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    Lights, Camera, Aging: A Local Companion to Aging Our Way, PA

    Overture

    The Overture will prepare you for the Local MPA process, including identifying a starter group, generating momentum, and identifying initial funding sources.

    Welcome to the Overture!

    Before you develop your Local MPA, there are some preliminary steps you’ll need to do to get started. Think of the Overture as  “Act Zero”: this is the initiation phase that will lay the groundwork for development and implementation.

    Upon completion of the Overture, you will have: 

    • A small group of dedicated staff and/or volunteers with the capacity and skills to complete the initiation phase, and a clear transition path to Local MPA development
    • An engaged network of public support for the Local MPA that includes elected officials, government staff, community organizations, and community members
    • A solid understanding of funding opportunities available from the Commonwealth and other sources to support the development and implementation of Local MPAs

    Establish an Initiation Plan

    Throughout the Local MPA process, you will grow a multisector coalition of leaders and partners who can share the work of development and implementation. Before that can happen, though, someone must initiate the project. Use this section to guide your plan for initiation.

    Tip: You don’t have to be a government entity to initiate the Local MPA process.

    Non-governmental partners can be effective leaders in kickstarting the process. In fact, planning initiation is almost always driven by external champions encouraging governments to do so.

    If you are a non-governmental MPA champion, focus on building the governmental relationships, support, and momentum necessary to get your local government leaders and elected officials to commit to developing a Local MPA.

    If you are an MPA champion employed by local government, focus on building momentum with leaders and partners within and beyond your agency. 

    Build a Strong Initiation Team

    Initiating a Local MPA takes time, effort, persistence, and collaboration. While the work may be led by one person at first, it is generally advisable to have a group of 4-6 staff or volunteers with passion for the project, the skills to move it forward, and time to dedicate to the work it will require. Your Initiation Team will naturally grow into your Development Team as your Local MPA builds momentum. At the very least, your Initiation Team should have:

    • One paid staff-person to lead the initiation phase, or a plan to compensate them part-time or full-time as soon as possible
    • Staff or volunteers with knowledge and skills in the following areas:
      • Strategic Planning
      • Project Management
      • Communications/Public Relations
      • Administration/Coordination
      • Research/Data Analysis
      • Budget Development/Fundraising

    Get Creative to Fill Capacity Gaps

    If your starting group lacks capacity in an area, whether in funding, time, or skills, it may be necessary to consider creative solutions before moving forward.

    • Recruit Additional Organizations: Consider approaching a few organizations who may be interested in helping you initiate the Local MPA process and proposing partnership. This could expand your access to paid staff, skilled volunteers, and seed funding.
    • Change the Geographic Scope of the Project: If your locality is very rural, it may make sense to regionalize the scope of the proposed Local MPA. Alternatively, for urban areas, reducing the scope from an entire county or city to a neighborhood may make the project more manageable.
    • Combine Planning Approaches: There are many alternative planning approaches that can be combined with a Local MPA to increase access to partners, knowledge, and resources. You may even find that these approaches are a better fit for your community.

    Tool Spotlight: Network Development Spreadsheet

    The Network Development Spreadsheet is the first tool in the Toolbox for a reason: your local MPA is only as strong as your network of support. 

    This tool help you capture, track and organize your Local MPA network through the entire process, from initiation to evaluation. 

    Start with your Initiation Team, and keep building as you go.

    Resource Spotlight: Age-Friendly Communities

    • If you are developing a Local MPA, you should be joining the WHO/AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. The Age-Friendly Network is a global network of like-minded communities, managed globally by the World Health Organization and supported nationally by AARP. There are over 1,000 Age-Friendly Communities in the U.S., including 13 in Pennsylvania.
    • Each Age-Friendly Community commits to developing an Age-Friendly Action Plan. A Local MPA can be submitted as a community’s Age-Friendly Action Plan, making for easy cross-walking of programs.
    • Joining the Age-Friendly Network opens up a tremendous amount of support for the Local MPA process, including access to a global research database, online and in-person trainings and peer support, data analysis help, and more. Pennsylvania is an Age-Friendly State, and we encourage all localities to join the Age-Friendly Community network.

    Strategy Idea: Elevate Aging and Dementia in a Comprehensive Plan

    • Every county in Pennsylvania is required to have a comprehensive plan, and to update it every 10 years. Cities, townships, boroughs, and villages are encouraged, but not required, to have their own comprehensive plans as well.
    • During the comprehensive planning process, counties and municipalities have access to funding opportunities, technical assistance, and specialized support from the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Office of Community Planning.
    • If your county or municipality is currently developing or updating its comprehensive plan, encouraging them to elevate aging and dementia as priorities in the planning process could be a realistic lift, and could even lay the groundwork for a Local MPA down the road.

    Build Public Support and Momentum

    Building and maintaining a network of public support will be a necessary and ongoing component of your entire Local MPA process.

    Consider many types of audiences as you build support.

    Here are some groups to consider as you develop a plan to build momentum:

    • Elected officials: MPAs require strong public sector leadership. Your local elected officials are your most powerful public sector allies in bringing a Local MPA to life and sustaining it through implementation. Elected officials can commission a Local MPA, convene government staff to develop it, and allocate public funds to its implementation.
    • Local government: As the people who will ultimately be responsible for the Local MPA’s development and implementation, it is crucial to have local government agencies and their staff onboard. Without their buy-in, the work will not get done.
    • Community organizations: Non-profit organizations, private businesses, advocacy groups, and other community organizations are key players in building and demonstrating momentum. They often act as voices of expertise and trusted authority on local issues, and can be influential with officials and the public.
    • Potential funders: Anyone who has built a new project knows that they will likely encounter “That sounds great. How do you propose we pay for it?” Securing commitments for private support of Local MPA development can alleviate budgetary anxieties while demonstrating legitimacy to local officials, government staff, and community members.
    • Community members: Ultimately, the success of your Local MPA will be measured by how effectively it meets the needs of your community members. It is therefore important to involve them from the very start. Once engaged, community members become advocates to elected officials, connectors between social networks, volunteers to spread the word, and essential contributors to the Plan’s content.

     Employ a combination of strategies to build momentum for your Local MPA.

    Here are some tips for building support among the core groups listed above. Be strategic: focus your efforts on reaching multiple groups at once.

    • Refine your message and share it widely. Why is it important to initiate a Local MPA process? How do the demographics of your region demonstrate the need for a Local MPA? How will your community be different and better once a Local MPA is developed and implemented? Answering these questions will develop a compelling pitch for your Local MPA that you can adapt into flyers, infographics, and other content, and can refine for specialized audiences.
    • Build your network through physical outreach. Reach your community members where they are by tabling at events, passing out flyers to community centers, libraries, and businesses, canvassing door-to-door, and holding virtual and in-person town halls.
    • Generate momentum through collective advocacy. Encourage participation and demonstrate commitment through collective advocacy efforts such as petitions, open letters, letters to the editor, and attendance/presentations at public meetings.
    • Keep your audience engaged through regular communications. Use newsletters and social media to keep your newly engaged audience up to date on your progress.
    • Use traditional and non-traditional media. Build partnerships with local media outlets to generate awareness through press releases, radio and TV interviews, and opinion pieces, and use digital and social media to increase your reach to new and different audiences.

    Identify Seed Funding For Your Local MPA Process

    Like public support, funding will be an ongoing and essential component of the sustainability of your Local MPA process, and the two will often go hand-in-hand. The resources below will help you get started, and you can continue to return to these strategies throughout development and implementation.

    • Public Funding: The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) provides funding to local governments for community planning through the Municipal Assistance Program (MAP). MAP funding supports various local and regional planning and implementation efforts, including the development and implementation of Local MPAs. To explore MAP funding to support your Local MPA, reach out to your region’s Local Planning Specialist.
    • DCED provides grant funding to counties, municipalities, and qualifying non-profits through many additional programs, for which your community may or may not be eligible. 
    • READY Communities Funding Collaborative: The Resilient Environments for Aging and Dementia in Your Communities (READY Communities) Funding Collaborative is a public-private grantmaking partnership sponsored by the Department of Aging to support community-level planning and projects that improve quality of life for older adults and people living with dementia. Localities can apply for funding to support community-level projects that support older adults, including the development or implementation of a Local MPA.
    • Fundraising and Development: It is important to diversify funding sources for any project. Seeking private funding through grants, one-time donations, and ongoing commitments could be your path to seed funding to start your Local MPA process, and it will also improve the sustainability of the project in the future. Grantmakers in Aging, a global membership organization of aging-focused funders, has many members who fund in Pennsylvania. There are many additional potential avenues for private funding, including community foundations, managed care organizations, funders in public health, and others.

    Tool Spotlight: Landscape Analysis Spreadsheet

    As you initiate your Local MPA, you will encounter resources you want to incorporate into your Plan.

    The Landscape Analysis Spreadsheet helps you keep track of research and resources to support your Local MPA.

    Populating the spreadsheet now will help you when you conduct your Landscape Analyses in Act Two. Start with the resources provided, and add as you go.

    Transition: Initiation Team to Development Team

    How will you know when the initiation phase is complete? You will have:

    • Public commitment from local elected officials to support the Local MPA’s development
    • Dedicated leadership within local government to lead the Local MPA’s development
    • Substantial public support for the Local MPA’s development from community members and non-governmental organizations

    At this point, your Initiation Team should have a list of people from partner organizations in mind for your Development Team. Perhaps some have already been added to your Initiation Team. This natural evolution is a positive sign! To prepare for Acts One – Four, review and update the Development Team tab on the Network Development Spreadsheet. Expand and retool your team until you have a Development Team that contains:

    • Members from the Initiation Team to ensure continuity of information
    • Staff from the local government agency (or agencies) tasked with leading Local MPA development
    • Staff, consultants, or volunteers with skills in the following areas:
      • Demographics and data analysis (Act One)
      • Research and network development (Act Two)
      • Coalition-building and meeting facilitation (Act Three)
      • Strategic plan content development (Act Four)