Observations from Social Work Researchers on Assessing Functioning and Success of a Research-Practice Partnership

Overview: Long-term university-community partnerships are increasingly important to address complex social problems. This requires attention not only to aligned goals, but to the development of the partnership dynamic itself. This paper presents early findings from social work students and faculty that assess the functioning and ongoing development of a university-community partnership.Proposal text: Background

In March 2020, our university-community partnership was awarded a grant to evaluate the impact of an early homelessness prevention and intervention program on social-emotional wellbeing and educational engagement among youth in the public school system. Rooted in the endeavor was the development of a long-term partnership that would adapt and grow long beyond the end of the grant.

Partnership

Embedded within the university-community partnership are individual values and missions of each organization, oriented towards a shared goal of homelessness prevention and an understanding that building a successful working relationship is an ongoing process. The development of effective partnership has required us as researchers to continually revisit the question of how to understand and measure success for the partnership, guided by social work values and core competencies; especially relevant is Competency #4, to engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.

Methods and Findings

To understand our progress towards building this relationship, the team conducted research to assess partnership functioning and relationship building through the adaptation of existing survey measures and through systems dynamics modeling. The project is currently planning for Phase 3 of assessment.

In Phase 1, the partnership adapted a survey, rooted in community-based participatory research (CBPR), and distributed it electronically to individual researchers and practitioners participating in the project. Themes included communication, problem-solving, decision-making, impact, benefits of partnership, and general satisfaction. The survey provided insight into opportunities for change and growth, such as restructuring meetings and identifying shared goals in the evolving working environment. In addition, the team began the process of collaboratively designing a group model utilizing Community Based Systems Dynamics (CBSD) to understand how various factors interact to shape the research-practice partnership over time.

In Phase 2, the initial survey was modified to include new items, including questions related to trust, respect, and added-value for all partners and the community. The revised survey, in addition to continued discernment, allowed the group to continue to revisit and further articulate partnership goals, roles, and priorities. In addition, CBSD modeling sessions were conducted separately with each partner to map organization-specific understandings.

The partnership is now planning for Phase 3, where different perspectives of the partnership articulated in Phase 2 will lead to a combined CBSD modeling session. The expectation is that these findings will lead to further refinement of our shared vision and mission, intended outcomes, and functioning preferences. In turn, further understanding the development of these key partnership elements will help improve assessment procedures.

Discussion

Our paper presentation will provide social work student and faculty observations on our assessment of the functioning and success of our research-practice partnership. This ongoing assessment of the partnership utilizes CBPR and CBSD research modalities, and is rooted in anti-racist, power-sharing, and social work values, promoting a flexible and adaptable process towards the creation of a sustainable partnership in a rapidly evolving environment. In addition, group model building has the potential to shine a light on generic structures within our partnership that may guide other university-community partnerships engaged in other complex social problems.