Author
J. Smart
Summary
The rapid adoption of collective impact in Australia and overseas is testament to the fact that current responses to the complex issues of contemporary families and communities are inadequate, and that a holistic and coordinated response resonates with practitioners in the social services sector.
Collective impact is one possible framework for a place-based response that is in line with our current knowledge of the most effective way to address complex social issues; however, it requires further development and evaluation. Collective impact has brought to the field of collaborative, community-based work an understanding of the complexity of social issues and the language with which to discuss them (Graham & Weaver, 2016), and clarified the resources required to undertake this work. If practitioners engage fully with the resources and literature of the collective impact field and supplement this with theory and practice from related fields, collective impact provides a promising framework for effective resolution of complex social issues.
