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

NASCSP 2013
Community Action creates communities where everyone—including elderly, disabled, and lowincome
residents—can conveniently, affordably, and safely access local and regional goods and
services.
Related Current NPIs: NPI 6.1, 6.3
Measures of revitalized communities beyond the NPIs
NASCSP recommends that these sources be used in further evaluation of new community
indicators. The potential indicators listed below examine options for aggregating communitylevel
data at a national level as well as how local agencies can measure their own change. It’s
NASCSP’s recommendation that any changes to the performance measurement system
maintain a data collection system for local agencies to capture their specific work as well as
broader statewide initiatives.
Opportunity Index
Opportunity Nation is a bipartisan, cross-sector national campaign made up of more than 250
non-profits, businesses, educational institutions, faith-based organizations, community
organizations, and individuals all working together to expand economic opportunity and close
the opportunity gap in America. The organization has developed the “Opportunity Index” which
is a tool designed to provide a score and data profile of opportunity at the state and county
levels. The Index uses data points grouped into three different domains: Jobs and the Economy,
Education, and Community Health and Civic Life. The Index ranks every state and assigns an
“Opportunity Score” to every county, ranging from “A” for excellent to “F” for failing.
The Index was designed in response to a need for communities to easily access the data they
need to understand and measure progress towards boosting economic mobility. The data
measures 16 indicators which together help measure the opportunities present in different
communities. The data is taken from the US Census Bureau, the Department of Labor Statistics,
County Health Rankings, and other widely recognized research sources.
For information on the Opportunity Index, please visit: http://opportunityindex.org/.
STRENGTHS: The Index uses a grading system that is easy to compare from county to county or
state to state and progress is easily measured by looking at an increase or decrease in the
Opportunity Score. In addition, the data is collected by the Census Bureau and other sources
that would not place an additional data collection burden on local agencies to measure their
impact. The data is very plainly laid out and clear, but there are questions that remain regarding
the appropriateness of the indicators that are used in the Index.
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