Multi-sector community coalition development: Lessons learned from the Veterans Community Action Teams Project

Through its Veterans Community Action Teams (VCAT) project the Altarum Institute has worked with community service providers to develop a dual-pilot program establishing community action teams in San Diego and San Antonio to better coordinate and integrate the services available to military veterans and their families. Multi-sector community coalitions were established to conceive, plan, and implement these teams using best evidence and practice from the field. This presentation presents the VCAT experience with community coalition development, measurement, and sustainment. Understanding developmental models, sustainability options, and the technical assistance involved in successful implementation has been useful in measuring coalition effectiveness and viability, in attracting potential funders, and in replicating similar coalition building initiatives in other communities. The knowledge and use of such tools become more and more critical as the VCAT coalitions begin to take on more responsibility and evolve with the ever-changing needs of the community that it serves. Moreover, the knowledge gained from the VCAT experience contributes to the growing body of knowledge on coalition development and sustainment and can be applied to multi-sector coalitions that use a community-based approach to address a variety of issues and populations. Such knowledge not only enables the measurement of progress, but it also creates frameworks of development that ensure long-term viability and success in addressing important community concerns.