Awards
| ASR Wins a Prestigious Sociology Award for its Homeless Census and Surveys |
In 2006, ASR won a prestigious award from the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS). According to the AACS, the Community Service Award was given to ASR "for its outstanding work in applying its data collection, analysis, reporting, and management skills to addressing homelessness and other social problems."
ASR has a unique methodology where we help counties and regions to both count the number of homeless people living in their area and survey the population to assess quality of life issues, such as health/mental health, employment history, and the factor that contributed the most to their homeless status. The federal government requires counties to count their homeless populations every two years to receive federal funding. HUD reviewed ASR's homeless methodology and determined that it was a best-practice, and have provided information about ASR's methods on their website and in their handbook.
Peter Connery, who has been the leader of ASR's homeless work, accepted the award at the AACS's annual conference which took place in California. For more information, please contact Peter Connery at 877-728-4545.
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| One of the Best Community Indicator Projects in the Country: Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project |
The Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project (CAP) was chosen in 2007 for first place in the Community Indicators Consortium's (CIC) Innovation Awards. The Santa Cruz County CAP was chosen as an example of one of the best community indicator projects in the United States. The $10,000 award was sponsored by the Urban Markets Initiative at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and was given to the United Way of Santa Cruz County, the chief organizer and convener of the CAP. ASR is the research partner for the CAP, and in 2007, had completed 13 years of the CAP project.
The United States General Accounting Office (GAO) also cites the Santa Cruz County CAP project as a best practice for indicator reports.
For more information about the Santa Cruz County CAP, please call us toll free at 877-728-4545.
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Acknowledgements
| Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project (CAP) was Profiled in a New Book about Best Practices in Community Indicator Projects |
In 2007, the Santa Cruz County CAP was profiled in a new book about best practices in community indicator projects throughout the world. The book is called, Community Quality of Life Indicators, Best Practices III. The article, written by ASR's Deanna Zachary, describes the history of the CAP and the elements necessary for a successful community indicator project.
The CAP started in 1994 and continues to be conducted every year. The CAP includes primary and secondary data for over 135 indicators in six areas: Economy, Education, Health, Public Safety, the Natural Environment, and the Social Environment. The article describes the ways in which the CAP data contributed to change in the areas of teen substance abuse, universal health care for children, efforts to reduce binge drinking, an initiative to reduce childhood obesity, and efforts on behalf of the homeless.
The book is published by the International Society for Quality of Life Studies, (ISQOLS) and edited by M. Joseph Sirgy, Don R. Rahtz, and Rhonda Phillips. To get a copy, please visit their website at: www.isqols.org or call them at 540-231-5110.
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| The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Publishes an Article about the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project (CAP) |
In 2007, Susan Brutschy and Deanna Zachary of Applied Survey Research were invited by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) to attend the OECD World Forum on Measuring the Progress of Societies. Individuals from over 140 countries attended the Forum in Istanbul Turkey to discuss how to better measure the quality of life in their countries and how to improve the quality of life for their citizens.
Susan Brutschy made a presentation about community indicator projects in the United States, where local communities measure the progress of their own communities in order to improve outcomes for individuals, children and families. Ms. Brutschy and Ms. Zachary also wrote a paper that highlights the community indicator process in Santa Cruz California, and the impact that the project had on residents' lives.
Residents were able to use the local community data to help catalyze a movement to provide health insurance to all children in the count ages 0-18 regardless of their immigration status. Over 110 organizations also organized to help reduce teen alcohol and drug use, an effort that was ultimately successful. The OECD staff determined that the paper was one of the best delivered at the conference and decided to publish it in a special edition of the proceedings of the world forum.
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