2011 CAP, Year 17

The United Way of Santa Cruz County and Applied Survey Research (ASR) are celebrating the 17th year of the Community Assessment Project (CAP) of Santa Cruz County.

Since 1994, ASR has measured the quality of life in the county in the areas of the economy, public safety, health, education, and the natural and social environments.

The goal of the CAP is to take a snapshot of the county each year by looking at over 110 indicators such as unemployment, housing costs, crime rates, discrimination, children's health status, high school dropout rates, and levels of pollution in our rivers.

View the 2009 CAP Video celebrating 15 years!

Produced by Paolo Ciccone Productions

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View/Download CAP Report

The Year 17 (2011) CAP Report is completed, and is now available for download in its entirety:

• Entire Report (15.2MB PDF file)

Or, download portions of the report:

• 01 - Introduction (2.5MB PDF file)
  
• 02 - Demographics (.5MB PDF file)
  
• 03 - Economy (2MB PDF file)
  
• 04 - Education (1.6MB PDF file)
  
• 05 - Health (1.8MB PDF file)
  
• 06 - Public Safety (1.6MB PDF file)
  
• 07 - Social Environment (1.3MB PDF file)
  
• 08 - Natural Environment (1.5MB PDF file)
  
• Appendices:
  
  • 1 - Methodology, Definitions, Survey Results, & Past Community Heroes (1.5MB PDF file)
    
  • 2 - Region Profiles (.4MB PDF file)
    
  • 3 - Gender Profiles (.3MB PDF file)
    
  • 4 - Ethnicity Profiles (.4MB PDF file)
    
  • 5 - Age Profiles (.4MB PDF file)
    
  • 6 - Income Profiles (.4MB PDF file)

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Get involved!

The year 2011 marks the 17th year of the CAP and provides the opportunity to track trends over the last several years as well as the current realities in the county. The indicators are measured by primary public opinion data and secondary or empirical trend data. The results are used to assist members of the community in steering public policy and services towards meeting goals that are agreed upon by the community.

The Santa Cruz CAP project has been so successful that the model for this project was ranked by the UCLA School of Public Health as one of the best in the nation. Data from the CAP project have helped to launch community initiatives such as:

• Together for Youth / Unidos Para Nuestros Jovenes, aimed at drug use prevention among teens
• Latino Strategic Planning Committee, aimed at educating and empowering Latinos county-wide
• The Santa Cruz County Homeless Census and Survey, to count and survey the homeless
• Go For Health, a new initiative to undertake the problem of youth obesity in the county.

Purchase Reports

The reports are also available for $30 at the United Way Office, 4450 Capitola Road, Ste. 106, Capitola, CA, 95010; telephone 831-479-5466.

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