Spring 2001

Philadelphia city government, in collaboration with the Safe and Sound campaign, recently unveiled Philadelphia's first Children's Budget. This budget, combined with the previously released City Report Card and a major advertising campaign, makes a powerful "macro" strategy to change systems and ultimately improve the conditions for youth in Philadelphia.

"These inter-connected efforts were created to change the city's public and political will and to focus all of us on results and accountability," says Naomi Post, executive director of Philadelphia Safe and Sound. "Gathering and presenting data in this way allows us to see the whole picture of needs and investments, not just isolated parts, and then to act in a more coordinated and effective way."

The Children's Budget, released by Mayor John Street in December 2000, is an in-depth analysis of how the public sector (local, state and federal) invests in children. The various levels of government pay for many services that help and protect children such as education, medical services and protection from child abuse. But because these services are provided through many different agencies at all levels of government, it is extremely difficult to understand what is being spent for children, for which services and by whom.

The Children's Budget answers these questions by compiling all the funding information for these many programs into one document.

Led by Director of Social Services Estelle Richman, the team that developed the Children's Budget included key members of the city's Social Services Division, who worked closely with Philadelphia Safe and Sound. This team was instrumental in securing the cooperation of all city agencies and state departments in compiling the extensive and comprehensive financial data in the document.

City Report Card measures health and safety indicators

The Children's Budget will be updated and released annually. In the future its release will be timed with that of the annual City Report Card, which was first released in June, 2000. The Report Card, the most comprehensive study of children's health and safety indicators in the city's history, was developed by the multi-agency Philadelphia Coalition for Kids under the leadership of Philadelphia Safe and Sound.

"The Coalition for Kids developed the Report Card in such a way that it is a highly credible, universally accepted, results-based document," says Post. She says the Report Card will dramatically alter the youth-serving environment in three ways:

• Government agencies will be pressed to adopt a new managerial style based on the question, "How do I affect this outcome?" rather than "How much do I produce?"
  
  
• Private agencies, occasionally working independently or even at cross-purposes with government, can redirect their energies to fill in gaps or reinforce existing services.
  
  
• More research of "best practices" could be spurred, as the Report Card will serve as a measurement of efficacy.

This impact can already be seen. With the help of Safe and Sound, each city department head completed an action-plan in response to the findings of the Report Card.

"Representatives from every social service department, the school district, the police department and others are meeting and working together on indicators from the Report Card that they can collectively impact," says Post. "For perhaps the first time, they are moving dollars and people in a coordinated effort. The data is driving policy and investments."

The Department of Human Services recently used the Report Card to request more TANF surplus dollars, and secured $10 million to launch both child abuse and violence reduction programs in July 2001. Anecdotal evidence is showing that many private non-profits and foundations are using the Report Card to guide investment decisions.

It's not surprising, then, that the document that describes the areas of greatest need and the one that delineates where the investments are made will be released together on an annual basis beginning in June 2001. The goal is to see, over time, the movement of money into the areas of greatest need and impact. "The annual production of both documents will be an essential tool in redirecting resources to problem areas and in implementing comprehensive, cooperative strategies," says Post.

Ad campaign says "Show Kids the Way"

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Coalition for Kids ran an advertising campaign beginning in February 2000 that encouraged adults to "Be an Adult. Show Kids the Way." With radio, TV, print and transit advertising in 2000 valued at nearly $2 million, the campaign is a major ingredient of Safe and Sound's effort to change the perceptions, attitudes and understanding of children's issues. Many public and private organizations helped fund the campaign.

The ad campaign will be retooled for the future, according to Post. The messages will be made more action-oriented and tied to the indicators in the Report Card. For example, one of the indicators in the Report Card is the percent of youth involved in substance abuse, and the ad campaign might include specific actions the community could take to improve the statistics. The plan to accomplish this will be developed after Safe and Sound conducts market and opinion research, once again highlighting the value of data to the organization's every effort.

For more information about the Children's Budget, City Report Card, media campaign help Safe and Sound influence public opinion and spur systems change or the media campaign, contact Philadelphia Safe and Sound at 215-226-2501.