Technical Assistance & Training

Technical Assistance to Communities

Our primary aims for this work are to give communities the planning processes, sample policies, budgeting strategies and leadership capabilities sufficient to: a) engage in strategic planning that results in the adoption of the Pyramid Model and SpecialQuest; b) identify local resources (dollars, personnel, space) that can be leveraged for adoption and sustainability; c) commit to a 3-5 year (minimum) effort to bring the Pyramid and SpecialQuest to scale; and d) establish local data systems that respond to the concerns of key stakeholders.  We anticipate that our TA to communities will include written “how to’s” as well as coaching by Center staff to collaborative teams.

We propose to develop a specific threshold beyond which any Center TA will be reimbursed on a real-time cost basis. After discussions with colleagues around the country we believe that threshold should be TA that would result in .05 FTE or 2.5 weeks per year. Therefore, in situations where TA requests will demand time and resources beyond 2.5 weeks we will enter into a fee for service MOU with clients to cover personnel and travel costs. Any dollars generated that are over real costs will be returned to the exclusive workscope of the Center. Stipends will also be available for clients who typically have little or no ability to enter into an MOU.