Early Relational Health: Community Mapping Tool
The Center for the Study of Social Policy’s (CSSP) mapping tool allows community leaders to reflect on the ways in which their community currently supports and promotes the development of early relational health (ERH) and to identify action steps to improve and expand upon those efforts. The tool is designed to be completed by a group that includes parents, service providers, and system leaders. Stakeholders’ perspectives may differ on how well the community is currently doing. Areas of disagreement may point the way toward action steps, such as making a current effort more effective or more visible to other community members or expanding the reach of a strategy that is limited in scope. Most groups will need multiple sessions or check-in points to introduce the mapping tool and the ideas within it, complete the tool (individually or as a group), discuss ratings and perspectives, and develop an action plan.
The mapping tool consists of two distinct parts, each designed to inform the development of an action plan. Part 1 guides participants to map current ERH-promoting activities across various domains of the early childhood system as well as cross-sector, system-level efforts promoting ERH in the community. Part 2 refers to what CSSP calls a Family-Centered Community Health System (FCCHS) and guides participants to assess their community’s performance within the six elements of an FCCHS. Part 3 prompts the development of an action plan informed by the mapping process in Parts 1 and/or 2.
Sections of the Tool
- Part 1: Mapping of ERH-Supporting Activities: By Sector and Across Sectors
- Part 2: Assess Your Community Within the Family-Centered Community Health System Framing Elements
- Part 3: Action Planning
