In recent years, there has been increasing attention at both the
federal and state level related to results based accountability and
systems of measurement designed to periodically assess progress toward
expected results. A few
states have taken on this task and developed indicator frameworks within
their states as a means for monitoring efforts to improve the well-being
of children and families. At
the national level, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family
Statistics was formally established by Executive Order in April of 1997.
This body was created as a vehicle for fostering greater
coordination among federal agencies that generate data about children. The
Forum reports annually on the most important indicators for the well-being
of our nation’s children. These
efforts acknowledge the importance of clearly defining what we, as a state
made up of geographically and culturally different communities, desire for
our children and families. The
overall goal is to find meaningful measures that indicate how well we are
doing in reaching the desired results or outcomes.
In late Spring of 1997,
work began within the Office of the Governor’s Cabinet on Children and
Families to establish explicitly defined outcomes for West Virginia
Families and to identify key indicators of child and family well-being.
These key indicators would be used to measure progress toward each of the
outcomes. The Staff of the Governor’s Cabinet on Children and Families
reviewed related projects and work from other states including similar
frameworks that have been developed in Georgia, Vermont, Minnesota, and
Oregon. The first report of
the Federal Interagency Forum, released in the summer of 1997, was also
reviewed. Other materials that were reviewed in support of this project
include the following:
-
National and
state goals related to health and education that are contained in Healthy People 2000
-
The National Education Goals
Panel information
-
Model outcomes and indicators
that have been developed by the National Governor’s Association
To learn more about the Mountain
State Measures project, select from these
topics:
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