Stratford TET Home Safety Project

Stratford District Council received a Highly Commended certificate in the 2009 SOLGM/New Zealand Post Excellence Awards in the category ‘Joined-Up Local Government’ for its involvement in the Stratford TET Home Safety Project.

Stratford District Council Community Services Manager, and Chair of the Central Taranaki Victim Support Group, Pauline James is pleased about the success of this joint council/government/community project.

“The Stratford TET (Taranaki Electrical Trust) Home Safety Project is an impressive display of community, business, central and local government collaboration, and every partner involved in it should be proud.”

“We installed 12,000 smoke alarms in over 2,600 central Taranaki homes, and that was just the start. We also raised home safety awareness across Stratford District and created employment for seven people”.

“All this was achieved by central and local government, community and business working together”.

Background

In the past, Victim Support has provided the Stratford Fire Brigade with smoke alarms to install in homes after a fire call out. When considering the hugely negative and damaging effects that home fires have on the people’s lives, Victim Support decided that they should do more.

Process

In June 2007, Pauline established a government/community group to plan and deliver a project to improve the level of fire and home safety in Stratford and the surrounding rural district. The Community Outcomes (1) identified by the people of Stratford were brought together with Victim Support’s priorities, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was developed to clarify what each partner would bring to the project.

The organisations involved were:

Central Taranaki Victim Support Group (lead agency)
Stratford Volunteer Fire Brigade
Pinnacle Taranaki (Peak Health) Primary Health Organisation
Taranaki Electricity Trust (primary funder)
Stratford District Council
New Zealand Fire Service – Western Fire Region
Ministry of Social Development (Work and Income)
ACC (Taranaki)
Housing NZ Corporation (Taranaki)
NZ Police (Stratford)

Approach

Following the appointment of a full-time Project Supervisor in December 2007, Work and Income clients were interviewed for the role of Fire and Home Safety Ambassador. Twelve were selected and Work and Income subsidised their wages for the duration of the Project. The Ambassadors were all local people from a wide range of backgrounds, aged between 19 and 62 years, and of differing ethnic groups.

Training

The Ambassadors undertook an initial two week, NZ Fire Service training programme at the local Fire Station. The training covered fire safety issues (informational and practical sessions) and included presentations from the participating organisations. The Ambassadors were provided with advice on how to work with people in the community, including personal presentation, communication skills, and team work.

Implementation

The Ambassadors were outfitted with identifiable uniforms and ID badges. They were based on the main street of Stratford and were employed for 40 hours per week. The first hour of each day was spent preparing information packs and smoke alarms, followed by the Ambassadors visiting 5-6 homes. There were three sign-written cars, each with four Ambassadors working in teams of two.

A comprehensive advertising and promotional campaign was run in the local papers to inform residents where the Ambassadors would be working. Working street by street in a predetermined area, they knocked on doors, leaving a “calling card” for residents who were not home to phone and arrange a suitable time for the Ambassadors to return.

At least two sweeps of each community was undertaken and an information sheet was completed for every home visited. Issues arising from day-to-day operations were dealt with by the Project Supervisor, who maintained maps of the various communities covered to ensure every home was visited. Information was entered onto a master spreadsheet to provide progress data for the Project partner’s monthly meetings.

In the smaller communities, other organisations, such as local fire brigades, were consulted as the Project progressed. Their advice and resources were very much appreciated.

Results

Alongside the core work of installing 11,960 smoke alarms in 2,932 homes (89% of which didn’t have operating alarms), there was an emphasis on improving understanding of home safety measures.

By 1 August 2008, when the project finished, the Home Safety Ambassadors had spoken with 3,245 adults and 499 children. This resulted in:

more homes having operating smoke alarms
delivery of:

fire safety information
neighbourhood support information
falls prevention information
a wallet-sized card with emergency medical information and helpful phone numbers
Victim Support information
“It’s Not OK” information aimed at eliminating family violence.

While working, the Ambassadors identified some householders in need and these people were encouraged to seek a referral to the appropriate social and health agencies.

An unanticipated outcome was that seven of the 12 Home Safety Ambassadors received a boost in confidence and skill levels and subsequently moved to full-time employment.

Evaluation

Nine months after the Project ended, 510 people were surveyed to determine if the home safety message had been heard and acted on.

Findings include:

on a scale of one to 10 (with one lowest and 10 highest), the Project received an average score of 9.22
88% of the fire alarms were working nine months after the programme finished
62% of respondents felt they had improved their knowledge of home safety practices
71% had a fire escape plan
more than 43% of respondents had used the health services contacts provided.

Outcomes for the Project’s partners were also positive. All became better informed, with:

ACC received a breakdown of the number of homes with a resident over the age of 65, and how many had had falls in their homes.
The Fire Service received information on whether residents had a fire escape plan, the number of working smoke alarms, and information about the source of energy for heating and cooking (which provided a better understanding of the contributors to household fires).
Housing NZ received information about the number of children and adults in each house, whether the house was rented or owned, and the ethnicity of the occupants.

Next steps

Because all the partners recognised the value and potential for further collaborative work, the Central Taranaki Safe Community Trust was established on the conclusion of the TET Home Safety Project, to enable the partners to continue to work together.

Success factors

Work by the Institute of Policy Studies shows that three or four roles are crucial to addressing complex issues (2). A factor in the Project’s success was that these roles were all filled. For example:

The role of Champion (to support the overall process including valuing innovation, flexibility and new thinking) was filled by the Project Chair (Pauline James). In Pauline’s view having one person with oversight was crucial as everyone had different results they wanted to achieve.
The Entrepreneurial role (finding resources, overcoming obstacles, and finding new approaches) was undertaken by the Project Supervisor.
The role of Networkers who listened to the clients – the community and the partners involved in the Project - was undertaken by both the Project Chair and Project Supervisor.
The proactive Fellow Travellers - the like minded people from a range of agencies who provided resources and were focused on common goals, and synergies and operated on trust and reciprocity, were the Project’s partners.

Another factor that led to success was that each partner was 100 per cent committed and, through the MOU, knew what they were contributing. This is a factor that was identified in Putting Pen to Paper (3) as important for the success of any collaborative project.

Other factors were great communication between the partners, with monthly meetings being held and good documentation of the process and results achieved for each partner.

Conclusion

This collaborative project was successful because of the commitment of all participants as well as the individual effort of key people. The Project Chair could see that much more could be achieved when a range of agencies worked together, than by each working on its own.

Local businesses invested in their community, community organisations expanded their vision and the breadth of their work, local government provided continuity and oversight, and central government officials provided positive and effective input.

(1) Community outcomes describe the priorities which the people of a district or region identify are important to their current or future social, economic, environmental or cultural wellbeing. The community outcomes process is a requirement of the Local Government Act 2002.

(2) Elizabeth Eppel, Derek Gill, Miriam Lipps and Bill Ryan (2008) Better connected services for kiwis Institute of Policy Studies (publication no. 156), Victoria University of Wellington

(3) Megan Courtney (2007) Putting Pen to Paper: Creating Partnering Agreements that Work Department of Internal Affairs Wellington and Waitakere City Council

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