A New Reality: Doing More With Less

By Justin Slaughter, AmeriCorp VISTA Intern

A likely consequence of the San Francisco and California’s ever-growing pile of debt ($483 million and $19 billion respectively) to consider is the dampening effect that these insurmountable deficits could have on not just the services non-profits offer the Bay Area, but also on the capacity that our over-worked non-profits need to critically and candidly measure their work’s outcomes and community impact in a time of increasing need and decreasing budgets.

Because non-profits provide many social safety nets funded by City Hall, including substance abuse and mental health services that are being axed by the Mayor this year, it is extremely important that community-based programs have the capacity to self-improve, to find where clients may be  falling through the cracks,  and to prove the value of government and non-profit investment in the community.

Many people assume that we can do more good deeds if we just sustain and expand current services. But the fact is harsh: San Francisco vastly outspends other Californian cities as far as health and human services, yet we cannot seem to fundamentally solve many of our common social ills. There does not seem to be a lack of safety nets in San Francisco, but a lack of coordination and oversight between the multiple social institutions and networks vulnerable citizens must navigate–often on their own.

Of course the well-being of a sixteen-year old living without education, a family, or a home cannot be reduced to an institutional statistic, nor should his case worker  stress about her data reports more than her substantive practice. However, it is highly unlikely that there will be more or even sustained funding in the near future for the social services we now enjoy. Inter-agency coordination and evidence-based practice must replace duplication and inefficiency.  To adapt to the new reality, non-profits should set aside resources to determine what is really working for the Bay Area community and how to do more of it with less.

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5. Bayview Connect 2010 is a Success!!