2020 · Study · English

How can the governance of communities that care interventions be enhanced by understandings of community development?

Downey, H., & Threlkeld, G.

Downey, H., & Threlkeld, G. (2020). How can the governance of communities that care interventions be enhanced by understandings of community development? Community Development Journal, 56(3), 487–505. doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsaa012

Summary

Qualitative case study from a formal evaluation of Communities That Care in a small rural Australian community, examined through a collaborative-governance lens. CTC relies on designated governance groups, the key leaders and the community board, as the main instruments for building local capacity to improve young people's lives. The authors interviewed members of these structures about how CTC operated and what value it had at the intersection of youth and rural disadvantage. Their findings suggest that CTC's potential for sustainable community change grows when governance is endogenous: when it recognises and develops the leadership potential of residents rather than relying on external or professional actors. Published in the Community Development Journal, the paper brings community-development theory to bear on a prevention system now used internationally, and offers practitioners and organisations considering CTC a set of insights on how coalition governance can be designed to hold up over time.