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4. Step 3: Determine the TA Program Structure

Technical Assistance Toolkit Step 3: Determine the TA Program Structure

Once you have worked through the first two steps described above, you can determine the TA program structure. Deciding on the specific design elements of a TA program can help you narrow in on further details around the most effective contracting approach, project management structure, evaluation strategy, and other key components. Program design decisions should reflect findings and recommendations from the needs and gaps analysis phase as well as the goal-setting process. This section will help you decide what model of TA makes the most sense for anticipated outcomes, contracting processes that can support the most effective implementation of the TA program, and recommendations for incorporating public participation, evaluation, and long-term sustainability into your TA design.

Once you have worked through the first two steps, you can begin to determine the technical assistance (TA) program structure. Deciding on the specific design elements of a TA program can help you narrow in on further details around the most effective contracting approach, project management structure, evaluation strategy, and other key components. Program design decisions should reflect findings and recommendations from the needs and gaps analysis phase as well as the goal-setting process. This section will help you decide what model of TA makes the most sense for anticipated outcomes, contracting processes that can support the most effective implementation of the TA program, and recommendations for incorporating public participation, evaluation, and long-term sustainability into your TA design.

Select the Right Approach

Though TA can be delivered in a variety of ways, the main approaches fall into three categories: Capacity Building, Application Assistance, and Implementation Assistance. Each approach corresponds to a different stage of planning for or implementing a project or policy initiative. In some cases, a TA program may employ elements of one or more of these approaches depending on the level of support that an agency deems necessary to meet program goals. When providing TA for under-resourced communities, it is generally best to provide longer-term assistance from the same TA provider to support TA recipients through all stages – partnership development, community engagement, project conception, and implementation.

For example, recognizing that not all communities are at the same level of readiness, SGC’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) TA program meets applicants where they are to help them move closer to the goal of developing an AHSC project. The AHSC TA program provides direct application-based TA to recipients deemed ready through a pre-application survey. Those not yet ready to apply to the program receive capacity building support to help them progress towards applying in subsequent rounds. This dual approach helps ensure that the TA program responds to communities that fall within a spectrum of readiness and helps to build more productive relationships between the State and local entities.

Capacity Building

Capacity building is strengthening local coordination, leadership, knowledge, skills, expertise, and access to resources in California tribes and under-resourced communities with the goal of helping to develop or increase the ability of that community to independently compete for grants and implement projects in the future. The goal of capacity building programs is to build long-term sustainable action to complex issues and not create a dependency on third party providers. Potential capacity building activities through TA may involve:

• Conducting outreach and building awareness of grant programs or State policy priorities
• Convening community members to discuss needs and potential solutions
• Supporting project conceptualization, incubation and development
• Developing community-engaged project plans that respond to local needs
• Supporting the development of partnerships between potential project partners
• Advising on the development of multi-benefit projects and identifying alignment with potential funding sources
• Creating tools and processes to support sustained action at the community scale
• Assisting with policy development or implementation in response to state mandates and/or community needs

Depending on the program’s goals and intended outcomes, agency staff, TA providers, and TA recipients should agree on the full scope of capacity building activities to carry out during the project term. Staff should work closely with the TA recipient to determine this scope to ensure that the assistance responds appropriately to the assets and needs of the TA recipient. For example, a lack of time and resources may be a more significant barrier for some low-capacity jurisdictions than a lack of knowledge or skills. In this case, providing workshops or trainings would be ineffective and may even seem patronizing to the TA recipient, which could jeopardize opportunities for coordination and relationship-building. Understanding the recipient’s needs and priorities early on can help ensure that the TA meets the goals of both the agency and the recipient.

Application Assistance

Application assistance is a common form of TA offered to communities by the State. Application TA recognizes that applying for State funding programs can be onerous, given the need to demonstrate robust partnerships and meaningful community engagement, develop data collection and evaluation methodologies, and pull together vast quantities of information. These challenges are more pronounced in under-resourced communities that lack staff capacity, local plans, and/or networks of community-based partners. The following are common components of application assistance TA programs:

• Public outreach workshops
• Assistance for applicants in understanding grant requirements
• Partnership engagement
• Grant writing assistance
• Data quantification
• GIS mapping support
• Environmental review

Though application TA commonly takes place over a shorter period than capacity building programs, it can incorporate elements of capacity building. This is especially true if the TA creates resources, tools, case studies, and other products that communities can use in subsequent funding rounds or to continue similar projects. Some application TA efforts may also be able to work with applicants on building specific skills like data quantification or GIS mapping support that will be beneficial for future application processes as well. Depending on the funding program, application assistance TA can vary from limited engagement with TA recipients to a more hands-on approach.

Implementation Assistance

Supporting under-resourced communities with implementation TA to help them carry out a state policy or a state grant can be very beneficial to ensure successful implementation. Similar to other TA approaches, implementation assistance TA can vary from relatively low involvement (e.g. producing guidance and factsheets) to a more hands-on approach (offering assistance with reporting, project management, and evaluation, for example). As more State funding programs seek to address a variety of community needs through grant programs, funding additional TA can support implementation of non-traditional aspects of awards. For example, SGC manages third-party contracts to support its Transformative Climate Communities Program (TCC) grantees in implementing workforce development and anti-displacement strategies, along with other critical activities to ensure that infrastructure investments funded through the grant program lead to equitable outcomes.

In-House versus Third-Party TA

When designing a TA program, agencies need to decide whether agency staff will provide the entirety of the TA or if the agency will hire a third-party team. When hiring a third-party TA provider, State agency staff should remain integrally involved in TA provision, either through training TA providers and responding to technical questions or working alongside third-party TA providers to provide complementary community assistance. State agencies should view TA as an opportunity to build stronger relationships with local TA recipients and as a chance to augment the State’s capacity to engage at the local level.

Taking stock of your agency’s existing relationships with TA recipients and staff capacity to carry out TA can help you determine whether in-house TA is feasible or whether a third-party provider would be more appropriate. Capacity building programs are often more effective when the State can partner with local trusted organizations to sustain elements of the TA program into the future. If you choose to provide in-house TA, intentionally developing relationships with such local organizations will be important to support the long-term sustainability and resiliency of the capacity building effort. The following table summarizes some of the benefits and downsides to both approaches.

In the case of a competitive grant program, third-party TA is especially valuable because it allows State agency staff to maintain neutrality and avoid any perception of bias towards one applicant or another. This is especially important for agencies that enforce a “black-out period” in which they cannot communicate with any applicants once the solicitation has been released. Black-out periods can present a barrier for grant applicants because they may make it more difficult for applicants to receive answers to important questions in a timely manner. Technical assistance can be particularly valuable to ensure that under-resourced applicants that lack access to experienced consultants have a fairer chance of receiving funding.

In addition, some TA recipients may feel more comfortable airing grievances about barriers they face in the application process or admitting to weaknesses in their applications when engaging with a non-state TA provider. When TA providers report this information to State agencies, it helps the latter better understand barriers embedded in their programs. In addition, the applicants’ transparency creates an opportunity for third-party TA providers to offer encouragement and support that may not be feasible or appropriate for State agency staff to provide in order to get applications to the finish line and ultimately result in stronger projects. Third-party TA providers can also offer encouragement and support that may not be feasible or appropriate for State agency staff to provide in order to get applications to the finish line.

Setting a Community Engagement Strategy

For some TA programs, especially those that provide very limited or specialized services, TA may involve few local partners to meet program goals. However, in most cases, TA programs should seek to engage a variety of local partners and community members to develop or implement programs. Setting a clear engagement strategy at the outset of your TA effort can help ensure the effectiveness of this critical component of TA delivery and help determine other elements of your TA, such as the program timeline, TA providers, budget, and evaluation. To avoid wasting scarce resources on assistance that does not meet community needs, ensure that contract budgets and schedules allocate plenty of time for community engagement in the beginning of a TA project timeline. See the Outreach and Engagement Section for more guidance on conducting effective community engagement.

Identify Metrics and an Evaluation Plan

It is best to design evaluation metrics and processes into the TA program from the outset. TA program evaluation, whether done internally or by a third-party consultant, can help identify successful practices as well as refinements to more effectively meet program goals and community needs. If a dedicated evaluation of the TA program itself is not feasible, agency staff may consider evaluating TA as a part of the overall funding program or policy initiative evaluation. Third-party evaluators can offer more objective analysis and help program staff that do not have an analytical background develop robust evaluation methodologies. Answering the following questions can help you embed TA evaluation into the overall design of a program:

• Should the TA evaluation be done by a third-party consultant or in-house?
• Will the TA be evaluated on its own or part of the broader funding or policy program?
• What methodologies already exist for evaluating similar TA programs?
• What outputs and outcomes will help inform on the success or the program?
• Who will be tasked with collecting data and insights from the TA program?
• Who are the intended audiences for the evaluation (e.g. funding agency, communities receiving TA, legislature, policy makers, etc.)?

More information about developing a TA evaluation strategy appears in the Evaluation section.

Consider Program Sustainability

Another key consideration in developing a TA program is the sustainability and replicability of the TA services. In many cases, TA programs are unable to provide the same degree of TA to every eligible community in each round. Creating deliverables such as toolkits, technical tools, resource libraries, and case studies make it possible to reach larger numbers of TA recipients in future funding rounds.