Breakthrough Communities 
Breakthrough Framework Breakthrough Framework Chart National Breakthrough Network
Tapestry Software Suite 
The work described by the Breakthrough Framework starts with a community or
collection of agencies identifying a need and agreeing that "we can do
better."
No matter what sector, nor how large or small the problem to be solved, the "we can do better" decision triggers a four-stage progression:
Breakthrough Outcomes
The stages of the framework follow the logic that a set of agencies within a community can identify a need, engage in fact-finding, put pencil to paper to design activities, pilot those activities, determine effectiveness, and make needed adjustments to ensure solid delivery of services to address the original need. As a result, that community will see as their outcomes
- Engaged partners
- Coordinated data and services
- Maximized resources
- Measurable impacts
- Clients well-served
Agencies come together in the Inquiry stage to build upon effective practices, coordinate and consolidate existing efforts, and move beyond a set of separate agencies providing isolated services toward creating a system of services. The community may face a set of familiar problems or characteristics that define the Inquiry stage, which include:
- Low visibility of services available
- Lack of coordination among service providers
- Limited number of clients served
- Activities driven by funding rather than need, resulting in gaps of services
The first activity in the Inquiry stage is to build cross-agency awareness of a need. What is it that "we can do better"? During this stage, participating agencies will begin to:
- Explore issues and options
- Examine trends and common needs that emerge
- Experience a motivation to collaborate
- Build a desire to improve services
- Determine that there is a readiness to seek solutions
The Inquiry stage is completed when the participating agencies have reached agreement on objectives and break through to the Design stage.
The Design stage is characterized by core partners getting down to the business of planning specific strategies and activities to address the "we can do better" to meet the agreed upon objectives. It is in this stage that the idea of coordination of activities begins to take shape and collaborating agencies work towards:
- Eliminating duplication of effort
- Gaining consensus among key stakeholders
- Putting pencil to paper on developing an action plan to address the objectives
The initial activities of the Design stage require parallel efforts - working with and among the core partner agencies on design, and simultaneously developing community support for the objectives. During this stage, partner agencies will begin to:
- Establish a partnership identity
- Identify emerging champion(s)
- Identify solutions and technology
- Define roles, responsibilities and outcomes
- Determine that there is a readiness to act
The Design stage is completed when the participating agencies have reached agreement on a written plan and break through to the Implement stage.
Pilot activities take place during the Implement stage. It is in this stage that activities planned during the Design stage are implemented and collaborating agencies work towards:
- Aligning activities with objectives
- Coordinating agency activities (which may require adapting current practices)
- Directing resources to support activities
- Evaluating short- and long-term impact of activities
During the Implement stage, partner agencies will begin to:
- Conduct orientation and staff development
- Deploy solutions and technology
- Coordinate client services
- Share data
- Determine that there is a readiness to evaluate impact
The Implement stage is completed when the participating agencies have reached agreement on impact and break through to the Refine stage.
The Refine stage is defined by participating agencies improving and expanding their services by revisiting and evaluating the strategies and activities developed in the Design stage:
During the Refine stage, partner agencies will begin to:
- Improve on the delivery model
- Enhance the cross-agency network
- Allocate sustainable resources to ongoing activities
- Conduct long-term evaluation and publicly share reports
- Determine that there is a readiness to expand (no longer a pilot)
The Refine stage is complete when other partners, agencies or "providers" seek to join.
