NORTH MARIN COMMUNITY SERVICES

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

We serve a mix of low-income families, elders, service workers, single parents, immigrants, and children facing multiple challenges in Novato and North Marin. The majority of those we serve are from extremely and very low-income families. As the most comprehensive provider of safety-net services in North Marin, we have experienced and continue to experience a dramatic increase in demand for services by low-income households, Latinx and other individuals of color. Programs such as our emergency rental assistance program, weekly food pantry, mental health services for youth and families, and on-site childcare and educational support to at-risk youth provide a safety net for vulnerable people in our community, and advance the well-being of those we serve.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Suggestion box/email, Testimonials,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

Parents responded to the most recent parent survey that they wanted to see more of what children are doing in the classroom, such as a virtual open house. In response, we created a Child Development newsletter that highlights each classroom, skills the children are working on, projects they are doing, etc. In an effort to elevate participant voices, provide space for personal experiences to be heard and let others in need know about our available services, we created an optional feedback section in our bilingual Mental Health and Wellness feedback form where participants can share their stories. We share some of those stories with donors (with permission from our program participants) and modify identifiable personal information when requested.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

When we are able to make changes to our program based on feedback, we support our participants’ needs better. Our Promotores Program exemplifies this well. NMCS runs the only Promotores Program in Marin. Through regular meetings with our 21 Promotores (trained community health volunteers) NMCS is informed about the issues that are most pressing in the Latinx community. This information drives program initiatives and goals. Additionally, in our Mental Health and Wellness programs, intentionally asking for feedback is an active practice for our clinicians. Ongoing feedback can allow clients to be open about what’s happening for them, help them make clinical decisions, and show where we need to improve and empower them in the process.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback,