About OCI

Ohio Coalition Institute Background and Intent

Built on a foundation of collaboration and strong partnerships within Ohio’s Prevention Community, the Ohio Coalition Institute (OCI) serves as a central access point for education, resources, and networks that build capacity among Ohio’s behavioral health and public health-connected coalitions.OCI is dedicated to enhancing community coalition impact by providing accessible, high-quality learning opportunities that help communities address complex social challenges in a culturally responsive manner.

OCI adopts two definitions of a coalition for the purpose of this initiative:

1. Ohio Administrative Code

(Rule 5122-29-20, Prevention Services)

“Coalition means a group of diverse organizations and constituent groups working together, using a comprehensive public health approach and data driven planning process, toward a common goal of reducing the local incidence, prevalence, and consequences of mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) disorders.”

2. Feighery and Rogers (1989) and Butterfoss (2013)

Feighery and Rogers (1989) define a coalition as: a group of organizations and constituencies working together toward a common goal.Butterfoss (2013) further explains community coalitions:

1. Serve a defined community recognized by those within it as a community, but also serves the broader community;
2. Is viewed by community residents as representing and serving them;
3. Reflects the community’s composition at both the grassroots and grasstops (professional) levels.

Ohio Coalition Institute

In federal fiscal year 2021 (FFY21), DBH partnered with several organizations to collaboratively develop the Ohio Coalition Institute (OCI) to empower Ohio’s community coalitions through evidence-based education and professional development. The organizations partnered in developing the Foundations in Community Coalition Development curriculum; a cornerstone program of the OCI designed for all established and emerging coalitions. Since its inauguration in FFY21, the OCI has provided several coalition leaders with training, technical assistance, and coaching in coalition and prevention best practices.Currently funded by the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health and facilitated by Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, in partnership with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, OCI continues to serve as a hub for connection, capacity-building, and shared learning for coalitions working to advance behavioral and public health outcomes - regardless of the coalition’s tenure, size, location.