Messy
It’s not straightforward. Expect incremental progress toward integration. It might feel like moving forward and backwards. Plan for setbacks and how to work through these collaboratively. Know your journey will be unique to your community.

Time and resource intensive
This is particularly true in the planning phase. The processes of meaningful engagement and relationship- and trust-building takes time. It cannot be rushed. These are the foundations required for longer-term success. Adjust funding models, expectations, and measures of progress accordingly.

Deeply layered from governance to service delivery
This includes processes for collecting and using shared data. Meaningfully include front line service providers and the target population(s) – in this case, youth – in the collaborative process from the very beginning. Strive for diverse representation. A flexible and open approach is needed, particularly with youth.

Anchored in strong, shared oversight and supportive structures
A provincial collaborative governance framework establishes clear directions for implementation with baseline policies and procedures. It helps with the development of goals, and leads the needed systems-level change. Sufficient funding for the planning and relationship development phase is needed for success. Organizational buy-in can ensure sustainability though individual turn-over and transitions.

Time and relationships are essential to launching community-led integrated service delivery.
These elements are also unpredictable. From my years of experience, I’ve learned that the journey to integrating service delivery is complex. It’s unique to each community and definitely not linear. There is a lot of collaboration and relationship-building that goes on behind the scenes in communities to prepare for integrated service delivery.

It takes significant time to build connections, shared goals, and trust. It cannot be rushed. Unfortunately, this foundational work may not look like progress according to external evaluation measures. This can be a challenge. Expectations tied to funding are that progress will be linear. More funding comes with higher expectations for integrated service delivery to be operational within the funding period. This can set communities up to fail and doesn’t honour the iterative implementation philosophy.