Community Dashboard gauging our progress together Presentation to National Association of Planning Councils May 6,

Community Action Network is… a collaboration of agencies, organizations and individuals who work together to promote equity and opportunity. 2

CAN Partner Organizations Austin Chamber of Commerce Austin Community College Austin ISD Austin Travis County Integral Care Central Health Capital Metro City of Austin Community Justice Council interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT) One Voice Central Texas Seton Healthcare Network St. David's Foundation St. Edward's University Travis County United Way Capital Area University of Texas at Austin Workforce Solutions – Capital Area 3

CAN = Policy + Community + Service Policy makers CAN Board of Directors - elected officials and policy makers representing each CAN partner organization Community members CAN Community Council – self-appointed board of community members with an annual application and election process Service providers Issue Area Groups and Implementation Teams - professionals who serve our community through agencies or non-profit organizations

our basic needs are met we are safe, just & engaged we are healthy Community Dashboard tracks indicators in four goal areas… 5 we achieve our full potential Equity & Opportunity

CAN Community Dashboard 6  snapshot of community’s well- being (NOT an assessment)  identifies areas where collective attention and action are needed  no partner or agency alone is accountable for any one indicator  multiple stakeholders are required to move any one indicator in the right direction

CAN Community Dashboard  This annual report has become a signature product of Community Action Network  Released each spring with increasing media attention  Has created a common language – a short list of stats that leaders can use in discussing the community’s needs and conditions  Has elevated CAN’s status as the place to turn to for an analysis of community conditions 7

community dashboard.org 8  All 3 years’ reports and a Power Point highlight summary are available for download  Expanded “drill-down” data for each indicator  Historical trends for nation, state, MSA and county  Graphs depicting disparities  Information on vulnerable populations  Local efforts to improve the indicator  Common strategies found in multiple planning documents  Expanded Strategic Framework for Action with examples of strategies recommended by stakeholders  Information about the Dashboard Steering Committee

Informed by Results Based Accountability  Begin with desired RESULTS - common vision for all people  Community Indicators - measure whether the community is moving closer to its common vision  Strategies - what works in turning the curve on community-wide indicators?  Performance measures - metrics tracking the effectiveness of strategies’ impact on client populations 9

Collective Impact  Collective Impact vs. Isolated Impact  Common Agenda and Goals  Shared Measurement  Mutually Reinforcing Activities  Communication  Backbone Support  Rather than a “thousand random acts of kindness” we have many organizations focused on the same targets and weaving together many activities into a common agenda. 10

Building Our Community Dashboard Common Vision (2008) 2. Community Dashboard Indicators (2009) 3. Baseline (2010) 4. Set Goals and Targets (2011) 5. Plans and strategies to move the indicators in the right direction (2012)

Common Vision  Drew on Austin Equity Commission Report, the Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project, the Kirwan Institute Central Texas Opportunity Mapping Initiative and the NAPC 2005 Leading Social Indicators report  Engaged the CAN Board of Directors, the CAN Community Council and Issue Area Groups in a process to identify common goals for ALL people in our community  Shared and received feedback during annual CAN retreat  CAN Board of Directors adopted the Common Vision and directed staff to begin development of a Community Dashboard 12

Selecting Indicators  CAN appointed a Dashboard Steering Committee with expertise in education, health, human services, criminal justice, workforce, transportation and housing.  Held 8 meetings throughout the year  CAN staff gathered a long list of indicators, sorted by common vision statements.  CAN staff researched other community indicator projects and types of dashboards. 13

Selecting Indicators  Dashboard Steering Committee selected a short-list of indicators to gauge whether community is moving closer to the common vision.  Indicators were prioritized by…  proxy power,  communication power and  data power.  CAN Board of Directors approved 16 indicators in December

Baseline  First annual Community Dashboard report was published  Report highlighted…  Significance of each indicator  Five year trends  Local comparisons to MSA, state and nation  Highlight key collaborative efforts to address indicators 15

Baseline  Stakeholders were invited to televised CAN Community council forums …  Where do we stand on this indicator?  Who is working to improve the indicator?  What more needs to be done?  Dashboard Steering Committee prepared quarterly updates for CAN Board of Directors  CAN staff consolidated all stakeholder recommendations made to the Board and Community Council throughout the year and shared them at annual CAN retreat 16

Set Goals and Targets  Second Community Dashboard report was published  Report highlighted…  Data updates  Demographic data  Local efforts to improve the indicators 17

Set Goals and Targets  Each indicator was assigned a Dashboard Steering Committee member who worked with an Issue Area Group or other key stakeholders to agree on a proposed Goal and Target for each indicator.  The Dashboard Steering Committee considered the proposal and agreed on a recommendation to pass along to the CAN Board of Directors.  The CAN Board of Directors considered and approved Goals and Targets, as they became available.  CAN staff began an analysis of community planning documents noting common recommendations. 18

Strategic Framework for Action  Third Community Dashboard report was released  The report highlighted…  Targets for most indicators  Expanded demographic data  Common strategies for turning the curve that were identified through an analysis of 70+ community planning documents  A Strategic Framework for Action based on stakeholder recommendations, an analysis of community planning documents, and Issue Area Group feedback 19

Strategic Framework for Action  Dashboard Steering Committee is reviewing the Dashboard and considering what changes should be made.  CAN Board of Directors is taking a closer look at each “section” of the Community Dashboard and discussing what the opportunities and barriers are to turning the curve for the indicators. 20

How do we use the Community Dashboard?  To identify areas in the community where CAN partners’ collective action is needed  To help government, education, health and human services and non-profit organizations understand the context within which they take action  To communicate with the public at large about …  Community conditions  Key strategies for improving community conditions  Local collaborative efforts and local plans for improving community conditions 21

Informing the work CAN partners do together 22 annual benchmark of indicators and detailed analysis of each indicator links to key stakeholders working to move indicators in the right direction Community Dashboard identify convergence of findings and relationships across indicators identify strategic issues consider consequences of doing nothing Annual Analysis identify key initiatives for annual CAN Work Plan develop Work Groups and engage stakeholders in collaborative action report results Annual CAN Work Plan

our basic needs are met we are safe, just & engaged we are healthy All four goal areas are inter-related… 23 we achieve our full potential Equity & Opportunity

What problems have we encountered?  Difficult for people to understand difference between community indicators and performance measures  Always balancing need to be thorough and to follow a process with trying our participants’ patience  Special populations feel omitted (developmental disabilities, aging, reentry, veterans)  Inconsistency in setting targets, which makes measuring progress difficult  Turnover in leaders and elected officials 24

Key considerations  Issues that impact our ability to improve the indicators…  Population growth  Diversity  Sprawl  Political climate  Global economy 25

Where will we go from here?  There is benefit in continuing to release this annual analysis of community conditions and key initiatives to move closer to the common vision.  The Common language of the Community Dashboard will strengthen our resiliency in meeting challenges.  Some interest in finding common “Performance Measures” under each of the Strategic Framework for Action building blocks.  How does CAN help the community “move the needle” when we have no planning authority and no funding?  How do we integrate and connect the many, many planning efforts already going on in our community? 26