Mission

The Federation serves as an organizer and catalyst, bringing together responsible organizations and advocating for development of real solutions. The work that is uniquely ours to do involves expanding resources for cross-cutting issues that are the foundations of self sufficiency. It is the only organization focused on human services issues leading policy analysis and systems change in DuPage County. We are distinguished from some other advocates by the collaborative style with which we accomplish our work, yet our track record of accomplishing real change is unmatched.

The Federation is a unique convergence of people, place and opportunity. We accomplish our mission through a strong and unusually dedicated board that includes community leaders, state and county public officials, clergy, representatives of community groups, business leaders, consumers, and providers of human services; a synergistic partnership between board and staff; and long-term relationships with key decision makers and stakeholders.

History

The Federation was formed in 1995 by a governor's office initiative as one of five 'learning laboratories' whose role was to demonstrate a new approach to collaboration between government and community in the implementation of welfare reform. Since that time, our role has evolved far beyond those origins. The focus has appropriately shifted to developing a broad systems of supports for the working poor, and to improving the capacity of the human services system to meet increasingly complex needs.

Today, the Federation is a nonprofit planning and change management organization that has been intimately involved in the development of the health care safety net and has helped expand the health and human service system to better meet the needs of the area's changing population. The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people in DuPage County by leveraging relationships and knowledge to build an effective and efficient health and human service system.

Role of the Federation

Key community leaders have repeatedly expressed a belief that, if the Federation did not exist, it would need to be invented to focus on developing an efficient and effective system of human services. The fact that we are not providers of direct services permits us to look at the big picture, addressing systemic and cross-categorical problems in human services and crafting solutions that could not be developed by service providers acting alone.

The diagram (right) demonstrates the Federation's role in addressing issues affecting vulnerable people. We identify issues and problems, then inform ourselves and key stakeholders about the issue, best practices and options. We develop a consensus about the best approach, then advocate for its adoption. We work toward developing the new response, along with the resources needed. The solution is implemented, and the Federation can exit from the day to day operation of a program, while remaining a key supporter. At each state of this process, the role of the Federation diminishes and the role of our service providing partners increases.