What does the Board of Directors need to know about ROMA? - National Community Action Partnership 2021Convention

What does the Board
of Directors need to
know about ROMA?

 National Community Action
        Partnership
      2021Convention

Workshop Agenda
The Community Action network context for ROMA
Foundational concepts of performance management
Key elements of the ROMA Cycle
The Board role in implementing ROMA
Using ROMA to Meet Organizational Standards

The Community Action Network
CAAs exist in nearly every county across the
United States. They are designated as the anti-
poverty agent in their service area.

They are all different because of the local
conditions in the communities they serve but
they all receive funding from the Community
Services Block Grant (CSBG) which unites them
by the purposes and goals identified in
legislation.

Anti-Poverty Purpose of the
Community Action Network
In 1964, Community Action was created for three primary
 purposes:
    • the reduction of poverty,
    • the revitalization of low-income communities, and
    • the empowerment of low-income families and individuals
       to become fully self-sufficient

The 1981 Community Services Block Grant continued the focus
on these goals and the 1998 Community Services Block Grant
added a requirement for all recipients of funding to implement a
comprehensive performance-based management system to
demonstrate that the network was meeting the goals. That
system was identified as Results-Oriented Management and
Accountability.

Results Oriented
Management and
 Accountability
    ROMA

Results Oriented Management and
            Accountability
This means that agencies should be “results oriented” --
that is: focused on the changes they will make.
And that orientation should be an integral part of all of the
management activities throughout the agency.
And that there should be processes in place to assure
accountability at all levels.

ROMA has been the national system used to identify the
performance of our network for over two decades.

Community Action Agencies
        are unique.
 CAAs are change agents
   -- not simply service
        providers.

 Community Action helps
people change their lives for
   the better, and helps
communities become better
       places to live.

Collect and Report Data on Services
 Of course we want to measure things
  like:
  ❑the number of food baskets distributed
  ❑the number of Meals-on-Wheels delivered
  ❑the number of children attending Head Start centers
  ❑the number of families receiving WIC services
  ❑the number of adults attending GED classes
  ❑the number of clients served per day

While it is important to be accountable
             for our services,
   we must also be able to identify
how these interventions produce results.

           What changed
   because of these interventions?

          service               outcome

Putting Results into
              Context
      Why just looking at the services does not tell the story of
                      your agency’s successes.

MATERIAL FROM INTRO TO ROMA 5.1, 2020

Take Me Out to the
Ballgame:

Baseball Case Study

To boost dwindling attendance, the team promotes
                                     that:

              Outfielders ran three times more laps during spring
              training.
Situation:
              Pitchers threw twice as many pitches during spring
The team      training.

 finished     Batters took four times as much hitting practice
              during spring training.
last in the
              The team hired two new coaches and invested
   prior      $100,000 in a state-of-the-art communications
              system to enable the Manager to talk with them so
  season.     they can give real-time perspectives on each play
              from their strategic vantage points in the stands
              during the games.

              By the All-Star break, the team is taking an average
              of 17 more swings at pitches per game . . .

And the fans say,

    because they are still in last place
without a single player who deserves to be
           on the All-Star Team.

Playing Ball with Community Action
 The Board of Directors is like the Owner and General
 Manager of a ball team.

 The Executive Director is like the Manager.

 The funders, community, and clients are like the fans who
 want to see results.

So while it is important to take actions
  you must also be able to identify how these
        interventions produce results.
  What has changed because of your agency’s work?

          For Community Action Agencies,
                  changing lives
                       and
              improving communities
        is how we score runs and win games

If all we tell the community is
how many services we provided,
     our “fans” may also say

Where We Are
         today
Results Oriented Management & Accountability (ROMA)

CSBG Performance Management
              Framework
Local Organizational Standards

   State and Federal Accountability Measures

     Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA)

     CSBG State Plan

   CSBG Annual Report

ACSI Survey

Organizational Standards

ROMA and
  the Organizational Standards

 ROMA principles and practices are embedded in
 the Organizational Standards

 Many of the Org Standards are directed at the
 actions of the CAA Board of Directors.
 The Org Standards and ROMA principles are
 expected to be supported and promoted by the
 Board.

CATEGORY FOUR:
       Organizational Leadership
This category addresses the foundational elements of
mission and the implementation of the Network’s
model of good performance management (ROMA).

“Community Action leadership is exemplified at all
levels across the organization and starts with a
mission that clarifies Community Action’s work on
poverty.”

“A well-functioning board, and a focused chief
executive officer (CEO)/executive director, well-trained
and dedicated staff, and volunteers giving of themselves
to help others will establish Community Action as
the cornerstone and leverage point to address
poverty across the community.

Ensuring strong leadership both for today and into the
future is critical.”

                  CATEGORY FOUR:
           Organizational Leadership

Standard 4.3

“The organization’s Community Action plan and
agency-wide Strategic Plan document the
continuous use of the full Results Oriented
Management and Accountability (ROMA) cycle.”

How does the board know what
    an agency should do?
            How will

       “lives be changed?”

        In what ways will

   “communities be improved?”

Assessing
   the
 needs

Collecting and Analyzing Data from
 Community Needs Assessment
  Each agency creates a profile of the
    needs and resources of a given
   community or target population.

Role of Board in
 Assessing the
  Community

Organizational Standards
      Related to Assessment
Standard 1.3
The organization has a systematic approach for
collecting, analyzing, and reporting customer
satisfaction data to the governing board.

Standard 3.5
The governing board formally accepts the
completed community assessment.

Some ideas:
o   Board Assessment Committee
o   Help to distribute surveys
o   Talk to partners
o   Talk to neighborhood leaders
o   ETC………

Creating
                                        the
                                        Agency-
                                        wide
                                        Strategic
                                        Plan

MATERIAL FROM INTRO TO ROMA 5.1, 2020

Agency-wide Strategic Plan
The agency-wide Strategic Plan identifies the
agency’s goals. It is the place where
connections are made.
Review the plan to see:
 o Are goals clearly connected to the needs
   identified in the assessment process?
 o Do the goals include projected changes for
   individuals and families? For communities?
   For the agency?​
 o What kind of services are identified that will
   address the needs and meet the goals?

Organizational Standards
      Related to Planning
Standard 6.1
The organization has an agency-wide strategic plan
in place that has been approved by the governing
board within the past 5 years.

Standard 8.9
The governing board annually approves an
organization-wide budget.

• The Board should not just approve
               a budget that supports “what we
               have always done” but should take
               the needs identified in the current
               assessment process into
Role of the    consideration.
 Board in
 Strategic    • What information will help you
               as you consider the agency’s
 Planning      strategic plan?

              • Will the services and strategies in
               the plan help to achieve the
               agency’s mission?

Community Level Change
How do the advocacy activities in which your
 agency staff, volunteers and board members
     engage help improve communities?

         How do partnerships work
     to give you more resources to help
              meet local needs?

  What community conditions will be better
          because of the agency?

As a Board Member, you help
                the agency focus on
          identifying how you will “hit a
                    home run!”

          APPROVE
 The Board will approve the
Strategic Plan and record the
        Board action​.

Consider: What is the connection?

  How does getting a food basket, Meals
   on Wheels or WIC help strengthen
        vulnerable populations?
   How do Head Start services impact
             families?
  How does helping adults to get a GED or
  improve job skills impact their family’s
             self sufficiency?

Implementing
  the Plan
-- Identifying policies
 and procedures for
      personnel
          and
 -- Acknowledge the
     fundamental
 elements necessary
 for implementation

Moving to Implementation

          ACT                MEASURE

   Staff will turn the    Staff will identify
   general plan into     measurement tools
                         and processes that
    Action Steps for       will be used to
   Implementation           report to the
                                Board.

Collection
   and
reporting
 of data

Organizational Standards
      Related to Reporting
Standard 4.4 -- The governing board receives an annual
update on the success of specific strategies included in the
Community Action plan.

Standard 5.9 -- The organization’s governing board receives
programmatic reports at each regular board meeting.

Standard 6.5 -- The governing board has received an
update(s) on progress meeting the goals of the strategic plan
within the past 12 months.

 Standard 8.7 -- The governing board receives financial
reports at each regular meeting that include the following:
  1. Organization-wide report on revenue and expenditures that
  compares budget to actual, categorized by program;
  2. Balance sheet/statement of financial position.

Reporting on the Data

Reports go to many different audiences

          ✓ funding sources
               ✓ staff
          ✓ the community
             ✓ the Board

Analysis

Organizational Standards
      Related to Analysis
Standard 9.3
The organization has presented to the governing board for
review or action, at least within the past 12 months, an analysis
of the agency’s outcomes and any operational or strategic
program adjustments and improvements identified as
necessary.

At least once every year, the board will receive
            the agency’s analysis of
                          Operational or strategic
     Outcomes
                              performance

And will be presented with any suggestions for
adjustments and improvements that staff have
            identified as necessary

Using the Analysis of Data

              … to see what you thought you
Look back     would do and comparing it with
              what you did do.

              … the decisions you need to
 Identify
              make based on what you find out

RE-Assess

     for
 Continuous
   Quality
Improvement

Help to unlock the
Implementation of ROMA in
your agency!

Think about the what you can do as a
Board member to assure that ROMA
 is integrated into the operation of
             your agency

Power Point presentation prepared by
 The Association of Nationally Certified
          Trainers (ANCRT)
    This is a brief introduction to a complex set of principles and
  practices. For more information contact your state Community
Action Association or CSBG office staff or go to www.roma-nptp.org

   Barbara Mooney
   barbaramooney@windstream.net
   Carey Gibson
   careylgibson@gmail.com