Client Engagements, Phases, and Selection
Client Engagements Since 2001
- Maine Office of Child and Family Services
- New York City Administration for Children’s Services
- Louisiana Office of Youth Development
- New Jersey Department of Human Services
- Georgia Department of Human Services
- Michigan Department of Human Services
- Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
- Louisiana Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services Engagement Phases
Engagement Phases
Casey Strategic Consulting employs a staged engagement model that allows us to tailor each project to client needs and system dynamics. We work closely with our partners to define and clearly delineate phases of work, each punctuated with actionable end-products (assessments, plans, etc.).
Although every transformation effort is unique, our engagements typically include the following phases:
- Assessment and Analysis – This is the time when Casey Strategic Consulting gets to know our clients and they get to know us. Together we diagnose the current situation and define how we will partner to achieve specific goals.
- Strategy Development and Planning – Joint client/consultant teams conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses in order to surface critical issues, evaluate solutions, develop recommendations, and craft a reform plan.
- Implementation – We map how to execute the reform plan, launch implementation (often via pilots), adjust the implementation plan based on preliminary results, begin to measure impacts on outcomes, and celebrate reaching milestones/ achieving early successes.
- Exit – The Casey Strategic Consulting team gradually transitions out of the engagement once the transformation has enough momentum to succeed. We confirm that the client team has or can rapidly acquire the capacities it needs and put in place appropriate monitoring/accountability processes.
At the end of each phase we revisit our mutual commitments with the system leaders (e.g., governor, mayor, commissioner) to decide whether to proceed to the next phase. Major system reform is challenging and requires time, patience, and persistence. Although we often see the immediate impact of our efforts, we seek enduring change. We therefore require clients to collect and report ongoing results even after our engagements conclude. We use this data to demonstrate good stewardship of Casey Foundation resources to our Board of Trustees and improve our approach.
Engagment Selection
As part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Strategic Consulting provides its services to clients at no charge. The financial value of our consulting support over the course of an engagement often exceeds that of traditional foundation grants. We therefore seek client partners who want the same kind of results for kids and families that we do (see our guiding principles) and who are willing to do whatever is necessary to put these principles into practice. We have found that the best predictor of successful engagements is a shared commitment among major system stakeholders to radically improve performance and service delivery. We also look for leaders who are ready and able to lead a long-term effort and push to achieve tangible results.
We ask our client partners to provide commitment, focused leadership attention, and savings reinvestment into beneficial preventive community services. Even though Casey Strategic Consulting does not charge fees for its services, our clients still bear significant costs, particularly due to the staff time and energy needed to take on and ultimately lead the transformation effort.
Learn More