white paper on performance management for community ... - FACA

NASCSP 2013
moving ahead. Therefore, the numbers of outcomes achieved in the right portion of the
graph are much smaller.
As Community Action works to identify how the participants served are actually engaged in
moving toward self-sufficiency, the ROMA Next Generation COE suggests separating the
outputs of services provided under the light touch approach from the outcomes obtained
through the deep touch approach. Several examples of light touch approaches encompassed in
the NPIs include: Obtained food assistance (NPI 1.2I), Obtained non-emergency LIHEAP (NPI
1.2J), Obtained non-emergency weatherization energy assistance (NPI1.2K) and Obtained other
non-emergency energy assistance (NPI 1.2L). These and other service counts or outputs will be
placed in a supplemental portion of the CSBG IS Survey. The COE also believes that the
Network’s move in this direction can be expedited if OCS and the Administration publicly
acknowledge that the movement of these program participants will happen over a multi-year
timeframe and that the number actually achieving this intensive, high-impact, long-term goal of
self-sufficiency will likely be relatively small.
Another item that must be considered as we think about how to measure family self-sufficiency
is that 55% of Community Action’s program participants are either children or seniors, as
portrayed in the figure titled Age of CAA Participants in Appendix C.
A key service strategy to assist a family in moving toward self-sufficiency is to support program
participants as they secure earned income and work-related benefits. The 37% of program
participants who are children and unable to work emphasizes the importance of framing our
long-term goal as family or household self-sufficiency. The challenge will be gathering data on
children whose families we do not directly serve. Concerning the 18% of seniors served, for
those who are unable to work, how does their inability to secure earned income affect their
ability to achieve self-sufficiency? Is the definition for self-sufficiency different for seniors than
it is for young adults and adults? What about people with significant disabilities who are unable
to work due to health or cognitive challenges?
These questions lead us to ponder a standard definition for self-sufficiency. This is a critical
consideration for implementation of the NPIs. Three popular definitions found in the literature
on the topic include:
1. The ability to meet family basic needs. Basic needs include: housing,
utilities/telephone, childcare, food, transportation, health care, clothing and household
items, and taxes (minus federal and state tax credits).
2. The ability to meet family basic needs without public or private assistance.
Page 22