Page 57 - MDS final deliverable

6. ACTIVELY BUILD PARTNERSHIPS
Actively identifying and nurturing partnerships with key stakeholders in the community
THE SOLUTION
There is an opportunity for MDS to invest in a partnerships manager / business development person who is responsible for building and maintaining partnerships with specialists, parents and the overall Macarthur community to ensure a healthy and continuous pipeline of participants.
• Partnerships with trusted specialists: Actively identify and nurture partnerships with key stakeholders (e.g. doctors, parole officers, mental health workers, principals of local schools and priests) to build active networks within the disability support community and become known as the ‘provider of choice’.
• Keep close to parents: Parents have a strong influence on referrals and decisions but most of them feel like they don’t have enough interaction and
communication with MDS staff. Keeping the parents close can help increase referrals and repeat uptake of MDS services.
• Being ‘present’ in the early stages of the person’s life and early intervention (especially when it comes to participants with mental-health issues) will help
drive more customers to MDS. MDS can build better connection with NDIS, schools and services to facilitate early information and support. Resources required: 1x partnership manager / business development person
Bringing in a dedicated partnerships manager or business development person
WHY IT WILL WORK
Trusted specialists
Parents
Early intervention
• The majority of families and participants engage with MDS as a result of ‘word of mouth’ referrals and the gentle promptings of specialists and trusted authorities in the community. These referees are like ‘compasses’ that point customers in the right direction for the required support. Families and participants seldom discover MDS purely as a result of their own research or enquiries. People appear to research MDS only after a referral or recommendation was provided.
• Referrals and word of mouth is key for the growth of MDS. Referrals can be from neighbours, friends, acquaintances, community centers, parole officers, support workers, doctors and other service providers. The secondary reason for their decision to choose MDS is geographical proximity.
• MDS has the physical capacity to take on more participants.