Contra Costa County's Children's Report Card
tracks state, county, and neighborhood trends
for 23 Indicators under 5 Results.
In 1997, the Contra Costa County Children and Families
Policy Forum, a county-wide group representing residents and representatives
from County agencies, elected officials, cities, community- and faith-based
organizations, law enforcement, consumers, labor and business,
published their first Children’s Report Card.
The Report Card described countywide progress on 18 indicators (later
expanded to 23) linked to five outcomes adopted by the County Board of
Supervisors (Commissioners):
- Children ready for and succeeding in school.
- Children and youth healthy and preparing for
productive adulthood.
- Families that are economically self-sufficient.
- Families that are safe, stable and nurturing.
- Communities
that are safe and provide a high quality of life for children and families.
A description, data source, trendline and "story behind the data" for each
indicator is included, as well as comparisons to state-level data.
The second edition published in 1998 and updated in 2000, added
sub-county and other disaggregated data. Over
9200 1998 Report cards have been distributed; it is available on the web at www.cccoe.k12.ca.us.
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Tip: from Christina Linville: “Think ‘system’ (continuum of
services that meets the needs of whole children, families and
communities) instead of ‘structure’ (individual programs,
departments or agencies).”
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Developing a community report card was challenging.
Staffed by the County Administrator’s Office, an Outcomes Task Force
representing education, public health, community-based organizations, law
enforcement, and county departments and community members received input from
more than 150 individuals and groups before reaching agreement on key
indicators. Collecting data also
proved troublesome: in some cases, critical information had not been collected,
or had been collected only for clients of specific programs or schools, or for
various time periods. Moreover, some agencies were reluctant to show “their”
data. In addition, much of the
available data was not current, or had not been disaggregated to show disparate
regional trends. Agreement about the “story behind the data” (the reasons
for the trends) posed another
challenge, as perspectives varied among individuals, agencies, ethnic groups,
and communities. It was often a struggle to be both “technically correct”
according to experts in the field, and “understandable” to the layperson.
As work on the third edition of the Report Card progresses, the Children
and Families Policy Forum continues to improve the report card, through
increased community input and a data workgroup addressing data forecasting and
trends.
The Report Cards are beginning to make a significant difference in how the
community and government agencies view children and families services.
Widespread feedback from the Report card has already supported
development of policy and funding priorities for child and family issues,
creation of new partnerships, coordinated planning and better data collection. Community partners continue to use the report to educate the
public.
Links: www.cccoe.k12.ca.us.
Contacts: Sara Hoffman, Assistant
County Administrator, Contra Costa County
925-335-1090
shoff@cao.co.contra-costa.ca.us
Christina
Linville, Deputy County Administrator, Contra Costa County
925-335-1017
clinv@cao.co.contra-costa.ca.us
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Case Study Author: Lynn DeLapp
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