Data capabilities and the Caring Communities - ARCHS relationship

The neighborhood cabinet met on Monday, February 26, 2001 at ARCHS.    Report by Bob Babione, posted February 27, 2001.    Both George Jones and Bob Babione attended the meeting.    The first hour was a presentation by David Paulsmeyer, the coordinator of ARCHS Research / Data Committee. Generally the system works well bottom-up but poorly top-down. That is, if you enter a Social Security number or Department Client Number (DCN), you will get additional information. If, however, you want to find groups of people by ZIP code or whatever, the response is poor. Originally the accuracy was 22 percent. That has improved to 76 percent.    The general information is still the 1990 census. It will be at least another year until 2000 data is available. Even then, it will usually be by ZIP code rather than by neighborhood, according to Paulsmeyer.    The Data Committee can get maps of physical assets. The current maps are from a city agency and are two years old. The goal is to have the maps updated monthly.    The mobility rate for elementary school children is 60 percent annually; for high school students it is 200 percent.    Arcview software is being used for the mapping.    Deputy Director Maggie Hourd-Bryant reported on the integration of Caring Communities into ARCHS. A plan will be presented at an executive (closed) session of the ARCHS board on Wednesday, February 28. The plan is to move aggressively with implementation to occur July 1, the beginning of the state's fiscal year. Hourd-Bryant indicated the integration was supposed to happen from the beginning of ARCHS but delays have occurred over issues of respecting the in-place programs of Caring Communities.    Hourd-Bryant said ARCHS faces challenges in 2001: the integration with Caring Communities requires a broader look at operating procedures with more leadership from ARCHS; the $8M in place should be better utilized and expanded to $16M; and ARCHS will have 3 separate but integrated departments - a community-building director (title not determined), a Chief Financial Officer who will also oversee data and development, and a policy-research division.    ARCHS is the conduit for Caring Community funds. The neighborhoods will need to have some entity assigned to fiscal oversight.    Veronica Banks requested a one-paragraph update by March 5. Apparently that will be included in the minutes. A big binder of material about the cabinet is to be mailed to members before the next meeting. These documents are "drafts" for review by the cabinet.    It was suggested that the cabinet, being part of a resident-driven program, ought to be thinking about electing its own officers. (The present co-chairs are interim appointments.)