A table called “Performance Measure” summarizes the site and capacity building information you entered previously on the previous screen, called Performance Measures.
On the Anti-Poverty screen, you will enter information about how the organization or program that VISTAs are building the capacity of is designed to help individuals and communities out of poverty. You will enter only the anti-poverty programming aspects that specifically relate to the site and capacity building activities you identified previously on the Performance Measure page.
You will identify an anti-poverty output, an anti-poverty outcome, and an anti-poverty program strategy/intervention.
You will also enter the number of VISTAs (or Summer Associates) you are requesting related to each anti-poverty programming area.
You may also optionally enter information about data collection plans. Refer to the CNCS Performance Measurements webpage, which lists Anti-poverty Performance Measures along with definitions of key terms and data collection standards.
If you have more than one anti-poverty program that you are trying to build the capacity of at this site, you will enter information about each anti-poverty program separately. For example, you may be requesting VISTA resources to make your organization more capable of connecting economically disadvantaged individuals to housing resources, as well as to access to health care. In this instance, you would add information about the housing-related program and about the health care programming separately.
Select Focus Area Type
You must select a Focus Area Type from the drop-down menu. When you click on a Focus Area Type, a list of corresponding Focus Areas appears for that Focus Area Type.
“Priority Focus Area” refers to those Focus Areas from the Serve America Act that the VISTA program prioritizes in applications. The type “Other Focus Area” refers to Focus Areas in the Serve America Act that are not priorities of the VISTA program.
Refer to the CNCS Performance Measurements webpage for additional information about Focus Areas.
Select Focus Area and Objective
You must select a Focus Area from the drop-down menus. When you click on a Focus Area, a list of corresponding Objectives appear for that Focus Area Type.
You should then select an Objective from the drop-down menu.
Select “other” for your Objective if your program activities do not fall within one of the CNCS-defined focus areas.
Refer to the CNCS Performance Measurements webpage for additional information about Focus Areas and Objectives.
When you click on an Objective, a list of corresponding Anti-Poverty Outputs and Anti-Poverty Program Strategy/Interventions appears.
Anti-Poverty Outputs
The performance measure module includes a list of Anti-Poverty Outputs. The CNCS Performance Measurements webpage also lists these Anti-Poverty Outputs, along with definitions of key terms.
Select one Anti-Poverty Output that best reflects the intent of your anti-poverty programming at this site for this project year.
If none of the Anti-Poverty Output options in the list represent your programming, you may create your own Anti-Poverty Output by checking the last box in the list and entering your user created Anti-Poverty Output in the text box.
Anti-Poverty Outcomes
The performance measure module includes a list of Anti-Poverty Outcomes. The CNCS Performance Measurements webpage also lists these Anti-Poverty Outcomes, along with definitions of key terms.
Based on the Anti-poverty Output you selected above, a list of Anti-Poverty Outcomes will appear. Select the Anti-Poverty Outcome that best reflects the results of your anti-poverty programming at this site for this project year.
If none of the Anti-Poverty Outcome options in the list represent your programming, you may create your own Anti-Poverty Outcome by checking the last box in the list and entering your user created Anti-Poverty Outcome in the text box.
Anti-Poverty Program Strategy/Intervention
Select at least one Anti-Poverty Program Strategy/Intervention from the list and enter a brief description, including - to the extent known - the design, frequency, and intensity of the proposed intervention.
If none of the Anti-Poverty Program Strategy/Intervention options in the list represent your programming, you may create your own by checking the last box in the list and entering your user created Anti-Poverty Program Strategy/Intervention in the text box.
If you are still developing Anti-Poverty Program Strategy/Intervention, check the last box in the list and write “To be developed” in the text box.
Data Collection (Optional)
This section is optional. If you complete this section and your application is approved, you may be required to report data on selected measures in future progress reports.
Enter information for Anti-Poverty Outputs and Anti-Poverty Outcomes you identified above. For each measure, select an Instrument from the drop-down list, and then enter a Description. Add the Target Number that you hope to reach for the project year. The Unit of Measure will also appear if you selected a measure from the list. You will need to enter this information if you have user created measures.
For measures you selected from the list, you will collect and report data on future reports in accordance with the definitions and protocols identified for that measure, as identified on the CNCS Performance Measurements webpage.
Number of VISTAs
Enter the number of VISTAs/Leaders you are requesting to serve at in relation to the capacity building information and these Anti-Poverty Performance Measures. You may have VISTAs serving in relation to more than one programming area. You may count them as “1” in each area.
Next Steps
If you have additional anti-poverty programming areas related to this capacity building set, you will need to complete the Anti-Poverty screen again to enter the new information. Click “Add New Anti-Poverty Info” to add the new programming. You will see the Anti-Poverty Screen for this capacity building set, and you will repeat the Anti-Poverty instructions to make new selections.
Once you have entered information for all the anti-poverty programming areas related to this capacity building set, click “Done Adding Anti-Poverty Programming”. You will be returned to the Performance Measures screen where you can add capacity building information for any other sites or capacity goals.
Hint: If you have multiple sites doing similar programming, you can use the “Duplicate” at the chart in the top to create a copy of this performance measure set, and you can change individual fields. This is a short-cut to creating a whole new performance measure set.
If you are done adding performance measure information for the project, go to the Summary Screen.