Long-term independence or self-sufficiency has not been a common goal of many service agencies. Each agency has been guided and sometimes restricted by the myriad of federal laws and regulations which are compounded by state policies, and fragmentation of local services. In some cases, these "helping" agencies actually create additional obstacles for those they attempt to assist. Too often, rules made in far-away places direct the actions of people at the community level in ways that are contrary to the communities needs.

If we are to overcome these barriers, comprehensive needs of the family must be paramount to the objectives of each agency. We must forsake traditional methods of delivering services. But more importantly, we must look at a family's own goals for itself and what we can do to support the achievement of those goals and reduce the barriers to success.

To help address the broad spectrum of the needs of Michigan families, community leaders in four sites are developing Communities First programs which are targeted to begin by October 1, 1992 and continue through December 31, 1994. These pilots will explore and refine different approaches to the delivery of human-service programs to the identified communities based on what the community wants and needs to help children and families function more productively and independently.

The four principal Communities First sites are Nelson Neighborhood in Muskegon, Highland Park, the Village of Capac in St. Clair County, and Benton Harbor. Each site brings its own needs and strengths to the effort to design human-service delivery models to the needs of the community.

The service delivery will be consumer centered, consumer driven and integrated into the fabric of community life. The state human service agencies, while integrally involved, will not set the agenda for needed or wanted changes--the local agencies and the community will.

The Communities First pilots will demonstrate the important principles that must become a part of our public assistance programs statewide. The social contract being developed in these communities, and government. I will encourage the legislature to provide funding to expand Communities First into other areas of the state as needs for additional alternative service delivery methods are identified.