The City of Tulsa, in partnership with the Community Service Council (CSC), has been chosen to be one of the first cities in the country to create an Equality Indicators Tool under the guidance of the City University of New York (CUNY) Institute for State and Local Governance with funding from The Rockefeller Foundation.
CSC will work with the City of Tulsa to create the framework relative to Tulsa-specific disadvantaged populations and equality gaps. By becoming an Equality Indicators City, Tulsa will have the tools to develop realistic targets and specific interventions for reducing inequalities at the local and neighborhood level based on data. Through the process, Tulsa can also design policy solutions to address the greatest inequalities.
“This grant is another important national partnership for Tulsa as we work to ensure that no matter what area of town you live in, everyone has the same access to education and health needs that are vital to the quality of life of Tulsans,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said. “This grant will be an initial step in the use of data to address racial disparities that exist in Tulsa today.”
The primary focuses will be: education, health, housing and racial justice disparities. CSC has a long history as a leader in confronting challenges in the areas of focus and will be the primary organization to compile the data that will be used for solution-oriented approaches to make Tulsa a better place for all.
“We’re very excited to take the lead with the City of Tulsa on what we expect to become an annual barometer of equality in our region,” said Kevin Burr, CEO, Community Service Council. “Building this tool to measure disparities in Tulsa can guide policy decisions as well as work efforts across a spectrum of organizations.”
The City intends to utilize the equality indicators data that will be collected and analyzed by CSC to demonstrate the commitment, transparency and accountability to citizens regarding the efforts underway to improve the conditions for underserved Tulsans. The City also hopes to establish a citywide baseline and dashboard to evaluate progress toward a more equitable community.
Mayor Bynum, the Tulsa Resilience Office and the Community Service Council applied for the grant in April 2017 and the City and CSC expects to have an initial findings report completed this winter.
Community Service Council
The Community Service Council has been a non-profit leader in community planning since 1941. Working with area partners, CSC confronts challenges to health, social, education and economic opportunities and strategically advances effective community-based solutions. This is done though research, planning, networking and mobilizing resources.
CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance
CUNY works with organizations across the world to apply a data-driven approach to the challenges and opportunities confronting government. CUNY focuses on government at the state and local levels as cities and states are ideal laboratories for developing new approaches to longstanding social problems. CUNY’s mission is to improve the structure, financing, delivery, measurement, and evaluation of vital public services by helping partners build the capacity to collect and analyze data. CUNY also designs, implements, and evaluates projects using empirical evidence about the process and outcomes.
###
.png)
Facebook
Twitter
Mail