|
NNIP PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Office of Data and Policy Analysis The Data and Policy Analysis Group (DAPA) at Georgia Tech was established in 1992 to serve as a primary source of data and policy-relevant information for groups working with distressed communities within The Atlanta Project (TAP). Created by former President Jimmy Carter, TAP works to help improve the quality of life in Atlanta through the promotion of collaborations and partnerships between community residents, government and the private sector. DAPA is directed by David Sawicki, a professor of planning and public policy at Georgia Tech. Dr. Sawicki was one of the first to use the term "democratizing information" to characterize his activities: "providing factual information directly for use by poor people and poor communities who have historically been denied access to the data they need to plan for their own futures effectively." DAPA has four primary functions: 1) support for operations, which includes preparing data (tables and maps) to respond to specific well-defined information requests from users; 2) support for planning and community building (turning over electronic databases attached to digitized parcel maps directly to community groups so they can perform a variety of types of analysis themselves); 3) conducting policy analysis regarding a proposed project or piece of legislation; and 4) conducting broader research on issues related to poverty, community change, and urban policy that have a geographic component. Initially funded solely by TAP, in recent years DAPA's work has also been supported by other organizations including the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) and the Georgia Family Connection Partnership (FCP). As part of its work with the Casey Foundation, DAPA serves as one of the Local Learning Partners for Casey's Neighborhood Transformation and Family Development (NTFD) initiative in Atlanta. DAPA currently is working with AECF and other local data partners to develop an action plan to increase the capacity of residents in the Pittsburgh neighborhood to collect and effectively use data for their community-building goals. Also, along the lines of a recent study by The Urban Institute, DAPA is preparing a soon-to-be-released report that will look at the effect of the HOPE VI housing initiative on public housing residents within the Atlanta Housing Authority. In addition to periodic data requests from community building groups, DAPA is involved with TAP in the evaluation of Atlanta's Weed and Seed effort - a federally funded initiative in two Atlanta neighborhoods that combines law enforcement efforts with rehabilitative and prevention services. Specifically, DAPA works with city officials and partners to ensure the development of useful and practical indicators that will be used to help measure the progress of the multi-year program. Data Component DAPA's online database includes demographic indicators at the neighborhood level for Atlanta and for the Atlanta Empowerment Zone in addition to census tract data for Southside Atlanta (NPU-Y). By the end of 2002, the site will include demographic data and reports for all Atlanta neighborhoods for 1980, 1990 and 2000. DAPA also maintains a state-wide county-level indicator database as part of the Family Connection Partnership, a public-private partnership of service providers that serves as a catalyst to improve results in Georgia for children, families and communities. The FCP database includes over 20 benchmarks that measure such areas as child health and welfare, school performance, juvenile crime and employment. DAPA obtains raw data from various sources (primarily state government agencies) and releases the benchmarks at the school, school system, census tract, county and multi-county region levels. PARTNER BIOGRAPHIES: David Sawicki is Professor of City and Regional Planning and Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. At present he directs the Data and Policy Analysis (DAPA) group, a non-profit consulting firm run through Georgia Tech. Professor Sawicki has served in a number of administrative capacities: assistant dean and chair of urban planning at Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1971 to 1977; director of city planning at Tech from 1983 to 1992; chair of Tech's faculty senate, 1991-1992; and president of ACSP, the professional organization of planning faculty, from 1985 to 1987. DAPA is staffed by two full-time professionals and Tech graduate students, working part-time. Currently Dr. Sawicki's research is focused on two areas. The first is the use of data and information to support grass-roots attempts to solve the problems of persistent poverty. The second surrounds the questions of labor force participation, jobs generation, and economic development planning in areas of impacted poverty. His Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning (Second Edition) (with Dr. Carl V. Patton) (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1993) is a best-selling textbook in public policy. He has published recently in: the Journal of the American Planning Association, Economic Development Quarterly, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Black Political Economy, Planning, and Economic Development Review. |