ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on community engagement by examining the granting process for a community-based partnership programme through the lens of Actor Network Theory (ANT) to reflect on what might assist planners, social agencies and communities to foster engagement effectively. It begins by briefly discussing the potential theoretical contribution of ANT to understanding community engagement processes. The Community Action Initiative (CAI) empowers communities to develop solutions for local mental health and/or substance use challenges that community members identify as priorities. The CAI supports this goal by distributing grants across the province to community-based partnerships to encourage the development of coalitions that engage local citizens in understanding and supporting people with mental health and substance use issues. The chapter describes how the grant focused partners on conceiving of and collaborating on a project to address service gaps faced by youth transitioning out of foster care. Engagement theory provides one possible lens for exploring the question of whether community granting programmes are effective.
