The Los Angeles Children's Planning Council is the most influential cross-system vehicle advocating reform of children's service systems in a major US metropolitan area. With relatively little resources, the CPC has quietly changed LA County's discussion about children. Ten years after its creation, the CPC is now about service integration, decentralization, data driven planning, a focus on outcomes and inclusive decision-making.
The Children's Planning Council has been largely responsible for a series of important changes in the County environment:
- Independent County agencies now working closely together.
- Isolated non-County agencies to multi-faceted, deep collaborations.
- Less focus on funder imposed processes to one on outcomes for children
- Collection and use of data to help make programs more effective and not simply meet program requirements.
- From thinking and acting at a countywide level, to increased attention to services and interventions that reflect unique geographic circumstances.
