Purpose
The purpose of an advisory committee is to have local partners and stakeholders provide advice, consult and make recommendations to the Health Department on:

• Community health issues
• Policy
• Programs
• Unmet needs

Vision
People in the Cape May County have information, resources and opportunities to improve the quality of life for themselves, their families and their communities.

Mission Statement
To help people turn ideas into community action through:

• Advocacy for human needs in Cape May County
• Civic engagement
• Information
• Planning

Strategic Goals

• To enable the people of Cape May County access to and use of community resources through quality information and referral services
• To enhance public dialogue and decision-making by providing factual information and reports and offering people the opportunity to study and influence public policy
• To enhance the capability of the organization by:
  • Building strong leadership
  • Developing discretionary resources
  • Planning for the future
• To improve individual and community conditions through:
  • Coalition building
  • Planning
  • Program development
  • Services coordination
• To transform people and communities through volunteer service and civic engagement

Values

1. Commitment to community and advisory committee
2. Comprehensive perspective reflected in decisions and actions
3. Diverse viewpoints respected and encouraged in decisions and actions
4. Focus on systems change and sustainable, long-term solutions
5. Inclusive decision-making that strives for consensus
6. Objective data and information used to support decisions and action
7. Positive working relationships with all sectors of the community
8. Principled leadership producing measurable results

Core Competencies

• Advocacy - Engaging people in use of effective approaches to influence policy-makers, opinion leaders and general public in decisions benefiting the overall community's quality of life
• Building Community Infrastructure - Developing, nurturing and sustaining organizations and communities by enhancing their abilities to achieve the common good through convening groups to address issues, training and technical assistance, and leadership development
• Community Organizing - Helping people and organizations most affected by public policies, services or community conditions develop and carryout activities that build community and neighborhood capacity and enhance health, economic conditions, and social well-being
• Information Services - Producing and disseminating timely, accurate information for health and human services planning, fund distribution, policy development, and services referral
• Facilitation - Creating a safe, unaligned environment for the resolution of community problems and engaging multiple community sectors in addressing identified community issues
• Mobilizing Resources - Identifying and filling gaps in community services by redirection of existing or development of new resources
• Public Policy Analysis - Producing timely, valuable and accurate information on policy choices for use by citizens and policy makers in developing solutions for community problems
• Research and Evaluation - Producing and sharing credible and meaningful community-based research and program evaluation that informs and influences health and social policy and practice