Our annual Innovative Practices Award (IPA) spotlights the inspirational efforts of accredited or in-process organizations that bring lasting change to lives of vulnerable individuals.
Every year with the Innovative Practices Award, COA spotlights the inspirational efforts of organizations that innovate for the greater good. We invite you to submit and share your successful strategies and serve as a resource for direct service providers, leaders, researchers, and advocates across the full spectrum of human and social services.
Congratulations to Alternative Family Services‘ Enhanced Visitation Program, winner of the 2020 Innovative Practices Award!
From their abstract: “We hope our model inspires and encourages family visitation providers to address the challenges of the COVID19 environment with innovative and creative visitation practices for all the families they serve.”
Read their full case study here. A big thank you again to all who participated!
PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS
2019
Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois Regenerations Program
Lutheran Child and Family Services (LCFS) Regenerations is an innovative and effective strengths-based program designed to support dually-involved (child welfare and criminal justice systems) adolescents over the age of 12. The premise is that by using a team approach and providing individualized wraparound services, these “at risk” youth will increase their sense of well-being, be contributing members of the community, and have the opportunity to lead healthy, meaningful lives. On average, participants in Regenerations experience a shorter waiting period for release and are more likely to go to live in a family setting after release. It is also encouraging that there is a lower rate of recidivism for this group. LCFS Regenerations is one of the only programs serving this population in the state of Illinois. Because of the positive impact locally, it is expected to become recognized as a model to replicate across the nation. Learn more about LCFS here.
2018
Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition 30 Days to Family® Program
Years of experimentation and rigorous evaluation have made the St. Louis-based Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition national experts in in the work of family-finding and relative connection. 30 Days to Family® is a field-leading and effective response to the opioid epidemic and saves child welfare agencies at least $300,000 per year. The purpose of 30 days to Family® is to place children with relatives within 30 days of entering foster care. They do this by developing a family tree with an average of 150 relatives, identifying at least two placement options and helping the family create a plan for stability. It is currently being replicated in 17 sites around the country, in Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, New York, and Washington, DC. Learn more about 30 Days to Family® here.
2017
GreenPath and Earnup Partnership
Rather than solely helping clients in crisis, GreenPath looks for innovative new ways to support its clients through their financial lifecycle. One of its tactics was to partner with EarnUp, who worked closely with GreenPath to create the Simple Payment Plan (SPP) – a debt repayment solution that intelligently automates and accelerates payments by aligning them with a person’s pay schedule and due dates. Through an intensive, rapid prototyping process, the duo refined the SPP and perfected methods of promoting the new service. By shedding biases, collecting hard data, and utilizing behavioral science techniques, they identified misconceptions and gained true insight into what clients need. The pilot was a huge success, resulting in a win-win-win partnership for clients, GreenPath, and Earnup, as well as serving as a model for future nonprofit/FinTech partnerships both within GreenPath and for the financial wellness industry as a whole. Learn more about Greenpath here.
2017
The Children’s Village Family Finding Program
In recent years the Children’s Village (CV) was finding that the majority of youth referred to their residential campus through the foster care system had no connections or contact with their immediate or extended family members. Determined to reunite the loneliest and most isolated youth in their care with their families, CV adopted the Family Finding Program Model. Since its inception, the CV Family Finding Program has seen high rates of success, with 50% of youth in the program, all of whom started with no connections, discharged to a family member and 90% connected to a family member who is committed to remaining in contact with the youth through visits or phone calls. Learn more about the Children’s Village here.
2017
Caroline County Department of Social Services’ RISE (Re-engaging Individuals through Successful Employment) Program
Maryland’s Child Support Administration enables, encourages, and enforces parental responsibility through innovative programs, partnerships, and technology, thereby contributing to the child and family’s well-being. The launch of their RISE (Re-engaging Individuals through Successful Employment) program in 2015 has proven to be very successful in helping the Non-Custodial Parents (NCPs) remove barriers to employment and increase child support payments, ultimately leading to financial self-sufficiency for the NCP and the child. The RISE program serves NCP’s by assisting them with barrier removal, job placement services, and retention services in the five Mid-Shore counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Learn more about Caroline County Department of Social Services here.
Winner benefits
The 2021 Innovative Practices Award winner will receive national visibility and promotion from both COA and participating national associations. The winner will also receive the following benefits:
- Showcase on COA’s website, newsletter, and social media platforms
- A virtual interview promoting your process
- Special IPA winner logo for your website and marketing collateral
- IPA Plaque
- An opportunity to share/present to the larger COA community at a future COA-hosted event
- Guest article on COA’s blog
- COA swag bags for your team (up to 10 people)
2021 Submissions timetable
The 2021 submissions timetable has not yet been set. Please check back for updates!
Application and eligibility
Eligibility
- The primary applicant must be either currently COA-accredited or undergoing COA accreditation (in process) with no major Vital Occurrences on file.
- Applicants must submit a complete and thorough IPA Application Form and case study according to the directions.
- Previously published case studies may be submitted to COA if the author has already received permission from the IPA committee for republication (email jplumbley@coanet.org). This permission must be documented on the IPA Application Form
- Case studies that were applicants for the IPA in previous years may only be resubmitted when the associated practices and/or outcomes have significantly changed.
- The applicant must agree that they have read and understand the following conflicts of interest statements:
- Award applications do not confer, impart, or guarantee positively or negatively on any current or future accreditation decision.
- Applications representing more than one organization need to have the consent of all applicable parties.
- Organizational applicants that permit research with service recipients are in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
- COA reserves the right to provide these IPA Case Studies—after they are approved by the selection committee—either free or at a low cost to all COA organizations.
- COA reserves the right to consider public and maintenance of accreditation (MOA) information pertaining to any applicant for its IPA.
Application
The 2020 IPA preliminary round of submissions will be open August 3rd through September 4, 2020. Use our online submission form at go.coanet.org/ipa1 to submit a brief synopsis of your innovative practice. Your synopsis should introduce the innovative practice and how it has contributed toward positive service delivery outcomes and organizational success in promoting social justice and/or navigating COVID-19.
When filling out the form, you’ll need to indicate:
- Your organization name
- Your organization’s COA ID Number (Find this in your MyCOA Portal)
- The primary contact for this IPA submission
- The name of your innovative practice
Note: COA will not accept submissions that are designed to endorse, market, or sell commercial products and/or services.
On September 22nd, COA will notify any finalists that have been selected to move forward with the full Round 2 application. Finalists will have until October 30th to complete their second-round submissions. The winner will be announced on November 4th.