The Lawrence Community Change Project (LCCP) was formed through a shared concern about quality of life in the community. The Project brought together local agencies and institutions, community members, and local government. Through a strategic planning process, participants developed a vision and mission, identified goals, created strategies, and began carrying out an action plan.
After a year of implementation, it was time to examine what had changed. The group overseeing the effort wanted to know whether the issues identified at the beginning were still the most important priorities, which strategies were producing useful results, which needed to be adjusted, what community members were experiencing, and what responsibility the Project had for continuing or changing its work.
With these questions in mind, LCCP set out to create a report on the first year of the Project.
Policy, the subject of this chapter, is shaped by many factors, including evidence, community priorities, public opinion, institutional practices, available resources, and changing circumstances. One important source of information is knowing how well current policies and community efforts are working.
This section introduces one set of tools for informing policy and community decision-making: regularly assessing community conditions, reporting the findings clearly, and creating accountability for whether organizations, institutions, and decision-makers are making progress toward agreed-upon goals.
What do we mean by regular community assessment, reporting, and accountability?
Community assessment and reporting are useful for understanding community strengths, priorities, conditions, and change over time. In this section, we are especially interested in how regular assessment and reporting can help communities evaluate whether policies, programs, institutions, and community initiatives are contributing to intended outcomes.
Assessment
Assessment in this context is similar to an initial community assessment, but it serves a different purpose. Both may use surveys, public forums, interviews, community knowledge, statistical indicators, observation, focus groups, and other methods.
A regular assessment, however, compares current conditions with a previous point in time so that the community can examine what has changed. The comparison point may be a baseline established at the beginning of an initiative or the findings from the most recent assessment.
A community assessment may focus on one issue or examine overall community health and quality of life. The areas examined should reflect the community's goals, priorities, and circumstances.
Examples include:
- Education. Depending on community goals, measures might include student learning and engagement, graduation and completion rates, school climate, educator support and retention, access to technology, educational equity, and the availability of adult, technical, and higher education.
- Economics and economic development. Measures might include employment, job quality, wages, new businesses, business stability, opportunities for advancement, household economic security, local investment, and access to workforce development.
- Economic security and poverty. A community might examine household income, housing stability, food security, child poverty, transportation, access to services and public benefits, cost of living, and other conditions affecting whether people can meet basic needs and participate fully in community life.
- The environment. Measures may include air, water, and soil quality; access to green space; environmental hazards; climate resilience; environmental enforcement; and how environmental conditions are distributed across neighborhoods.
- Community safety. Assessment might examine experiences of violence, traffic safety, workplace safety, emergency response, environmental design, community trust, prevention resources, and the practices, training, oversight, and resources of public safety systems.
- Transportation. Communities may examine affordability, reliability, accessibility, safety, geographic coverage, environmental impact, and whether transportation systems allow people to reach jobs, schools, services, health care, recreation, and other destinations.
- Housing. Measures may include availability and cost of housing, housing quality, homelessness and housing instability, cost burden, accessibility, tenants' rights, neighborhood conditions, development patterns, and discrimination in housing.
- Cultural and recreational opportunities. Communities may examine the availability, affordability, accessibility, geographic distribution, and use of libraries, parks, arts programs, recreation, cultural institutions, trails, gathering places, and other opportunities for community life.
- Human and community services. Assessment may examine whether services are available, accessible, culturally and linguistically responsive, affordable, effective, and aligned with the priorities of the people and communities they are intended to support.
- Health and well-being. Measures might include access to health care, preventable illness, chronic health conditions, mental and behavioral health, maternal and infant health, disability access, preventive care, environmental health, and community conditions that influence well-being.
Creating and maintaining a healthy community involves much more than providing medical services. Housing, education, transportation, economic security, safety, the environment, social connection, recreation, and access to community resources all contribute to health and well-being.
Reporting
Once an assessment has been conducted, the findings should be shared in ways that community members, organizations, and decision-makers can understand and use.
Reporting may include a written report, accessible web content, public presentations, dashboards, summaries, infographics, community meetings, social media, local media, or other formats appropriate to the community.
Reporting should occur soon enough after assessment that the information remains useful for planning and decision-making.
A strong report can show:
- Where progress is occurring
- Where conditions have changed little or worsened
- Which community strengths and resources are contributing to improvement
- Which programs or policies appear to be contributing to intended outcomes
- Where additional information is needed before drawing conclusions
- Where strategies, policies, investments, or services may need to be reconsidered
Reports should distinguish clearly between what the data show and interpretations about why those changes occurred. Community outcomes are usually influenced by many factors, so avoid claiming that one program or policy caused a change unless the evidence supports that conclusion.
Accountability
Accountability means being clear about goals, responsibilities, decisions, progress, and results and being willing to respond when evidence shows that changes are needed.
Accountability can apply at several levels:
- Accountability of policymakers and institutions. Ongoing assessment can show whether policies are being implemented as intended, whether important concerns remain unaddressed, and whether changes in policy or investment should be considered.
- Shared community accountability. Communities may identify priorities that require action from several sectors, including residents, institutions, organizations, businesses, funders, and government. Reporting can make those shared responsibilities more visible.
- Accountability of organizations and initiatives doing the work. Assessment can show whether strategies are producing useful results, whether programs should be strengthened or changed, and whether resources are being used in ways that support the initiative's mission and community priorities.
Accountability should not be limited to identifying failures. It should also recognize progress, clarify what organizations and institutions have learned, and create opportunities to improve decisions over time.
Regular assessment and reporting may also show that additional resources are needed or that existing resources should be distributed differently. These findings can inform funding, planning, and community decision-making.
Why propose assessment, reporting, and accountability?
A regular process of assessment, reporting, and accountability can help communities:
- Clarify current community conditions and priorities
- Identify strategies, programs, or policies that appear to be contributing to progress
- Identify efforts that are producing less progress than expected and may need to be adjusted, strengthened, or reconsidered
- Keep community members and decision-makers informed about what is changing and what still requires attention
- Identify both community assets and areas where additional resources or action may be needed
- Help initiatives adjust strategies and action plans as circumstances change
- Keep long-term community goals visible
- Support continuity by showing why successful efforts may need sustained attention and investment
A community may see improvement in an issue and reasonably conclude that some strategies no longer need the same level of attention. Regular assessment helps the community determine whether progress is being maintained, whether conditions are changing, and whether resources should be continued, adapted, or redirected.
Regular assessment can also strengthen public accountability by making responsibilities, progress, and unresolved concerns visible. The purpose is not simply to assign blame, but to give community members and decision-makers reliable information they can use to ask questions, evaluate choices, and determine what should happen next.
Who should propose and/or conduct assessment and reporting, and establish accountability?
A broad-based coalition
Assessment and reporting are often strongest when people and organizations from across the community participate.
A coalition might include residents, people directly affected by the issues being examined, community-based organizations, public agencies, businesses, schools, health systems, funders, local government, advocacy organizations, researchers, and others with relevant knowledge or responsibilities.
An initial community assessment can establish a baseline, identify community priorities and strengths, and provide information for strategic planning. Continued community participation can help ensure that later assessments remain relevant and that people affected by the issues have meaningful opportunities to interpret findings and shape next steps.
If a broad coalition is not feasible, several other groups may take responsibility.
Local government
Local government may establish a regular assessment and reporting process, create an independent or community advisory body to oversee it, or partner with other organizations to carry it out.
When government leads the process, transparency and meaningful community participation are especially important so that the assessment reflects more than institutional perspectives.
A local or state agency
An agency may be well positioned to assess a specific issue that falls within its mission or area of expertise. It can strengthen the process by involving people affected by the issue and by making methods, data, limitations, and findings publicly understandable.
A resident-led or grassroots initiative
Resident-led groups may conduct assessments, document community experiences, track progress, and bring attention to issues that institutions have overlooked.
These groups may also partner with researchers, government, service organizations, or other institutions when additional technical expertise or data access is useful.
A community-based organization
Community-based organizations often have strong relationships with the people and communities they serve and may notice service gaps, barriers, or changes that broader institutions miss.
They can contribute valuable information to assessment and reporting, but should avoid assuming that their participants represent every person affected by an issue.
A watchdog, research, or advocacy organization
Organizations focused on public accountability, research, or a particular issue may conduct independent assessments and track whether policies, institutions, or programs are meeting stated commitments.
Credibility is strengthened when methods, data sources, assumptions, funding, and limitations are clearly disclosed.
When should you propose regular assessment, reporting, and accountability?
Regular assessment can be useful whenever a community is trying to understand conditions or monitor change. Some moments make it especially valuable:
- At the beginning of an initiative. Establishing a baseline and reporting schedule from the beginning makes it easier to examine change over time and clarify responsibilities.
- When an important issue is receiving limited attention. Assessment can document the scope and characteristics of the issue and provide information that community members and decision-makers can use to consider possible responses.
- When an issue has been addressed for some time without a clear review of progress. Regular assessment can show what has changed, where strategies appear to be helping, and where adjustments may be useful.
- When conditions change quickly or become more urgent. Assessment can help clarify what is happening, who is affected, what resources are available, and which responses should be considered.
- When community members are calling for action or greater transparency. Assessment and reporting can establish a shared information base for discussing the issue and evaluating possible strategies.
How do you conduct assessment and reporting to support accountability?
Several steps can help establish a regular assessment and reporting process:
- Introduce the concept and involve community members and partners in shaping the process
- Clarify who has responsibilities related to the issue and what accountability means in this context
- Decide what conditions, outcomes, and community experiences will be assessed
- Establish an assessment and reporting schedule
- Choose appropriate assessment and reporting methods
- Carry out the process and evaluate how well it is working
- Continue and adapt the process over time
Step 1: Introduce the concept and involve the community
- Present regular assessment and reporting as a tool for learning and improvement. The purpose is to understand what is happening, recognize strengths, identify challenges, and make better decisions.
Regular assessment can document community assets, resources, relationships, programs, and improvements as well as areas requiring additional attention.
Identifying challenges should not mean defining communities or people primarily by problems. Assessment should ask both what is working and what conditions or barriers are limiting progress.
- Present assessment as an ongoing process. Community conditions change, so assessment should be repeated often enough to inform decisions and track meaningful changes.
- Create meaningful opportunities for community participation. Residents should have opportunities to help identify questions, interpret findings, review reports, and discuss what actions should follow.
Step 2: Clarify accountability
- Accountability of policymakers and institutions. Assessment can show whether policies and institutional practices are producing intended outcomes, whether commitments are being carried out, and where additional attention may be needed.
- Shared community responsibility. Some goals require contributions from government, community organizations, businesses, funders, residents, and other partners. Assessment can help clarify what each has committed to and where additional resources or coordination may be needed.
- Accountability of organizations carrying out the work. Programs and agencies should be able to explain their goals, methods, use of resources, results, and how participant and community feedback influence improvements.
Step 3: Establish what you will examine
Assessments may focus on a specific issue, a group of connected issues, or broader conditions such as health, economic security, safety, or quality of life.
Community issues often overlap. For example, efforts related to interpersonal violence may involve housing stability, economic security, health and behavioral health services, education, transportation, prevention, legal systems, social support, and other conditions.
Choose measures based on:
- Relevance to community goals
- Importance to people affected by the issue
- Quality and availability of data
- Ability to compare information over time
- Whether the measure reflects an outcome the initiative can reasonably influence
- Whether several measures are needed to understand the issue fairly
Possible measures might include:
- High school graduation, completion, attendance, or engagement
- Experiences and rates of violence or injury, examined in ways that protect privacy and provide useful context
- Employment, unemployment, wages, job stability, or access to employment opportunities
- Participation in health, education, childcare, nutrition, housing, or other community services
- Access to parks, green space, and recreation
- Air, water, or environmental quality
- Resident satisfaction with parks, transportation, services, or other community resources
- Library use and access to educational or digital resources
- Availability of affordable and accessible housing for older adults and other community members
Use both short- and long-term measures when appropriate. Short-term measures can show progress in implementation, while longer-term outcomes can help determine whether community conditions are changing.
Avoid relying on one indicator to represent a complex issue. Economic security, for example, may require examining income, wages, housing costs, food security, employment, transportation, savings, and other measures together.
Step 4: Establish a schedule for ongoing assessment and reporting
The appropriate schedule depends on the issue. Annual reporting may work well for many community indicators, while rapidly changing conditions or shorter-term implementation measures may require more frequent review. Other outcomes may change slowly enough that longer intervals are appropriate.
Choose a schedule based on how quickly meaningful change can reasonably occur, the availability of reliable data, and the decisions the information is meant to support.
Step 5: Choose assessment and reporting methods
Assessment. Possible methods include surveys, focus groups, community forums, individual interviews, community conversations, administrative data, public records, statistical indicators, geographic information system (GIS) mapping, observation, and other quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Whenever possible, combine different kinds of evidence. Numbers can show patterns, while interviews, focus groups, and lived experience can help explain why those patterns may exist.
Methods should be appropriate to the community and accessible to people with different languages, disabilities, schedules, technology access, and communication preferences.
Keep measures reasonably consistent over time when comparison is important, but do not continue using an outdated or misleading measure simply for the sake of consistency.
Reporting. A report is useful only if people can find it, understand it, and use it.
Consider:
- Who needs the information
- What level of detail different audiences need
- Which languages and accessible formats are needed
- How findings can be communicated visually and clearly
- How community members can ask questions or respond
- How limitations and uncertainty will be explained
Reports may be distributed through websites, dashboards, printed summaries, community meetings, local media, social media, libraries, partner organizations, newsletters, or presentations.
Reports should clearly distinguish:
- Data and observed findings
- Interpretation of those findings
- Recommendations
- Areas where the evidence is incomplete or uncertain
Reports should also include progress toward established goals when those goals are still relevant. If goals or indicators no longer reflect community priorities or current conditions, explain why they were changed rather than quietly replacing them.
Charts, graphs, maps, photographs, quotations, stories, and short summaries can make findings easier to understand. Use personal stories or photographs only with meaningful consent and avoid presenting people primarily through hardship.
Community dashboards and report cards
Some communities organize assessment findings into a community report card, dashboard, scorecard, or indicator report.
These tools can make trends easier to see, but grades or scores can sometimes oversimplify complex conditions. When using them, explain how ratings were determined, what comparisons are being made, and what limitations the measures have.
A dashboard that shows trends, targets, disparities, community experiences, and explanatory context may sometimes provide more useful information than assigning a single letter grade to an issue.
Recognizing community contributions
Assessment and reporting should not focus only on deficiencies. Communities can also recognize individuals, organizations, partnerships, and resident-led efforts that have contributed to progress.
Recognition can:
- Acknowledge people's time, expertise, and contributions
- Encourage additional community participation and leadership
- Draw attention to approaches that are producing useful results
- Reinforce the importance of community strengths and collaboration
- Show that accountability includes recognizing effective work as well as identifying areas that need improvement
Recognition should be inclusive and should avoid creating the impression that community change depends on exceptional individuals alone. Sustained progress usually reflects the work of many people, organizations, relationships, and systems.
Step 6: Carry out and evaluate the assessment and reporting process
Conduct the assessment, prepare the report, and distribute the findings using the methods and responsibilities established during planning.
Evaluate the process itself as well. Ask whether the methods produced useful information, whether people affected by the issue were meaningfully included, whether findings were understandable and accessible, and whether the report influenced planning or decision-making.
Step 7: Continue and adapt the assessment and reporting process
Community conditions continue to change even after a particular project or initiative ends. If a goal is achieved, continued monitoring can help determine whether progress is being maintained. If goals have not been achieved, assessment can help identify what should change.
Ongoing assessment does not mean that every measure, strategy, or reporting format must continue forever. Periodically review whether the process is still useful, whether indicators remain relevant, and whether the resources devoted to assessment are producing information that communities can act on.
In Summary
Regular community assessment and reporting can help communities understand changing conditions, evaluate progress toward shared goals, identify strengths and barriers, and create accountability for organizations, institutions, and decision-makers.
The process is strongest when it combines quantitative and qualitative information, clearly distinguishes findings from interpretation, makes information accessible, and includes people directly affected by the issues in deciding what should be measured and what the findings mean.
Assessment and reporting should support learning rather than simply assign blame. They can show what is working, where additional resources or changes may be needed, and whether policies, programs, and strategies remain aligned with community priorities.
Useful guidelines include:
- Present assessment and reporting as tools for community learning, improvement, transparency, and shared accountability
- Clarify who has responsibility for the issues and outcomes being examined
- Identify measures that reflect community priorities and meaningful outcomes
- Establish a reporting schedule appropriate to the pace of change and the decisions the information will support
- Use assessment and reporting methods that are accurate, accessible, transparent, and appropriate to the community
- Carry out the process and use the findings to inform decisions
- Continue to evaluate and adapt the process as community conditions, priorities, and information needs change