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Five years ago, we in the Community Services Block Grant network started an initiative to become more results-oriented. We began by identifying a menu of results, and then we explored strategies for working together to achieve these results. We have reached agreement on our national goals, and on ways to operate as a network.
Partnership and flexibility are the keys to successfully implementing the results-oriented management accountability approach (ROMA) which we have adopted. Over the last five years, we have made tremendous progress, as you will see from the many examples of local and State efforts contained in this guide. The national goals, which we have established, provide a framework for all the activities throughout the program. Within the results framework, local agencies have the flexibility to choose the specific objectives they will work to achieve.
Finally, the Office of Community Services wishes to express appreciation to Eleanor Hunnemann and Lorraine Daniels whose vision and persistence made this Guide a reality. This office also wishes to acknowledge and thank the members of the Monitoring and Assessment Task Force (MA TF) and its subcommittees - particularly the Scales and Ladders Committee for the development and implementation of this initiative. Their leadership, dedication, hard work and willingness to experiment have made it all possible.
Donald Sykes
Director
Office of Community Services
The Monitoring and Assessment Task Force (MA TF) acknowledges and thanks those who contributed to the production of the Community Services Network's first Results Oriented and Management and Accountability Guide (ROMA Guide). The volunteer hours, expertise and labor devoted to this project exemplify multi-level collaboration at its best. Local CAAs, state and national associations, and federal state offices around the nation that provided the information and guidance needed to compile this important document, which will serve as a handy quick-reference tool for staff and administrators.
MATF also thanks the Federal Office of Community Services, the National Association for State Community Services Programs, the National Community Action Association and the National Community Action Foundation for recognizing the need to share resources and commitments to accomplish this task.
Task Force members give special thanks to those states that provided content materials to support the framework of the Guide. These include CAAs and State CSBG Offices in California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Virginia. As CAAs continue developing capacity for managing for results and accountability , we invite other states to contribute to future updates of the ROMA Guide.
Finally, the MATF acknowledges and thanks the individuals, families and communities we serve for sharing their life experiences, challenges and victories. Without them, we would have no story to tell.
Members of the Monitoring and Assessment Task Force
April, 1999