Quality of Life Foundation

Strategies:

Health Care

Provide accessible, affordable, quality health care for all Duval residents. Suggested action steps for limiting the growth in service cost include to:
1. Encourage people to stop using emergency rooms for routine care by providing accessible and affordable alternatives for receiving health services.
2. Ensure all citizens have access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health services.
3. Advocate fiscal responsibility within the Medicaid system.
4. Form additional partnerships between area businesses and health care providers to keep costs down.
5. Encourage every adult and family to take ownership of his or her health care through wellness and prevention programs.
6. Provide nutrition and health education, particularly for the poor.
7. Develop more medical research in Duval County.
8. Improve the availability of affordable health insurance for employees, the self-employed and unemployed.
9. Provide routine indigent health care through a system of clinics. Maintain customer- friendly hours and availability. Remove stigma of using clinics through marketing.
10. Advocate reducing medical litigation costs.
11. Increase technology to increase efficiency.
12. Encourage the provision and use of effective mental health services.
Reduce the infant mortality rate. (Refer to Education strategy #1.)
Reduce controllable health risk factors.
Increase regional, national and global awareness of Jacksonville's system of world-class health providers.

Social Services And Welfare

Develop a three-pronged approach to provision of social services and welfare:
1. Provide opportunities for people to develop the skills and resources to exit the social
  service system.
2. Provide a safety net for the people at-risk who do not have the ability to help themselves.
3. Recognize the need to increase the productivity of the social service system through:
  1. Regarding the social service system as a network of organizations providing over
    $1.3 billion in services in Duval County each year.
  2. Improving cooperation and collaboration.
  3. Preventing of service overlaps.
  4. Marketing programs that reduce overall system cost.
  5. Expecting organizations that are not normally considered social service
    organizations to accept responsibility for social service success. (Examples would
    include the Parks and Recreation department, school system, and faith-based
    organizations.)
  6. Making funding contingent on results.
  7. Recognizing the necessity for the public and private sector to provide leadership
    within the social service network through support, volunteerism, philanthropy and
    civic engagement.
  8. Using technology to provide synergy and management for the social service
    network.
  9. Funding organizations that provide services to individuals who are not capable of
    taking care of themselves because of mental or physical conditions.
Improve the capacity of not-for-profits to provide services. This will include adequately funding their operational and capital needs, including working capital.
Implement the 10-year Blueprint to End Homelessness recommendations. Prevent people from becoming homeless by ensuring timely access to resources that will enable them to maintain their housing. Minimize the length of time people are homeless by ensuring rapid exit from shelters into affordable housing. Develop 800 units of permanent supportive housing for persons with disabilities by 2011, and 2,300 units by 2016. (Refer to Infrastructure Housing strategies.)
Encourage faith-based organizations to provide social services.
Increase service/opportunity for the disabled.

Recreation, Arts, Culture and Entertainment

Create downtown as a focal point for our region. Attract people to downtown through the right mix of events, festivals, arts, culture, entertainment, restaurants, housing, jobs and retail.
Implement a world class parks and recreation master plan with consistent levels of service throughout the county. Promote fitness, teen activities and quality family time activities. Provide facilities for every residents that attract all size sporting and recreation events to Jacksonville. Make the St. Johns River system a focal point. Maintain waterfront public access. (Refer to Infrastructure strategy #1.)
Enhance variety and awareness of arts and culture in Jacksonville and increase awareness of activities.
Advertise activities in Jacksonville, internally and regionally. Market community's recreation, arts, culture and entertainment options to employees.
Provide free or affordable, high-quality summer camps and activities for young people, particularly aged 12 to 14.
Promote the growth and development of Duval County's creative class.

Family and Youth

Increase affordable and quality childcare. Make it accessible after traditional work hours.
Implement stability programs for families and encourage traditional values. Mentor and support families. Encourage a work ethic and discipline. Encourage savings and wealth creation at all income levels.
Provide neighborhood learning centers or clubhouses.
Provide neighborhood-based programs in the high-poverty zip codes.
Remove the tax and social system penalties for families.
Encourage parents, especially fathers, to be positively involved in their children's lives.
Reduce the number of children in poverty.
Ensure that there are sufficient, high-quality mental and behavioral health programs to address the needs of children.
Increase and/or enforce child support legislation.
Prevent teenage and out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
Provide information on the financial impact and other issues associated with single parent households.

Sense of Community

Develop pride in Jacksonville and its individual communities.
Improve the city image through an internal advertising campaign.
Create an awareness of Jacksonville's landmarks.

Public Safety

Maintain a safe environment for our citizens, visitors and businesses in all neighborhoods.
1. Reduce elderly, spousal and child abuse.
2. Ensure that every citizen has fair and equitable treatment under the law.
3. Develop and maintain pioneering and proactive systems to protect citizens from homicide.
4. Encourage the criminal justice system, which includes the police, prosecutors and courts to clear the backlog of criminal cases.
Maintain constant preparation and vigilance to be prepared to protect residents from natural and man-made disasters.
Reduce the recurrence of criminal acts by people who have returned from prison.
Reduce illegal drug sales and usage.

Seniors and Retirees

Encourage and provide opportunities for seniors and retirees to become actively involved in the community through volunteerism, such as serving as mentors to families and young people, tutoring students and reading to early education classes.
Strengthen the continuum of care, including home health care and support services, to enable seniors to remain in their homes instead of living in nursing homes.
Provide workforce training enabling seniors to continue their economic contribution to our community.
Motivate self-maintenance and encourage community engagement.
Provide information on the available and emerging resources for older adult volunteers.