Strategic Planning to Better Serve Detroiters Eligible for Expungement
WITH PROJECT CLEAN SLATE
Strategic Planning / Facilitation / Visioning / Team building
It’s estimated that 215,000 Detroiters have criminal records, and that there are approximately 168,000 individuals who are potentially eligible for criminal record expungement. Project Clean Slate is a City of Detroit initiative that provides free legal services to Detroiters seeking expungement, guiding them through the process with compassion and respect. They also connect clients to employment, housing, and educational resources. As a result of new legislation in late 2020 that expanded expungement eligibility, thousands more people registered for Project Clean Slate’s services. To meet the increasing demand, the team has quickly grown and in order to foster open communication and ensure team alignment, Project Clean Slate partnered with The Work Department to facilitate their 2022 strategic planning.
Over two half-day retreats, we worked together to formalize Project Clean Slate’s mission and vision and develop shared goals for the year. The exercises and discussions were designed to hear the perspectives of and gather input from all team members.
The first retreat was focused on gathering language and ideas from the PCS team to inform the mission, vision, and goals through a series of guided activities. The retreat incorporated small group work, individual reflection and response, and full group share out and discussion.
The second retreat was dedicated to reviewing drafts of the vision, mission, and goals that The Work Department created based on learnings from the first retreat. PCS staff provided feedback on big picture ideas as well as specific wording, and everyone worked together to edit the drafts.
The final strategy included the vision, mission, 2022 goals, and a set of talking points about the initiative.
