For Providers World Cafés

Overview

For Providers: World Cafés
World Café Conversations in Yolo County

The YCCA Yolo Family Strengthening Network (YFSN) is leading the effort to help Yolo County learn more about the World Café model. The YFSN Café Subcommittee has prepared the following information to help organizations learn more about how to host World Café conversations.

World Café Model

The World Café model can be used to address complex issues by having “conversations that matter” on a wide variety of topics. “Café conversations are designed on the assumption that people already have within them the wisdom and creativity to confront even the most difficult challenges” (The World Café by Brown and Isaacs, page 4). Many groups have adapted the World Café model to address specific topics affecting their communities. We invite you to join the World Café movement to engage parents, community members, partners, constituents, staff, and youth in conversations throughout Yolo County,

The YFSN is using the World Café model with parents in Yolo County to promote protective factors while supporting, empowering, and celebrating parents. Specifically, the YFSN will use World Cafés to support the Five Protective Factors identified by the research-informed Strengthening Families™ Framework. These protective factors have been shown to increase family strengths, enhance child development, and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect:

1.  Parental Resilience
2. Social Connections
3. Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
4. Concrete Support in Times of Need
5. Social and Emotional Competence of Children

Café Materials Available for Use!

The YFSN Café Subcommittee has written, prepared, and collected the following resources to help organizations learn more about how to host World Cafés.

Presentations

Planning Documents

Sample Café Documents

Evaluations

Other Resources

  • Café Resource List: Includes websites, books, webinars, and videos on various café models.
  • Café to Go Guide: A Quick Reference Guide for Hosting World Café: Covers the basics of the World Café process, includes brief outlines of each principle, a description of Café Etiquette, an outline of key elements of the World Café conversations, and tips for creating Café ambiance.
  • The World Café: Shaping Our Futures through Conversations that Matter (book)
    by Juanita Brown with David Isaacs and the World Café Community:  Provides background on evolution of the World Café model and how it can be used. Discusses seven design principles of World Cafés.
  • Community Café Tools and Resources List

Café-in-a-Box

With generous support from IKEA, the YFSN Café Subcommittee has created two Café-in-a-Box kits for organizations to borrow when they host World Cafés. These kits can reduce the financial and logistical barriers that some organizations face when hosting a World Café.

Each Café-in-a-Box contains the following supplies:

• 5 tablecloths
• 5 sets of colored markers
• 5 vases for colored markers
• 5 vases for each table
• 15 fabric flowers for vases for each table
• 4 trays for serving food
• 2 rolls of butcher paper for covering tables|
• Café planning materials
• Café surveys (1 host organization survey, 30 English parent participant surveys, 30 Spanish parent participant surveys)

Café-in-a-Box kits can be checked out from the Davis Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA) office for up to one week. If you would like to reserve a Café-in-a-Box, please contact Vanessa Batres at vanessa.batres@yolocounty.org or (530) 902-8249. For more information, please read the Café-in-a-Box letter.

Café Surveys for Organizations and Parents

In order for the YFSN Committee to continue to be able to provide technical assistance and support related to the World Café model, we need organizations that host World Cafés to collect and report data on Cafés. Please fill out the YFSN Café Survey for Host Organizations if you host a World Café so we can track the Café movement in Yolo County. If you host a World Café for parents, we encourage you to use the YFSN Café Survey for Parents so we can assess the effects of World Cafés on parents throughout Yolo County. Please use the following surveys in your World Cafés:

  • YFSN Café Survey for Host Organizations (English)
    • 1 per café, to be filled out by café host
    • To be used for any World Café in Yolo County (i.e., not just for parents)
  • YFSN Café Survey for Parents (available in English and Spanish)
    • 1 per café participant
    • To be used only with World Cafés for parents

There are three ways to submit data from these surveys:

  1. You can enter your data directly using the following links:
    • YFSN Café Survey for Host Organizations
    • YFSN Café Survey for Parents
     
  2. You can mail surveys to Vanessa Batres at:
      Yolo County Children’s Alliance
      600 A St., Suite Y
      Davis, CA 95616
     
  3. You can email scanned copies of the surveys to Vanessa Batres at Vanessa.Batres@yolocounty.org

If you have any questions, please contact Vanessa Batres at Yolo County Children’s Alliance: Vanessa.Batres@yolocounty.org or (530) 902-8249. Thank you for helping us collect data on World Cafés in Yolo County!

YFSN Café Subcommittee members

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact: