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Technical Assistance ToolkitOutreach and Engagement

Community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with a diverse group of residents and community-based organizations to address issues affecting their well-being. It involves sharing information, building relationships and partnerships, and involving community members in planning and making decisions with the goal of improving the outcomes of policies and programs. Community engagement should be a central element of every step of the technical assistance (TA) process, from conducting a gap analysis, to designing a TA program, implementing TA, and evaluating and communicating results. If community engagement is included in the scope of a TA or capacity building effort, it is best to budget for compensating the community partners that help with outreach, material development, translation, and/or facilitation of workshops or other engagement events. Note that if community engagement related to the project has already been conducted, it is important to thoroughly analyze that data to avoid wasting community members’ time with the same questions.

When designing your TA program, consider strategies to maximize meaningful and sustained engagement. Some examples include:

• Collaborate with CBO networks and coalitions to engage traditionally under-represented populations
• Fund local CBO and other trusted organizations to provide outreach and engagement support through the TA program to facilitate effective community participation
• Hire CBOs and other trusted organizations or individuals as primary TA recipients
• Create resources or hold workshops and other engagement activities to build partners’ understanding of the program and capacity to engage
• Encourage peer-to-peer collaboration across similar communities through facilitated networking events
• Compensate CBO and resident participation in events and workshops. Secure funding for childcare, food, and other components of effective events

The engagement spectrum from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research’s General Plan Guidelines pictured below can be a useful tool to organize and communicate effectively about community engagement processes. According to this model, the five types of community engagement are:

• Inform: To provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problem, alternatives, opportunities, and/or solutions.
• Consult: To obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives, and/or decisions.
• Involve: To work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered.
• Collaborate: To partner with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution.
• Empower: To place final decision making in the hands of the public.

It is important that state agencies understand and communicate clearly to communities about the type of engagement they are offering. The power-sharing model of engaging with communities (“empower” on the spectrum below) is ideal because it’s the most authentic and fruitful engagement method for building trust with communities. However, in some cases it may not be possible to engage in that type of co-creation. If the program is bound to strict statutory requirements that limit the ability to modify certain elements, it is important be honest about those inflexible elements of the program. Otherwise, it can be frustrating for communities and erode trust if an agency initially communicates that it is planning to engage the public through an “empower” or “collaborate” model but is only open to processes on the left side of the spectrum.

Community Engagement and Outreach Methods

Community engagement is a core principle of the Technical Assistance Guidelines and should be central to capacity building and technical assistance efforts. According to SGC’s 2022 evaluation of its TA program, focusing on community engagement “helps sustain the long-term benefits of TA through supportive partnerships that work together to mitigate climate injustice.” The following guidance provides a non-exhaustive list of ways to build relationships and engage local entities in technical assistance provision. The California Air Resources Board has developed “Best Practices for Community Engagement and Building Equitable Projects” that includes more detail on other public engagement best practices.

Listening Sessions and Public Workshops

Listening sessions and public workshops are effective for gathering information about TA needs while building relationships between program staff and local entities. Listening tours and public workshops can also be opportunities to offer TA, including providing information about the program, discussing potential project ideas, and convening local partners to identify joint priorities. Methods for listening sessions and public workshops have changed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The improvement and popularity of virtual meeting software has allowed state agencies to plan and host virtual public workshops with minimal effort. However, issues of unequal internet access and technology challenges persist. State agencies should consider deploying a mix of in-person, virtual, or hybrid listening sessions and public workshops.

In Person

State agencies should consider community needs when planning for in-person engagement. For example, in-person events should be scheduled at times that would be most convenient for the intended audience. For example, if the audience is primarily community residents, it is best to plan workshops on evenings or weekends when people are more likely to be available. If the audience is nonprofit or local government staff who generally participate as a part of their work, it is best to schedule workshops during work hours. Agencies should also provide translation services, food, and dependent care to the extent possible in order to ensure full community participation.

Virtual

Virtual listening sessions and workshops should be designed with similar considerations as in-person engagement. They should be scheduled at a reasonable time and should feature translation services as needed. Virtual engagement also allows state agencies to have frequent engagement with the public to gather feedback or respond to questions. For example, virtual office hours during program design and application periods are an easy way to provide accessible TA.

Hybrid

State agencies may also consider a hybrid approach since there will are pros and cons to both virtual and in-person engagement. It may take more planning to create a hybrid strategy, but hybrid may allow state agencies to gain a wider audience for engagement. When preparing for hybrid meetings, create a detailed agenda and designate facilitators and hosts for the virtual and in-person portions of the meeting. Also, plan simple parallel activities for those joining in person and those joining virtually. The key to a successful hybrid meeting is advanced planning, organizing simple yet engaging activities for both groups, and ensuring you have enough support virtually and in person.

Site Visits

Visiting the communities your program supports is a powerful way to build trust and better understand assets and challenges in the communities you serve. People in under-resourced communities often believe that the issues they face are overlooked by state agencies and may have good reason to distrust the state based on past experience. Taking the time to visit a community can be an enriching experience for both community members and program staff and can help build fruitful and lasting relationships.

Tabling and Attending Community Events

It is beneficial for program staff to attend planned local events in the communities they aim to serve. Tabling at a community event is a good way to share information and resources about TA and funding opportunities without creating a separate event that community members may be less likely to attend. When program staff have built a trusting relationship with local organizations, they can also request to be added to an agenda of an existing community meeting. These efforts can help your agency reach new audiences and build trust with communities by showing that staff care enough to work around their schedules rather than creating an additional public meeting for them to attend.

Key Informant Interviews

Like listening tours and public workshops, key informant interviews (KIIs) are useful for soliciting input from local and regional entities while building authentic relationships. KIIs offer program staff and community members the ability to engage more deeply on topics, answer more specific questions, and learn about unique needs and opportunities. Program staff or third-party TA providers can carry out KIIs remotely or in person. It is often helpful to host KIIs with organizations with close ties to the communities you aim to serve in advance of planning place-based engagement activities. In some cases, bringing local experts and practitioners together in focus groups can be another effective strategy for gathering useful feedback

Technical Advisory Committees or Workgroups

In addition to conducting broad engagement with local partners and potential TA recipients, you may choose to convene a technical advisory committee or workgroup made up of community representatives, past and potential TA recipients, and other key informants. Workgroups can enable you to gather feedback on more specific elements of the TA program’s design with well-informed partners. Potential topics to engage a workgroup on can include:

• Culturally sensitive engagement practices with underserved communities
• Updating or developing components of a TA program
• Contracting practices
• TA implementation
• TA evaluation

Surveys

Surveys can help engage broad and diverse audiences and are helpful to gather information about specific programmatic needs at the local level, gauge interest in applying for a program or receiving TA, and establish a point of contact between the State and local entities. Surveying potential recipients on the full breadth of needs related to a program or initiative can help to ensure TA programs are designed with sufficient flexibility to meet diverse community needs. While surveys are an important tool, their value is limited by the quality of the questions asked and the responses received. Overloaded staff and community members in under-resourced communities may be less likely to respond to a survey than those in higher-resourced areas, so it is important to keep surveys as short as possible and take this potential bias into account. Thoughtful survey design and targeted outreach supplemented by other types of engagement can ensure more useful results.