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Excerpt from “Results-Based Accountability for Proposition 10 Commissions: A Planning Guide for Improving the Well-being of Young Children and Their Families,” UCLA, March, 2000.

An imaginary press conference in 10 years: 
What we would like to be able to say...

“Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. We are here today to present the results of our 10 year campaign to assure that every child in this county enters school healthy and ready to learn. The charts in your package show that when we started this work, less than half the children in this county passed the kindergarten entry assessment, and the percent of children reading at grade level was no better than 45% in the 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd grades. Less than 60% of our children were fully immunized at ages 2 and 5, and rates of hospitalization, unintentional injury and foster care entry for very young children was far above state and national averages. What’s worse, nearly all of these measures were headed in the wrong direction

In the past 10 years the county has made dramatic progress in the well-being of its youngest children and we are beginning to see these improvements pay off in the well-being of adolescents and young adults. Today, nearly all children (96%) pass the kindergarten entry test, and nearly all children are reading at or above grade level in 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd grades. The health of these children is much improved. Nearly every child (99%) is up to date on immunizations at ages 2 and 5. Rates of unintended injury and hospitalization have declined significantly. And we now are well below the state and national averages for rates of child abuse and neglect and entry into foster care.

We believe that these improvements are directly related to the investments we have made over the past 10 years, using Prop 10 and other funds, and also the combined resources of time energy and commitment of many public and private partners throughout the county. Some of the most important of these investments include...

Finally, we believe we are seeing a real and direct financial benefit to the county as a result of these improving conditions. Spending for remedial education has declined, state reimbursement for attendance (ADA) has improved, foster care costs are significantly lower, and we are

beginning to see significant reductions in our juvenile justice caseload. Health care costs for young children have shown a marked shift away from expensive remedial care and toward the higher regular utilization of preventive and well-child care. And the county was recently rated among the best places in the state to raise children, a fact we know has affected the decisions of several businesses to stay in or relocate to our communities.

Your packages include many of the details behind these remarkable accomplishments, and list the many partners who have made contributions over this period. We would like to express our deep gratitude to these people and organizations. We would now be glad to answer any questions you may have.”

The entire planning process can be thought of in terms of “What would it take to be able to have a press conference like this one in 5 or 10 years?” Answer this question, and you can throw the rest of this paper away.