Whatcom County committee hears VillageReach plan to measure justice-project outcomes, identifies data gaps

VillageReach, a public-health nonprofit, presented a six-month scope of work on Feb. 6 to the Information Needs and Data Exchange Index Committee in Whatcom County, detailing an evaluation and performance measurement plan (EPMP) for the county’s Justice Project implementation plan.

The presentation and follow-up discussion focused on producing draft performance measures for the implementation plan’s 15 projects and five strategies, identifying data sources required to calculate those measures, and flagging where county data modernization will be needed to produce ongoing dashboard measures.

At the meeting, Julia Garette, senior manager and data analyst at VillageReach, said the EPMP will prioritize indicators that align with stakeholder preferences and map existing data sources against those indicators. “A big part of this is really making sure that we're hearing from folks like you all as well as other key stakeholders that are central to the implementation plan,” Garette said. She emphasized that VillageReach is not contracted to build a public dashboard but to prepare the measurement plan and inventory of data needed to enable one.

The nut graf: committee members agreed the work should start by cataloging what data the county already holds, where…