One of the fundamental roles of county government is the delivery of health and social services.  The complexity of coordinating the work of myriad systems and hundreds of public and nonprofit providers in Summit County is enormous.  The Social Services Advisory Board (SSAB) has assumed the role of building collaboration between these systems and assuring that the needs of our most vulnerable citizens are addressed consistently, professionally, and effectively through the Quality of Life Project.

Click report to view:

• Summit 2010 Priority Indicator Progress Report 2009
•  Project Presentation (Powerpoint)  or   Project Presentation (PDF)

1. Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment.
2. Establish county-wide goals for improvements in the quality of life.
3. Develop collaborative plans involving all public systems to work more effectively on behalf of the county's citizens.

A special SSAB working group has been guiding the work of the consultants on this project, and many other community leaders are actively engaged in the process.  In addition, the results of other recent needs assessments in the County will be integrated into the environmental assessment through collaboration with the Knight Foundation, United Way and Akron Community Foundation.  

The Quality of Life Project consists of four interrelated sets of planning activities.  First, a workforce development plan will outline an integrated approach to both those seeking work and employers.  Second, a plan for delinquency prevention and juvenile justice will be developed and implemented, based on the state of Ohio's Partnership for Success program.  Third, a series of achievable goals for measureable improvements in the quality of life in Summit County will be established; each of the publicly funded health and social service systems will be asked to develop plans to help achieve these goals.  And fourth, grassroots community planning will take place in three pilot neighborhoods.  Citizens will participate in adopting their own goals for improving the quality of their lives and aligning the project's comprehensive service delivery plans with their objectives.

The Quality of Life Project, under the guidance of the Social Services Advisory Board, will lead Summit County to new, unprecedented success in the age-old battle to improve health, expand economic opportunity, and reduce poverty and its ill effects.