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ROMA Categories
A ROMA Primer |
Special Topics
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Building an Airplane in Flight"Creating a system for determining outcomes of any human and community service system is difficult at best....Developing an accurate and consistent system of collecting and reporting outcome data will take a number of iterations and adjustments. States who have put systems in place quickly have, as one CAA plannner describes it, 'been willing to build an airplane in flight.' Rather than waiting to develop a system that all stakeholders agree is perfect, they have implemented imperfect systems, found the problems and continued creating and modifying accordingly." From Implementing ROMA for the CSBS: A Preliminary Report on State Efforts (June 1997) Julie N. Jakopic, National Association for State Community Services Programs |
ROMA and Community Action Agencies
ROMA--results-oriented management and accountability--is an initiative developed by the Office of Community Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It addresses the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993, which mandates that federal agencies establish standards for measuring their performance and effectiveness.
The overarching intent of GPRA is to make the federal government more customer oriented. From the perspective of the tax payers, this relates to the nation's return on the investment tax dollars. It also relates to level of satisfaction with government services.
With regard to providing services and programs directed at low-income people, the question is not how much we spend on programs, but whether individuals are helped to become more self-sufficient, families to be more stabile, and communities to be revitalized.
Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are required to implement the ROMA-approach to program management only for programs funded by Community Services Block Grants (CSBG). In some cases, CSBG funding accounts for a relatively small portion of a CAA's overall budget. In such cases, the ROMA management and reporting requirements may be relevant for only a handful of programs. But CAAs are encouraged to consider the benefits of results-oriented management for their other programs.
To comply with federal requirements, Massachusetts CAAs must provide performance-related program information about the use of CSBG funding on an annual basis to the state's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). As the state's administering agency for CSBG funds, DHCD collects this information from the CAAs and incorporates it into its reports to the OCS. The CSBG-related data that CAA must provide annually include fiscal, client, demographic, and program outcome data.
An Overview of ROMA
ROMA is designed so that state and local agencies have the flexibility to adopt measures that are the most relevant to the goals and objectives established for their own communities. In this spirit, ROMA established the six broad goals for guidance in articulating program goals:
- Low-income people become more self-sufficient.
- The conditions in which low-income people live are improved.
- Low-income people own a stake in their community.
- Partnerships among supporters and providers of services to low-income people are achieved.
- Agencies increase their capacity to achieve results.
- Low-income people, especially vulnerable populations, achieve their potential by strengthening family and other supportive systems.
Each state must engage in its own strategic planning process to address how it will contribute to the accomplishment of the national goals as well as to the specific objectives unique to the state. State agencies address applicable goals in their Community Action Plans. These plans and the resulting agreements arrived at between the state agency and the CAAs should identify the specific outcome measures that will be used to evaluate success.
In shifting to a ROMA approach, state agencies will be developing their objectives in terms of outcomes, in addition to traditional measures of process and services provided. Outcomes measure the results of program activities relative to the program's intended purpose.
The following steps are involved in establishing the ROMA approach:
- Establish program targets based on strategic goals.
- Identify appropriate performance indicators and measures.
- Measure achievement using the indicators and measures.
- Interpret results and identify trends.
- Report on results.
The results yielded by ROMA create a feedback loop that supports refocusing program efforts as needed to achieve strategic goals.
CAA Implementation of ROMA
Individual CAAs that run programs with CSBG funding should collect data and report to DHCD on measures that have been agreed upon as their priorities. Under ROMA, individual CAAs report on their key program-related activities. For example, if a CAA runs a housing program with CSBG funding, it would report on one or more "housing oriented" measures.
CAAs in Massachusetts are already in the process of providing the state with the required information for CSBG reporting. And the state is on track for achieving full compliance by the end of fiscal year 2003. For details on meeting CSBG reporting requirements, refer to your CSBG grant documentation or contact DHCD.
The state is also encouraging CAA directors and boards of directors to consider extending the ROMA approach to overall management of agency programs. In support of that effort, this area of the MASSCAP Web site provides information in an FAQs format that was collected from DHCD-funded ROMA training for CAA boards. Materials from that training are posted and links to other resources are provided.