Community Building: Tools and Data



Recipes for Community Success (The Cookbook)

RECIPES FOR COMMUNITY SUCCESS: A Guide for Improving the Condition of Children and Families in your Community captures the many lessons learned by successful communities.

Each section describes tools, provides helpful hints, and lists the key ingredients your neighborhood/community will need. You can combine these ingredients with your own enthusiasm, dedication, and leadership to achieve success. Experienced professionals and key community members have volunteered to assist you each step of the way.





Report Card
Each year, the Kern County Report Card updates more than 160 data indicators on child and family well-being including: family economics, education, child/adolescent health, child safety and at-risk youth behavior.

The Report Card also contains essays inspired by the Kern Cares prevention calendar on young children in poverty, infant child care, bullying, infant sleep-related deaths, child sexual abuse and water safety. In addition to raising awareness of these issues, each essay includes suggestions for the reader to help children have healthy, safe lives.

The Report Card invites the community to join the Kern County Network for Children and discover positive, proactive ways that they can contribute to building a strong future for our children.







Social Condition Matrix

The Social Condition Matrix system is an Excel-based system designed to help programs evaluate changes in the condition and functioning of client families. The strength-based system, based on advocate or case manager observation, tracks a family's status in twelve functional areas over time. By evaluating families holistically, rather than only their negative or problem areas, case planning can build upon family strengths which improves long term outcomes.

The Social Condition Matrix is designed for both front-line and administrative staff. Advocates are able to easily document changes over time in each client family and Program Managers are able to easily supervise the program's total caseload. The system is available free to family service organizations.




Other KCNC & Community Agency Resources

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