Identify and distribute products of the inventory that will benefit those who responded - It is easy to identify the theoretical benefits of a systematic and comprehensive source of information about how Broward County allocates its resources to address health, education and human services. They include not only making available quality information for service delivery planning, but also reducing the amount of redundant surveying. But most of the organizations that undertook the difficult task of completing the organizational profiles are anxious to see those benefits in concrete terms. The most important step the CCB can take will be to make the principal results of the inventory in the first year available to all those who participated. The CRIC should post this document and all of the major reports listed above as printable files on the CCB web site. In addition, consideration should be given to the inclusion of copies of this report, the Community Assessment Information Clearinghouse 1999 and The Broward Benchmarks 1999 when the year two organizational profiles are sent to providers and funders. Distribution of the database itself, subject to the protocols that are yet to be adopted, would be another important action. An additional step is to encourage funders and agencies that conduct needs assessments to use the profiles as the basis for gathering the information they require, so that providers will see a real reduction in the number of different surveys they must return. The CRIC should encourage funders to participate in revisions to the profile forms to ensure that their needs are accommodated.

Look for effective ways to increase response rates and improve the quality of responses - The response rate can be expected to improve to the extent that those who respond obtain tangible benefits from doing so. Sharing results of the inventory and ensuring that both funders and providers find the information to be useful for their own purposes will help. Funders that are part of the CCB are in the best position to exercise the leadership necessary to accomplish this. The completeness and accuracy of the information that is included in the profiles depends on strengthening the interaction between funders and providers with regard to the content. In addition, some simple quality assurance mechanisms can be built into the data entry routines of the software.

Revise the survey forms as needed - The CRIC will review the provider and funder profiles to decide whether any questions should be removed or added, or whether there should be changes in the way questions are asked or the instructions for responding, prior to distributing the survey in 1999-00. Every effort will be made to simplify the response without compromising the essential information required to be able to accomplish the assessment of resource allocation in Broward County.

Strengthen the relationship between funders and providers in support of the inventory - Funders are in a privileged position both to take advantage of the information the resource inventory generates and to ensure that the information is accurate and complete. The multi-lateral relationship between each funder and the agencies it funds offers the greatest potential for extending the collaborative efforts of the CCB to the next level down. The CRIC should convene the funders and design a process for interaction with service providers that will contribute to ensuring consistent and complete information as part of the preparation for sending out the 1999-00 survey. Training sessions should concentrate on promoting the relationship between funders and providers and on building a mutual understanding of the information required by the survey.

Consider additional electronic response options - In 1998-99, organizational profiles were distributed in hard copy and as word processing "forms" in two popular formats. The latter were made available on diskette and also were posted on the CCB web site. These versions made it possible to respond to the survey on the computer, but resulted in printed profiles that still had to be entered into the IRis/CRI database at First Call For Help. When new profile forms are sent out for the 1999-00 inventory, a print-out of the data currently in the database will be provided to all organizations that responded to the survey in 1998-99. If no major revisions in the profile forms are required, it also may be possible to produce a "forms" version of the new profile populated with data from the current database, making it easier for 1999-00 data to be introduced as edits to existing 1998-99 data. This and other options for making it easier to respond to the survey will be considered. A more complete solution will be possible when the resource inventory is implemented on BIN, allowing on-line response and eliminating the current need to re-enter data at First Call For Help.

Provide community-wide training in use of the InfoLine Taxonomy - A key component of the creation of an inventory of health, education and human services in Broward County is the collective use of a common "dictionary" that defines each service - the Taxonomy. In 1998-99, First Call For Help carried out an initial classification of the services funded and provided by each responding organization. Funders and providers will find it convenient to use the Taxonomy to specify services in contracts, and to review the initial classification by First Call For Help, proposing changes as appropriate. Information about client services posted on BIN will be most useful if it uses the Taxonomy to identify those services. In preparation for the resource inventory in 1999-00, First Call For Help should coordinate training in the use of the Taxonomy for staff in key organizations, including those that are linked to the Broward Information Network and the primary funders.

Enhance the linkages between programs and outcomes identified in The Broward Benchmarks - One of the most powerful reports out of the 1998-99 CRI is the one that shows which programs are identified with each of the indicators in The Broward Benchmarks. It may be appropriate to distribute copies of the 1999 edition of The Broward Benchmarks with the profiles to facilitate the review and selection of the appropriate indicators. As in last year's effort, users also will be referred to the CCB web site where copies of this and other relevant reports may be reviewed and/or downloaded.