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FY 2001-02 Budget is Organized by Community Outcomes Five community outcomes reflect a collective vision of what Contra Costa County desires for its children and families:
These community outcomes were developed in 1997 by the Contra Costa Children and Families Policy Forum and were adopted by the Board of Supervisors. The Contra Costa Children’s Report Card contains information on indicators of community well-being in relation to these five outcomes. The Children’s Report Card (most recently updated in 2000) can be viewed online at http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/cccoe/relations/reportcard.htm. For FY 2001-02, the Children and Family Services Budget is organized around these five desired outcomes for children and families. Each of the 115 programs described in the Budget is categorized according to the primary community outcome served by the program (many programs further more than one outcome, as shown in Table 10). The tables and charts in the front section of the Budget show the distribution of programs across these five outcome areas and provide analysis of key program characteristics. This analysis provides valuable insight into the County’s efforts to support the community outcomes in the Children’s Report Card. The main findings from this analysis are described below. Distribution of Programs Across Outcome Areas The 115 programs in the Children and Family Services Budget are distributed across the five outcome areas as follows: Children Ready for and Succeeding in School: 34 programs with total expenditures of $176,280,484. Programs include those provided by the County Library system, the Community Services Department (such as Head Start) and the Health Services Department. Many of the programs in this outcome area are collaborations between County agencies and school districts that serve low income and medically vulnerable children. Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood: 23 programs with total expenditures of $22,132,150. Services primarily focus on two phases in a child’s life: early childhood and youth. Early childhood services emphasize prevention such as perinatal care, immunization, nutrition and developmental screening. Youth services provide remediation services to reduce youth violence or substance abuse and to improve teen health. Families that are Economically Self-Sufficient: 15 programs with total expenditures of $230,766,334. This category includes Welfare-to-Work (WtW) programs, housing assistance, food stamps, and childcare. Gross expenditures include direct payments to families for cash aid ($67.3 million), food stamps ($12.6 million) and childcare ($22.3 million). Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing: 31 programs with total expenditures of $99,316,466. Programs in this area provide supportive services for vulnerable families and include Family Preservation, Foster Care and Child/Family Legal Services. Communities that are Safe and Provide High Quality of Life: 12 programs with total expenditures of $44,823,646. Services are oriented toward crisis intervention and include Sheriff general patrol services, juvenile probation and detention, domestic violence intervention and youth community services. Analysis of the financing structure 71% of gross expenditures in the Children and Family Services Budget support two outcome areas: Families that are Economically Self Sufficient (40%) and Children that are Ready for and Succeeding in School (31%). The remaining 29% of gross expenditures are divided among the other three outcome areas: Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing (17%), Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life (8%), and Children Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood (4%). County General Funds are distributed differently among outcome areas than gross expenditures. Children that are Ready for and Succeeding in School (31%) and Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life (30%) receive the greatest proportion of County General Funds. The remaining County General Funds are divided among the other outcome areas as follows: 9% Children Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood, 6% Families that are Economically Self Sufficient, and 24% Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing.
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Without the support, expertise and advice of department staff this document would not have been possible. The County Administrator's Office staff would like to extend their appreciation to all those who played a role in creating this document. How to use this document: The Tables and Charts section provides an overview and analysis of many key program characteristics, including financing, performance indicators and program partnerships. The body of this document is comprised of reports of services from all County programs for children and families. These reports may be useful to those seeking to better understand individual programs or how programs interrelate to form a system of services for children and families. Results - Accountability Nearly all programs in the Children and Family Services Budget measure indicators of program performance. These indicators can be grouped into the following categories:
The majority of programs (78%) measure at least two performance indicators. 23% of programs measure three or more indicators. Many County programs are using performance indicators that are similar to, or a subset of, the community-wide indicators of child and family well-being measured in the Contra Costa Children's Report Card. 20 of the 23 indicators in the Report Card are measured by programs in the Children and Family Services Budget (see Table 8). The Report Card indicators most widely represented are rate of high school graduation and rate of toddler immunizations (Children Ready for and Succeeding in School) and measures of income and unemployment (Families that are Economically Self-Sufficient). 81 of the 115 programs in the Children and Family Services Budget (70%) measure at least one Report Card indicator. Program Partnerships In recent years, Contra Costa County has become increasingly aware that partnerships among programs are critical to serving children and families effectively. Partnerships are particularly important among programs serving children and families because many families have multiple needs and are served by several programs simultaneously. For FY 2001-02, County programs were asked to report on partnerships with other organizations that improve services. For purposes of analysis, partnerships have been categorized into four groups: partnerships with other County agencies, with schools, with other government organizations (such as cities), and with community based organizations. Analysis of program reports indicates that the vast majority of programs have partnerships with organizations in two or more of these categories. As one might expect, partnerships are most common with other County agencies. The second most common type of partnership is with community based organizations. Partnerships with schools are the third most common, followed by partnerships with other government organizations. Focus on Prevention The Children’s Budget identifies three levels of intervention to which program activities are directed:
The commitment to this expanded continuum of services for children and families continues for FY 2001-02: An analysis of the levels of intervention by community outcome reveals that the levels of intervention are balanced across the five community outcome areas: prevention/early intervention efforts are appropriately highest (43-45%) in programs addressing Children Ready for and Succeeding in School and Children Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood. Services focusing on remediation and recovery are most prominent (45-48%) for the outcomes of Families that are Economically Self-Sufficient and Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing. Safety and Justice programs focusing on crisis intervention/safety net services account for 42% of services under Communities that are Safe and Provide High Quality of Life. |
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