, Purpose and Expertise
   1. SHA staff presented at multiple national and statewide conferences demonstrating expertise
   2. Parent Information Nights continue to succeed as over 500 parents served in past year
   3. Parent and teacher resources were added to SHA’s website, including a Parent Portal for viewing of 4th and 5th grade Human Growth and Development videos
   4. SHA participated in several radio, TV, and blog promotions to address critical social health issues for youth
   5. SHA received an ‘Exceeds Standards’ evaluation score from UWCI, the highest available rating
   6. Improvement opportunities for the 2016/2017 fiscal year include advocacy and public relations
3. Improve Organizational Infrastructure
   1. Strengthfinders™ and other professional development programs utilized by SHA staff to improve and grow staff competencies and performance, especially in areas of cultural competencies related to the youth we serve
   2. Implemented new Salesforce.com database and information analysis capability that will enable more effective program and development outcomes tracking and reporting to different customer groups
   3. All Health Educators were cross-trained to teach different SHA programming  to meet need for programs in over 20 schools districts in 12 Indiana counties
4. Increase Financial Capacity to Sustain Operations
   1. Despite  marketing expenditures on hold due to budget constraints, the annual Bubbles and Bids event continued its success as a major fundraiser for the agency raising $29,375
   2. Significant increases in government and private funding expected for the 2016/2017 fiscal year
   3. Over $550,000 has already been committed in federal and state grants for 2017 (a 48% increase!)

Your gift to the fall/winter 2016 SHA Annual Appeal will help provide SHA the resources needed to continue achieving our goals to empower youth to lead happy, healthy and safe lives.

SHA has made great progress during the first year of our three year strategic plan.  We are a results-driven organization and excited to complete the next two years of our strategic plan with regular board review.  Our youth continue to face difficult life challenges as they grow.  SHA will continue to be a key resource in their development, providing age-appropriate, medically-accurate and research-based information to help Indiana youth develop the skills they need to make responsible choices and adopt healthy behaviors.  Thank you for your support of Indiana’s youth and SHA!