Overview

• Indicators help define the outcomes and make them observable
• They are a way to measure the degree to which an expected outcome or change has been achieved - they let you know if you are succeeding
• Indicators have to be observable:
  • Seen
  • Heard
  • Read
  • Calculated

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Checklist

Use this checklist to help you choose the right indicators to measure each outcome:

• Measurable or observable
• Engaging – people in the community agree that the indicator is important to watch
• Affordable to measure with accessible data
• Specific (it is clear what is being measured, using what data)
• Understandable
• Relevant to the outcome and help define it – measuring “need to know” information
• Evenhanded - the data is from credible sources and is consistent over time

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Tips for Data Collection

• Collecting data in reliable, credible and valid ways will allow for confidence in the results.
• Documenting data collection methods will allow for systematic collection in subsequent collection efforts.
• Collecting baseline< data at the outset of your stabilization planning process will assist in understanding the market, designing appropriate strategies and then providing a point in time against which to measure progress.
• Evaluation needs to be designed and started in the beginning of strategic interventions. Continuous monitoring can provide feedback to strategically adjust programs as they are being implemented.

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Potential indicators and data sources for stabilization outcomes

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Resources for measuring your progress

• Success Measures’ Community Stabilization Indicator/Tool Framework
• H.U.D NSP Reporting Requirements
• NeighborWorks® America Campaign for Homeownership revitalization pilot materials
• The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) is a collaborative effort by the Urban Institute and local partners to further the development and use of neighborhood-level information systems in local policymaking and community building. Some of the best examples for robust, parcel level datasets exist in NNIP cities.
• The Harvard Family Research Project’s Evaluation Exchange is a periodical that contains “new lessons and emerging strategies for evaluating programs and policies, particularly those focused on children, families, and communities.”
• Several courses on evaluation are offered at the NeighborWorks® Training Institute, including:
  • Measuring the Impacts of Your Revitalization Work (Course NR 121)
  • Program Evaluation for Senior Managers (Course ML 135)
  • Community Engagement: Measuring Its Impact (Course CB 132)

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Resources -- Success Measures: Community Stabilization Indicator Framework

Success Measures, a NeighborWorks®America program, provides you with indicators and data collection tools you can use to measure community stabilization, across 4 dimensions:

• Dimension I: Community Image, Confidence, and Management
• Dimension II: Market Health
• Dimension III: Community Physical Conditions
• Dimension IV: Community Characteristics

Visit the Success Measures web site to learn more.

• Read more about Success Measures and the kinds of stabilization indicators with which it can help you and download a sample Success Measures tool for Community Stabilization.

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Resources -- HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) reporting requirements

• HUD uses the Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System (DRGR) for NSP reporting. On HUD’s DRGR page you will find information to assist you in utilizing this system.

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NeighborWorks® America Campaign for Homeownership Revitalization Pilot

• The NeighborWorks® America Campaign for Homeownership funded a number revitalization pilot programs in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and produced materials to help participants measure their impacts. Much of this material remains relevant and helpful today.
• Measuring Neighborhood Change provides an overview of indicators you can use to measure whether a neighborhood is “getting better,” and a framework for sharpening one’s definition for what “getting better” means.
• Measuring Customer Satisfaction, Resident Perceptions and Property Conditions provides specific guidance on program evaluation in these areas. Sample surveys and measurement tools are included along with detailed instructions for their use.
• Using Key Informant Interviews to measure results shows how you can use various types of interviews and focus groups to get detailed information about neighborhood change.
• Measuring Results of Your Homeownership Program includes a significant focus on revitalization impacts of homeownership work. It includes an overall guide to conducting evaluation work, and provides resources to help the reader measure indicators around the social, physical, and economic characteristics of their neighborhood

Examples of evaluation plans

• Community Impact of Chattanooga created a set of baseline indicators and subsequent reports measuring neighborhood progress against these indicators. They assess each of their target neighborhoods along a “neighborhood change continuum” with four categories: “declining,” “stable/declining,” “stable/improving,” and “solidly improving.” See their work here

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