Changing Lives with R.A.T.E.S. Principles-Part 1

Building a R.A.T.E.S. foundation will help to develop charitable efforts from a solid platform of universal organizational practices. Certain standard practices are essential in establishing a viable and lasting initiative to effect change. These standards include areas that can not be absent from a sustainable program. R..A.T.E.S. is an acronym for five essential areas of development which are Response-ability, Account-ability, Technical-ability, Evaluation-ability and Sustain-ability. Each of these five categories may include any number of sub categories that can offer a continuum of learning and development. Response-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to provide a favorable response to critical needs. The critical needs that must be considered are those of the service provider, client, staff, partners and donors. A social service provider is the entity that is responsible for solving a problem that causes pain, suffering or even death for others. The first need that social service providers have is to determine which problem(s) they are committed and equipped to eliminate. By approaching a problem as one that is to be eliminated, the planning and resource gathering will be more focused and measurable. The qualifications for seeing success are clearer when success includes actual transformation from wrong to right. These programs are designed to offer tangible solutions to the critical issues that are challenging the quality of life in various populations. Each segment will begin with a clearly stated problem, along statistics and/or other information about the problem before inviting participants to help develop workable solutions. We invite forward thinkers, entrepreneurs and solutions oriented talkers to engage in meaningful problem solving. These episodes may be forwarded to government officials (or other interested entities) to let them review solutions oriented discussions.