ROMA Talking Points

ROMA provides the substance to the CSBG story we've been telling for years.

1. ROMA provides a process to actually report the impact that Community Action Agencies (CAAs) have in their community.

Accountability, accountability, accountability! ROMA provides a solution to the historic problem with CSBG. By its very nature, CSBG service provision never lent itself to adequate bean counting methods. The Act provides broad guidelines to the CAAs and allows them to develop programming based on community needs. It's strength as a program has also been its weakness in terms of accounting for what we do with the money. For example, under the former service-based reporting system, CAA #1 reported that it provided "educational services" to 100 people. CAA #2 also reported that it provided "educational services" to 100 people. In CAA #1's case, the 100 really meant that it provided space and referrals for GED and other educational services in the community. In CAA #2's case, the 100 meant that it used CSBG to run a summer academy for low-income children who were one or more grade levels behind in school. When we document that the academy resulted in an average .8 increase in grade level for each child, that is a significant outcome. But under the former service-based reporting system the outcome was ignored and both activities counted the same: 100 people received some kind of educational service. Now the result is counted.

2. ROMA enables the community action network to account for its work more accurately and descriptively than before.

As welfare reform has gone forward, the nation has come to realize that not all low-income people need the same kind of assistance, nor move at the same pace, in an effort to become self-sufficient. Community action agencies have always known this, and work with people to address individualized needs identified by the agency staff and the customers.

Using the ROMA style of planning and reporting allows the network to evaluate disparate programs and services and demonstrate how they work for different people, because the common thread is the outcome of achieving a higher degree of self-sufficiency. Using an outcome to define success also helps us learn valuable lessons about what works best for whom--something more traditional management and reporting styles do not do.

3. ROMA is a management philosophy that re-invents agencies.

With all the talk about reinventing government and reinventing CSBG, ROMA provides the perfect platform for agencies to reinvent themselves. Shifting from a service-based operational model to an outcome-based operational model is not an easy task, nor one for the faint of heart. ROMA helps organizations step through the process.

ROMA's agency level outcomes and measurement tools help organizations focus on capacity and performance issues. ROMA strengthens an agency's commitment to continuous, internal improvement. ROMA provides the framework for the discussion of organizational excellence.

4. ROMA improves partnerships between the state and local levels.

The ROMA model focuses on results, and moves the discussion away from the methods used to obtain the results. Former local level boundaries must be renegotiated to enable more efficient and effective ways of doing business. A parallel change occurs on the state level as well. Additionally, state offices are finding new roles as state-level advocates for changes the local agencies need to improve field operations. Reduction of paperwork, cross-training staff, and advanced data collection and management techniques are a few areas that initially benefit.

5. ROMA is cutting edge, leading edge, and often the bleeding edge.

The process of ROMA implementation is about learning, testing, and innovating. One reason ROMA is difficult to implement is that all the tools necessary for measuring outcomes in human services (not just CSBG) aren't sitting on the shelf, ready to use. Many need the bugs worked out of them. Community action agencies that have accepted the ROMA challenge are helping to shape and mold the impact of the change.

Because Community Action Agencies work on three levels--family, agency, and community, tools are needed to measure change at all three levels. Training existing staff (and attracting qualified new staff members) to use the tools takes time and money.

6. ROMA introduces Community Action vision and values to a broader spectrum of human service providers.

Outcome measurement tools developed within the community action network contain important themes such as maximum feasible participation, empowerment, and equity. The dynamics of CAA outcome measurement systems and the techniques of implementation reflect the principles on which the CAA network was founded 35 years ago. As these tools are adopted by other organizations, they spread the fundamental beliefs surrounding family self-sufficiency and community responsibility.