Progress Report to Sarasota County Submitted by SCOPE

April 17, 2012 Community Engagement Through Community Data: A. Community Indicators Development 1. Outline a Strategy

Graphics titled, “Aspects of a Community Change Initiative” and “Developing a Community Data Collaborative” have been created and shared at meetings and online to communicate a local strategy through which community indicators and other kinds of data can contribute to sense-making, decision-making, and the coordination of efforts to improve quality of life in Sarasota County.

“Aspects of a Community Change Initiative” illustrates how community change happens not only through formal programs, services and policies, but also through resident-initiated, resident –led efforts. It also communicates how data is important for bringing various aspects of community well-being into focus and tracking well-being over time, as well as for tracking intentional change efforts (both formal and informal), and whether/how efforts are making a difference – where, when, and for whom.

“Developing a Community Data Collaborative” illustrates how the clarification of community indicators, the gathering / sharing of data, the development of technology and an online platform, and processes for ongoing reflection facilitate the meaningful use of community data -- for decision-making and the coordination of action, in order to bring about community change. These graphics are used to consistently communicate the locally embraced orientation to community data and a corresponding strategy as efforts continue. For another articulation of the strategy, see the Letter to the Editor published in SRQ Daily on March 31, which can be accessed on the SCOPE Blog here: http://www.scopeblog.org/2012/04/08/local-innovation-creating-an-online-community-data-platform.html and is also attached. These frameworks are informed by a review of literature and related resources available through the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change, the Community Indicators Consortium and the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership.

The following table details the strategy with regard to the various tasks to be completed from March through September 2012. This timeline has been reviewed and agreed upon by Data Stewards.

TimelineforDevelopmentofCommunityDataCollaborative&RelatedPlatform

Month

MtgsofData

Stewards

DataSteward1:1mtgsw

SCOPEstaff

Community‐Widemtgsre

CommunityData

Collaborative

CommunityData2.0Sessions

OnlineProcessforQualityof

LifeIndicatorsClarification

PlatformDevelopment

ReflectingonDataforDecision‐Making

March X

X(SchoolDistrict) NorthPort X

Identifyingdata&organizingbynbhds

wC‐Cneighbors&RCCs;other?

April

Combinedwcommunity‐

widemeetings

X(Environmental

Services) X

Venice(rescheduledforMay18duetoCityofVeniceschedule

conflict) X

Identifyingdata&organizingbynbhds

wC‐Cneighbors&RCCs;other?

May XX

(TBD) (Sarasota) XUploaddatatoplatform

wC‐Cneighbors&RCCs;other?

June

Combinedwcommunity‐

widemeetings

X(TBD) X TBD X

EvaluateCPvs.otheronlineplatforms

wC‐Cneighbors&RCCs;other?

JulyX

X(TBD) TBD X

EvaluateCPvs.otheronlineplatforms

wC‐Cneighbors&RCCs;other?

August

Combinedwcommunity‐

widemeetings X TBD X

EvaluateCPvs.otheronlineplatforms

wC‐Cneighbors&RCCs;other?

Sept.X

Selectonlineplatformforongoingdevelopment

2 / 3. Implement a Process (Including Community Convenings & Online Input) The process implemented to date to identify community indicators that matter most in Sarasota County includes:

• In-person community convenings • Bi-monthly meetings of the Community Data Collaborative • Online story-gathering process

In-person Community Convenings: North Port: “Community Data 2.0: North Port,” a 3.5 hour session on community data, took place on March 15, 2012. This session was co-hosted by the City of North Port and SCOPE. The agenda is attached. Attendance: The session was attended by 34 people, all of whom were adults. There were 31 participants who provided information about their home and work address as well as their workplace affiliation. This information reflects geographic and sector diversity as well as engagement. Participants came from 23 self-identified neighborhoods, 18 of which exist within the boundaries of the City of North Port. Institutional and sector affiliation included parks / recreation, health / fitness, libraries, real estate, financial planning, for-profit and non-profit business, and city / county government. Neighborhoods Biscayne & 41, Chamberlain & Price, Country Club Ridge, Fruitville,

Heron Creek- Quail Run, Highland Ridge, Jockey Club, La Casa Park, Manasota, North Port Estates, North Port Gardens, Pan American & US 41, Price & Cranberry, Price & Eldron, Ringling Park, Riverwood, Sabal Trace, Salford & Price, South Venice, Sumter & Lady Slipper, The Landings, Venice, Villas of Sabal Trace

Government

City of North Port: Commissioners, Public Communications; Sarasota County: Health Department, Library, Parks & Recreation, Planning Dept.; State of Florida: House of Representatives

Non-Profit Organizations & Related Networks

Goodwill, Human Services, Sarasota Family YMCA, Tri-County Counseling

Private Business Certified Financial Planner, Freelance journalist, Patriot Storage, Photographer, Real Estate Broker, Sales

Media

North Port Sun

Despite intensive promotion by the City of North Port and SCOPE, as well as coverage by the North Port Sun newspaper, there were not as many participants at the session as were anticipated. Furthermore, individuals from several sectors were notably absent: education, economic development, transportation and philanthropy. Efforts will be made to ensure that individuals from these sectors are present at future sessions.

Geographic diversity of participants is reflected in the following participant maps:

Method: Data were generated in a variety of ways at the Data 2.0 session in order to clarify qualities of life that matter to people in North Port, and corresponding community indicators. Participants were asked a series of questions, to which they responded by engaging in small group discussions. The also recording their own responses on post-it notes, which were turned in at the end of the exercise. These written responses were then entered into an Excel spreadsheet and coded according to the various domains of community well-being: Civic, social, health, learning, economic, culture/recreation, natural environment, built environment, and transportation. (These are the domains that have been included in the Community Report Cards of Sarasota County over the past decade.) Findings: Review of Existent Community Indicators: Participants first were asked to identify community indicators that matter most among those included in the 2010 Update of Community Indicators for Sarasota County. These data represent indicators already being collected by the local community. Participants were asked to review trend line and mapped indicator data, and then to respond to the following question: “ As someone who lives and/or works in Sarasota County, what surprises / interests / concerns / inspires you most in the patterns revealed in the data?” Respondents identified indicators in the following domains (rank-ordered): Domain of Community Well-Being # of Responses Social 9 Learning 7 Health 4 Economics 4 Natural Environment 2 Built Environment 2 Transportation 2 Culture / Recreation 1

Note: No Indicators of Civic Well-Being were identified. These responses suggest that indicators of social well-being and learning may be particularly relevant to the quality of life in North Port, at least when it comes to indicators of community well-being that are currently available. Updating Quality-of-Life Priorities and Corresponding Indicators Specific to North Port: Participants were asked to respond to the following questions as a means of clarifying community indicators:

• What is your “Life is Good” moment here in North Port? • What are the qualities of life that matter most to children, adults, and families in

North Port? • What would these qualities look like if we could see them? • How can we measure these qualities?

The first question is designed to generate qualitative data regarding community well-being. The latter 3 questions are an adaptation of the Population Questions developed by Mark Friedman as part of the Results Based Accountability framework. “Life is Good” stories generated by participants emphasized the following domains of community well-being: Domain of Community Well-Being # of Responses Social 13 Civic 6 Learning 4 Culture / Recreation 4 Natural Environment 4 Built Environment 2 Economics 2 Transportation 1 Other 2

Note: No Indicators of Health were identified. In response to the question, “What are the qualities of life that children, adults, and families in North Port want?” participants emphasized the following domains of well-being: Domain of Community Well-Being # of Responses Social 34 Culture / Recreation 20 Civic 16 Economics 16 Learning 10 Health 9 Transportation 9 Natural Environment 5 Built Environment 4 Other 14

In response to the question, “How can we measure these qualities?” participants emphasized the following domains of well-being: Domain of Community Well-Being # of Responses Economics 17 Social Indicators 13 Built Environment 11 Civic 9 Transportation 9 Culture / Recreation 7 Health 4 Natural Environment 4 Learning 3 Other 8

These findings suggest that when people in North Port think about those qualities of life that are most associated with their personal experience of well-being, they tend to focus on aspects of social well-being, civic life and recreation. When people in North Port think about what might actually be measured as “community indicators,” however, they tend to focus on aspects of the economy and built environment. These findings are preliminary, and will require further input from residents of North Port, as well as comparisons to input from residents of other areas in Sarasota County. However, they do suggest that the differences between what citizens of North Port / Sarasota County value most and what the community of Sarasota County formally tracks, with regard to community indicators, are differences to which this community needs to pay attention. Feedback: An online survey was sent out to participants during the week following the Data 2.0 session. Ten people contributed feedback in response to the following questions: 1. If someone who didn’t attend the Community Data 2.0 were to come up and

ask you about it, what would you tell them? (N =10)

Positive (7) • You missed a very interesting and informative presentation. • It was refreshing to hear from people who seem so committed to

North Port. • North Port has taken advantage of technology and has a plethora of

information available. • There is a lot of data available to help shape the future of North Port -

down to the neighborhood level. • A great session that raised awareness of how important it is to be

engaged in our community and how access to data makes this possible.

• that the City now has detailed maps/graphs with valuable information available to the public.

• Scope works on positive things, take part in the next one Neutral (1)

• It was a meeting about statistics about many aspects of the county and North Port like age,race,education,etc

Negative (2) • Too much time was spent explaining how data is collected. I believe

most attendees were there to see what the data showed. • That the session was TOO long and repetitive, especially regarding....

"if you'll look at the cards....." over and over again 2. What worked well at the Community Data 2.0 session? (N = 9)

• Group participation the city's display of maps and their online presentation.

• The set up of maps around the room was a pleasant way to start the day and get an idea about what the day was going to be about. -North Port GIS presentation was excellent. -The presentation did show the vast amounts of data and information that are available that

help paint a clearer picture about our communities...it just moved too fast.

• Interactive Discussions. input from the participants on the post-it-notes data displays in the room

• Good agenda, good presentations, a chance to be interactive • Interesting data presented in an accessible manner. • Information provided by City of North Port personnel -- it was concise

and to the point • The organization was good. • Translating the sincerity of the goal • Location

3. What could have been better at the Community Data 2.0 session? (N= 10)

• Don't spend an hour and a half talking about how to collect data. • Explaining how data is collected and by who • A PowerPoint 1/2 presentation. • Presentation from city people, particularly IT manager, a bit esoteric. • Less discussion on GIS Data on the screen was very difficult to read.

Shake up the groups so people can meet each other - all the 'important' people sat amongst themselves.

• Everything seemed to move too fast once the "exercises" began. Not enough time to absorb or even figure exactly what we were doing. -Discussion about data and the County was disjointed and it was very hard to keep up with the graphics that were being discussed. Graphics/handouts should be better coordinated with the speakers. Too much paperwork to follow as quickly as the speakers were moving. -Too many politicians in the room.some with agendas. Not enough "average citizens." -Get youth involved...not just on camera.

• I left after 2.5 hours -- what I saw could have been conveyed better

with a narrated PowerPoint or webinar presentation in about 30 minutes. The length of time was excessive -- of the 36 or 37 folks who attended nearly half were county or city employees. You can't expect to connect with WORKING residents by hosting a 4 hour session on a Friday morning.

• A better time like after 6.30 PM for more North Porters participation. • More general public • More participants

4. What do you hope to see happen next? (n = 8)

• Get feedback on all the comments gathered that day. • More information about what our Community data tells us. • Try to get a larger number of citizens to attend as opposed to

politician-types. High school and college students would benefit from an understanding of the data that is out there for them to use.

• More diversity in the group

• More participation from local residents. And find a way of calculating how many renters we have in North Port.

• More general public and if in Venice, some young people (under65) • Establish the information as a webinar presentation for replay on your

website and publicize it on social media -- if your intent is to connect with the public

• SCOPE continues to find ways to engage the community 5. On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate the Community Data 2.0 session in

terms of: (n = 10) • Diversity of Participants (n=10)

o Average response rating – 4.9 o 40% rated 7 or above

• Value of information presented (n=10) o Average response rating – 7.1 o 70% rated 8 or above

• Learning opportunities (n = 10) o Average response rating - 6.8 o 60% rated 8 or above

• New connections and increased collaboration (n = 9) o Average response rating – 5.33 o 56% rated 7 or above

• Fun factor (n = 10) o Average response rating - 4.9 o 40% rated 7 or above

6. Which of the following would you be interested in attending every so often? (n = 8)

62.5% (5) “Data on the Clock” (weekday gatherings during 9-5 hours) 0.0% “Data and Donuts” (Saturday morning gatherings) 37.5% (3) “Data & Dessert” (Thursday or Friday evening gatherings) 12.5% (1) Other suggestions:

• “This is data folks – make the dissemination of it on the website and drive people to it when the time suits them”

7. Which of the following would you be interested in hosting? (n = 6)

16.7% (1) A community data session at your workplace, with SCOPE support 33.3% (2) A community data session in your neighborhood, with SCOPE support 66.7% (4) Other suggestions:

• “A session for non-profits - groups helping the hungry/homeless, veterans, children’s advocates”

• “Pair with groups already meeting such as CHAT, World Cafes, Youth groups”

• “Overall community” • “Make this a webinar for replay online”

8. With regards to community data, what’s the greatest contribution that YOU or

YOUR ORGANIZATION could make to help bring about positive change here in Sarasota County? (n = 9) • Sharing findings with others and reaching common ground on concerns and

approaches. • Make access to information easier and listen to the feedback it generates • The ability to receive/analyze data to discover community need. • Serve as a conduit for information and a connection to the community • Ensuring that the majority of the data is available to the public for their use.

-Using the data to develop sound policy for today and the future. • Helping to drive more prevention programs increase the number of higher

level jobs in the area based on the data Market the neighborhood concept to more groups to help drive change

• We teach creativity and share cultural exposure to youth and adults. • A positive attitude • Promote the effort

9. With regards to community data, what’s the greatest contribution that you

believe SCOPE could make to help bring about positive community change here in Sarasota County? (n=7) • Keeping people informed and engaged. • Having all this information readily available to all. • Continue doing things to make people aware of what is going on in our

community. Encourage participation from all aspects of the community...not just the "players."

• Market the neighborhood concept to more groups to help drive change • Continue to provide organizations with information on what the community

wants to see. Also educating the communities on how they can become engaged and participate.

• Develop Buy In • More data like how many homeless in North Port alone?

10. Considering the discussion at Community data 2.0, do you feel a Community

Data Collaborative here in Sarasota County would be: (n= 9)

88.9% (8) Beneficial to our community 33.3% (3) Something you or your organization will choose to participate in 0.0% (0) No big deal – probably won’t make much of a difference 11.1% (1) Don’t know yet – need more information 11. Any other feedback?

• Thinking about this I'm having to guess exactly what the goal of the effort is which leads me to believe it may not be clear enough

• I felt the delivery was very pedantic and bordered on condescending at times HOWEVER -- I am used to a VERY fast paced information flow. SOME Others I have talked with felt the same way about the presentation; others felt it was very worthwhile. It is important to note that most of the non-governmental participants in the audience already knew each other and are connected in a variety of different events and activities. In the future, if you're saving the take away for the last minutes of the LONG session -- perhaps telling people what you're going to be telling them at the beginning, then telling them and then telling them what you told them again would keep interest and engagement. Sorry to rain on your parade with such a heavy hand, but I was really disappointed by the session.

• Very disappointed in both the Community Data events in Sarasota and in North Port. Not sure of the point towards your events.

• Those chairs were too hard to sit on for so long at Morgan Family Center. • I just would like better accessible hours for the average family member like

after 6.30 PM. Thank You! This feedback is being used to inform modifications of future Data 2.0 sessions, and the ongoing development of the Community Data Collaborative. Venice: A similar Data 2.0 session for the community of Venice is scheduled for May 18, 2012. Institutional co-hosts include the City of Venice, Venice Main Street, and the Venice Chamber of Commerce. It will take place at City Hall. Efforts currently are underway to promote the session. Sarasota: On April 16, 2012 a presentation was delivered to the City Commission of Sarasota to invite this City to partner in co-hosting a Sarasota-specific session as well. The City Commission requested that they be provided with further details in writing, with an estimate of the amount of city staff time that would be required to co-host the event. This information has been provided, and once the City responds to confirm interest in co-hosting the session, planning will commence. Demographic “Hot Spots” Sessions in demographic “hot spots” of the community (relating to where high numbers of people live who identify as Black/African-American, Latino/Hispanic, and age 65+) will be scheduled for June through August. Citizen groups and institutional partners with whom to partner have been identified, and these partnerships will be cultivated over the next two months in preparation for the events. Monthly Meetings of the Community Data Collaborative:

Additional meetings where citizens can become involved in the identification and selection of community indicators include the bi-monthly, open meetings of the Community Data Stewards. These are scheduled for April, June, and August; the first was conducted on Monday, April 9. The agenda for this meeting is attached. These meetings provide opportunities to further develop the conceptual framework that undergirds local community data efforts, to review latest efforts to identify and upload local community data, and to update participants on reflection and data-based decision-making occurring throughout the county.

Online Story-Gathering Process:

Another way to gather information about qualities of life and corresponding community indicators that matter most to people in Sarasota County is through an online story-gathering process. Ultimately, this process will evolve such that individuals who contribute stories also contribute demographic and geographic information about themselves, and code their own stories with regard to the various domains of well-being. At this preliminary stage, however, individuals are simply being asked to contribute videotaped stories in response to the following prompt: “Tell us a story about a moment you experienced here in Sarasota County when you thought to yourself, “Wow! Life is GOOD here in Sarasota County!” To date, “Life is Good” stories have been contributed by 35 individuals (children, teens, adults, and older adults) from the following areas throughout Sarasota County:

Stories were coded according to the various domains of community well-being: Civic, social, health, learning, economic, culture/recreation, natural environment, built environment, and transportation. Storytellers emphasized the following domains of well-being: Domain of Community Well-Being # of Responses Culture / Recreation 22 Social 19 Health / Fitness 13 Natural Environment 7 Learning 6 Transportation 5 Civic 4 Built Environment 3 Economics 1 Other 5

Furthermore, many stories focused on culture / recreation also involved the natural environment and/or social well-being.

While it is too early to draw conclusions based on the small sample of stories contributed so far, these data do suggest that “Life is Good” story-gathering is a promising approach to engaging citizens of Sarasota County in identifying qualities of life that matter most in this community. B. Community Data Collaborative and Platform Development 1 / 2. The Community Data Collaborative now includes:

Neighbors actively involved in their home neighborhoods of: Central-Cocoanut Amaryllis Park South Venice Lake Sarasota

Employees / Volunteers of: City of Venice Community Health Improvement Partnership "Continuing the Conversation" Network (on Aging) Florida House Friends of Sarasota County Parks New College North Port GIS Department Sarasota County Health & Human Services Sarasota County Libraries Sarasota County Area Transit Sarasota County Comprehensive Planning Department Sarasota County Environmental Services Sarasota County Extension Office Sarasota County School District Sarasota County Sheriff's Department Sarasota Herald Tribune Sarasota Housing Authority Sarasota/Manatee 211 Sarasota County Economic Development Corporation SCOPE Sustainability Dept of Sarasota County Government

Neighbors participating in the Resident Community Changemakers Fellowship and Community of Practice are being encouraged to get involved, as well as people who have participated in the Data 2.0 sessions. Monthly meetings of the Community Data Collaborative began in March, 2012 and will continue through September, 2012. Agendas for the two meetings that occurred in March and April are attached. One-to-one meetings with local data stewards were initiated in February, 2012. To date, meetings have occurred with:

• Allen Parsons and Ann Sheller of the Sarasota County Comprehensive Planning Department

• Leona Collesano and Roy Pinchin of the Sarasota County School District, and • Esther Eugene of the Sarasota Housing Authority.

An Excel Macro has been created through SCOPE to assist Data Stewards in converting their address data into neighborhood data. The Sheriff’s Department has already completed the conversion, and currently the School District and Housing Authority are working on similar conversions. 3. Online Platform Development The Community Data Collaborative has agreed to partner with the Urban Institute in the development of a preliminary online community data platform, based upon the “Community Platform” developed by the Urban Institute that is already in use in a variety of communities across the U.S. The online platform for Sarasota County will be resident-centric, with block-scale Census data included and community indicators data organized by neighborhood. Local boundary systems, assets, resident-generated stories/videos/photos, and data relating to various intentional change efforts (both services / programs and informal efforts) will be included as well. SCOPE has developed the preliminary language and architecture for the site. The landing page will include a friendly welcome statement, along with an interactive map with identified neighborhoods throughout Sarasota County and basic instructions. Users will be able to click on their neighborhood to access a page that is specific to their neighborhood. They also will be able to specify the boundaries of their home neighborhood if these are not yet included on the site. Once on the neighborhood page, users will be able to click on and off various layers of data, including boundary systems, qualitative accounts (stories/videos/photos), community indicators, assets, performance data, and questions/reflections. It will then be possible to “zoom out” to the city or county scale as well. Here are screen shots of the landings page and a sample neighborhood page:

SCOPE drafted and submitted a proposal to the Knight Community Information Challenge (through the Community Foundation of Sarasota County) to secure further resources for the development of this online platform. Currently, the community of Sarasota County is a finalist in this national competition due to the innovative nature of the proposal. Building Community: In December 2011 and January 2012, SCOPE interviewed 16 candidates and selected four individuals to participate in the 9-month Resident Community Changemakers fellowship. The recruitment flier is attached, as well as the blog post that introduces the four fellows. In January 2012, a two-week orientation was conducted. Since then, the fellows have:

• Developed preliminary profiles of their home neighborhoods • Walked their neighborhoods and interfaced with neighbors for at least 10

hours per week • Recorded daily reflections on their experiences and interactions in their

neighborhoods • Generated a preliminary set of maps of their neighborhood, in terms of

demographics and assets • Read and provided written commentary on chapters and articles on

community change • Participated in bi-weekly group reflective consultation with the fellowship

group • Participated in bi-weekly individual reflective consultation with the RCC

fellowship director • Created video blogs to communicate their reflections on the first two

months of their involvement in the fellowship • Created neighborhood newsletters (3 of the 4 fellows have done so) • Co-facilitated the first month’s meeting of the Community of Practice, open

to anyone in Sarasota County who is interested in resident community changemaking

As the second “trimester” of the fellowship begins, the fellows will begin facilitating neighbor-group gatherings, and will begin identifying “outcome indicators” to more systematically track their neighbor-group efforts over time, and will begin documenting their efforts accordingly.

Social Media SCOPE has communicated with the broader community about Community Data and Building Community in the following ways: Blogs Posts 16 blog posts related to Data

Titles 1. Local Innovation: Creating an Online Data platform 2. We Are a Finalist in the Knight Community Information Challenge 3. The Power of Mapping: Googling the Perfect House 4. Community Data 2.0: North Port - The Countdown is On 5. SCOPE’s Data Team Has Re-Booted 6. Volunteer Opportunity: Green Map Data Steward 7. Responding to Economic Inequality with Nurturance, Rather than Indifference 8. Economic Inequality and Toxic Stress 9. Through the Census Looking Glass: Economic Equality Here in Sarasota County 10. More Equality, More Well-Being for All 11. Attending to Equity Here in Sarasota County 12. From a Communiplexity Perspective - Are We Measuring What Counts? 13. Data Byte: Growing Number of People Who Identify as Hispanic/Latino in

Sarasota County 14. Data Byte: The Geography of Benefits 15. Data Byte: Many Eyes 16. Data Byte: American Migration Map

6 blog posts related to Resident-Led Community Changemaking

Titles 1. In Search of Aspiring Resident Community Changemakers 2. What is SCOPE’s Resident Community Changemakers Fellowship? 3. Read All About It: Central-Cocoanut Neighbors Join Together in Fierce Devotion

to their Neighborhood 4. Feeling Energized by the Fresh Perspectives of Neighbors 5. First Month Reflections of the Resident Community Changemakers 6. Community of Practice Forming for Resident Community Changemakers

Twitter

• 17 tweets about the “Life is Good” video campaign • 13 tweets about Data 2.0 sessions and/or the Community Data Collaborative

Facebook 35 posts related to Data

• 20 about the “Life is Good” video campaign • 7 about the Community Data Collaborative • 8 about Data 2.0 sessions

5 posts related to Resident-Led Community Changemaking