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NNIP PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Community Research Partners Institutional Setting Community Research Partners (CRP) is a nonprofit organization based in Columbus, Ohio, established in 2000 by the City of Columbus, United Way of Central Ohio, and the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at The Ohio State University. CRP's mission is "to provide leadership and expertise in measurement, evaluation and research that advances human services and community development policy and practice, as a means to create positive community change." CRP is known for its ability to integrate knowledge across and within systems; connect theory with practice; bring clarity to complex issues; and make its work widely accessible. CRP's 12 professional staff, working with a network of university and consultant partners, provides services for public, non-profit and philanthropic organizations in the human services, education, health and community development policy and program areas. CRP's programs and services are focused in two areas. Through its Community Data Services, CRP provides services, undertakes projects, and participates in community activities that make use of original and secondary data to understand and address community conditions, trends, needs and issues, primarily in central Ohio. Through its Research Services, CRP designs and undertakes program evaluation, applied research, and policy research projects, and participates in policy forums, addressing local, state and national programs and issues. CRP's funding includes operating support from its three partner organizations and The Columbus Foundation and grant and contract funding to undertake projects for a wide array of organizations, both within and outside of central Ohio. DataSource: The Franklin County, Ohio, Community Data System Community Research Partners has worked with a coalition of funders and data providers since 2001 to develop DataSource, a state-of-the-art, on-line community statistical system that collects, organizes and makes accessible data to support analysis and action by organizations and individuals. The system was developed for Community Research Partners by the Cartographic Modeling Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, based on a similar system developed for Philadelphia, and is hosted by the Columbus Department of Technology. Users of the system can create, customize and download maps, tables, summary statistics, charts and trend graphs from their desktop for a variety of geographic areas in Franklin County, including census tracts, municipal jurisdictions, zip codes and school districts. Users include funders, public officials, service providers, neighborhood and grassroots organizations, researchers and students. The first release of the system includes census, social services, education and property data, with 275 data elements. CRP, as manager of the system, is responsible for convening the multi-agency System Policy Group, maintaining an update protocol, and working with community organizations to add new data elements and geographies. The test version of the system was completed in 2004, and it was publicly released at CRP's 5th anniversary event in October 2005. CRP has developed both classroom and electronic training curricula and is providing training and technical assistance for individuals and organizations in how to use the DataSource system, as well as in how to use the data that reside in the system. In addition, CRP uses the data in DataSource for its community indicator and research projects. Roberta F. Garber, Executive Director. Prior to becoming CRP's first director in 2001, Bobbie headed Roberta F. Garber Consulting, which provided planning, research, evaluation, and facilitation services for nonprofit and public sector organizations. Previously, she held the position of Deputy Director for Community Development at the Ohio Department of Development and was a city planner for the cities of West Carrollton, and Kettering, Ohio. She holds an M.A. in Communication Arts from the University of Dayton and a Bachelor of Urban Planning from the University of Cincinnati. |
