CAMConnect, E & R Bldg, Rm 254., 401 Haddon Ave., Camden, NJ 08103; Phone (856) 757-7869, Fax (856) 757-9779,
The Annie E. Casey Foundation: Annual/Final Progress Report
Grantee:The Cooper Foundation
Grant Number:202.0759
Request ID Number:945531.02
AECF Staff ID:CG
Project Title:Support the Operations of the Camden Data Warehouse
Reporting Period:December 1, 2003 –November 30, 2004
Report Due Date:December 31, 2004
OBJECTIVES
1)To produce and distribute at least four (4) new Camden Reports dealing with health data; tax revenues and municipal budgeting; employment data; and citizen satisfaction. These reports are intended to be timely and useful during the ongoing State Recovery process.
2)To further build CAMConnect’s information holdings to include additional public documents and revitalization plans;
3)To provide opportunities for the exchange of information about Camden City, including a Data Fair of relevant organizations;
4)To establish mechanisms for measuring citizen satisfaction with institutions and quality of life related to the State Municipal Rehabilitation and Recovery Act (MRRA); and
5)To expand the funding base of CAMConnect through contracts, fees for service, corporate grants and foundation grants.
ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS TO DATE
1)Production of four (4) new Camden Reports dealing with health data; tax revenues and municipal budgeting; employment data; and citizen satisfaction
a)Versions of these reports have been completed and are included in this packet. Each report as it stands now provides valuable information that is ready or nearly ready for distribution and can be used by the community and decision-makers in discussion and formulation of improvement strategies. However, each of these reports is still very much a work in progress. CAMConnect is looking forward to expanding and revising these reports in 2005 and beyond with additional input from experts and new data.
b)In addition to the reports listed above, we have partnered with the Association for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) to produce a Camden City Kids Count report, which was released at a press conference in October 2004. This report was featured in both local newspapers and has been very well received by organizations in Camden. CAMConnect has $10,000 pending -- pledged by the Camden Center for Youth Development and the Camden Empowerment Zone – which can be used for outreach activities related to this report. We are also planning on producing follow-up reports in 2005 and beyond to include updated data. The 2004 Kids Count report is included in this packet.
c)CAMConnect has distributed information from these reports via its website: The user interface of this website has been made more compelling, and other additional information has been added (see discussion below). Maps and data of interest contained in these reports have been distributed to CAMConnect members and at community events throughout the year. CAMConnect has maintained its relationship with Cooper Hospital to allow for in-kind black-and-white printing of reports.
2)Further build CAMConnect’s information holdings to include additional public documents and revitalization plans;
a)CAMConnect upgraded and simplified its website ( in 2004 to allow for easier posting of public documents online. During the past 12 months, CAMConnect has obtained and posted or linked to many public documents, including but not limited to the ones listed below. Most of these documents are not available elsewhere online. CAMConnect’s document posting policy is to post any document that is substantive and adds to the dialogue about Camden. Fair presentation of opposing viewpoints and balance are essential to CAMConnect’s vision of becoming a public document library for Camden during this time of transition.
Camden municipal budget (posted online during public comment phase and reposted when the final document was approved.)
Camden School District audits and correspondence between the District and the State Department of Education
Camden Police Department contract and arbitration decision (the contract is currently up for renewal and certain work rules are acknowledged as hindering effective policing).
Camden County Jail technical assistance report
Data from the Camden Safer Cities Initiative, which has examined gun violence in Camden and proposed improvements
HIV / AIDS cases in Camden City
Higher Education Task Force, economic impact report
Air quality monitoring data
Camden Water consumer confidence report
b)CAMConnect also created a web-based forum related to the Cramer Hill redevelopment initiative. This initiative includes the development of a new public golf course and market rate housing, but could also result in the displacement of many existing residents. Documents posted on this site include the City’s redevelopment plans and proposed relocations, as well as legal challenges to the plan.
3)Provide opportunities for the exchange of information about Camden City, including a Data Fair of relevant organizations
a) The first annual Camden Data Fair was held on December 3, 2004 at Rutgers University – Camden. Approximately 90 people attended, including Camden community leaders, School District and municipal officials, and Rutgers faculty and students. Panel discussions were held on public safety, neighborhood revitalization, and children and families. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice gave the keynote presentation on prisoner re-entry in Camden. Also, during breaks between speakers, 15 organizations had tables with poster presentations of data on topics including voter participation, crime and assaults, pregnancies and births, housing markets, and redevelopment. CAMConnect organized this event, contacted the presenters, secured the meeting space, and developed an outreach strategy. The positive response to this event means that CAMConnect will expand and improve on the concept in 2005 and beyond, in addition to ongoing Member meetings that will provide another
b) CAMConnect also is acting as the local convener of an effort by a statewide organization to engage the community in a discussion of education indicators. In August, CAMConnect organized a meeting attended by over 20 individuals that resulted in the selection of a steering committee and review team for the upcoming report, to be released in 2005. CAMConnect will continue this local facilitation effort in 2005, with the ultimate goal of building capacity within the School District and within our organization to allow for local updates of this indicators report.
c) In 2004, CAMConnect entered into a partnership with the Alliance for the Revitalization of Camden City (ARCC), which is funded by the Ford Foundation and Annie E. Casey. CAMConnect’s data products have formed a basis for the discussion in many of ARCC’s working groups, and ARCC has joined CAMConnect as a member. This collaboration will deepen during 2005 as ARCC’s activities proceed.
4)Establish mechanisms for measuring citizen satisfaction with institutions and quality of life related to the State Municipal Rehabilitation and Recovery Act (MRRA)
a)Opinion Surveys - These surveys were conducted in July and August 2004 with the help of high school students who work for Hopeworks, a youth training program in the City of Camden. Hopeworks trains youth in GIS mapping, web design, and data collection. Nearly 1,000 Camden residents were contacted using street intercept surveys in all of Camden neighborhoods. The findings of this survey are included in this packet. There are some concerns over the reliability of the findings because of variability between different surveyors (see discussion in Problems / Obstacles section below). However, despite these concerns, one finding worthy of further discussion is that residents experience a decline in social capital the longer they have resided in Camden. In other words, the day-to-day stresses of coping with the challenges of the city wear down people’s trust and sense of community.
b)Feedback Hotline - Independent development of a hotline did not proceed in 2004 because of budget constraints and concern over redundancy with ongoing City efforts to allow for better tracking of complaints. Hopeworks did develop an online mapping tool to track complaints that has potential for future use. In 2005, CAMConnect will work with the City of Camden on development and monitoring of its Citistat effort (modeled on the successful approach used in Baltimore and other cities).
5)Expanding the funding base of CAMConnect through contracts, fees for service, corporate grants and foundation grants (see attached summary of matching funds for 2004 and 2005)
a) CAMConnect has continued to receive the strong support of Cooper University Hospital and the Cooper Department of Family Medicine. In addition to a $20,000 cash contribution to CAMConnect, the Department has donated office space, duplicating services, staff and technical support, and equipment. The Department has pledged similar contributions for 2005 and the foreseeable future (see attached letter of support).
b) During 2004, CAMConnect changed its organizational model so that the organization is now comprised of dues-paying members, instead of stakeholders who mostly provided in-kind support. A membership model will help to simplify the organizational structure, broaden CAMConnect’s appeal, and diversify the revenue base. Already, CAMConnect has received over $1,200 in membership contributions for 2005, with further development efforts pending.
c) CAMConnect has continued its role of coordination of the Camden County Cancer Needs and Capacity Assessment for the Camden County Cancer Education and Early Detection (CEED) Coalition. Over $150,000 in revenues from this project were realized during the past 12 months, with further work continuing into 2005 for Camden County and for other counties as well.
d) Evaluation of the Weed & Seed Program administered by Camden Neighborhood Renaissance has provided another source of revenue for CAMConnect, which has received $10,000 in 2004 for the first stage of this process. Additional funding will be available in 2005 for phase two of this evaluation (see attached letter).
e) Other funds received in 2004 include:
$5,000 from Association for Children of New Jersey for printing and development of the Camden Kids Count report
$200 from Education Law Center for local interviews pertaining to its education indicators project
f) Pending funds for 2005 include but are not limited to:
$20,000 (plus in-kind support) from Cooper University Hospital and Cooper Family Medicine
$7,000 from Camden Neighborhood Renaissance for phase two of the Weed & Seed evaluation
$20,000 from Camden City Youth Services Commission for data management services
$10,000 from the Camden Center for Youth Development and the Camden Empowerment Zone for outreach pertaining to the Kids Count report
$1,000 from the Camden City School District for mapping services
Additional revenues from the CEED cancer needs assessment project
Membership dues
PROBLEMS/OBSTACLES
1)Receiving institutional approval for an expanded research protocol to investigate health issues took longer than expected. Thus, data analysis of hospitalizations attributable to ambulatory care sensitive conditions, work that was scheduled to begin in 2004, will have to be postponed until 2005.
2)The subcontractor for the summer surveys is a youth development organization in Camden (Hopeworks). Each surveyor had several days of training (including a session with CAMConnect) and ongoing supervision, and the surveyors also participated in the administration of a pilot survey. However, the data collected was not of the desired quality, as significant differences existed between the responses recorded by each surveyor. Future partnerships of this type will require even more oversight and training, rotating teams of surveyors in the field to allow for better quality control, and perhaps more Spanish-proficient surveyors.
PLANNED ACTIVITES FOR NEXT REPORTING PERIOD
The exact shape of CAMConnect’s work plan for the upcoming months is pending an upcoming Board retreat and strategic planning session. We anticipate that the following efforts begun in 2004 will continue in 2005:
Camden Neighborhood Renaissance, Weed & Seed evaluation, Phase 2
Education indicators project: outreach management, data review, release of Camden report
Health protocol: data analysis from all Camden hospitals, including hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions
Camden municipal budget and taxes report: additional investigation, release, and outreach
Camden employment report: additional investigation, release, and outreach
Camden City Youth Services Commission data management: work as a contracted data manager will include maintenance of a database and generation of reports about youth-serving organizations.
Camden Kids Count 2004: outreach
Acquisition and posting of public documents
Member retention and recruitment
We are also beginning to plan for new 2005 reports and activities. These may include:
Updated crime report with additional 911 information;
Environmental health status report;
Expanded 2005 Kids Count;
Camden Data Fair 2005; and
Residential displacement report
In addition, CAMConnect has been contacted to participate in several proposals submitted by other organizations for work to be conducted in 2005. These proposals include an update of a Camden City Health Needs Assessment and evaluation of services administered by the local diocese of Catholic Charities. Additional activities for CAMConnect are dependent on the success of these proposals as well as other opportunities that may arise during the course of 2005. Therefore, we believe it is prudent to allow for time related to new opportunities or timely responses to events affecting the City of Camden.
ATTACHMENTS
Letter of support from Cooper Family Medicine
Letter of support from Camden Neighborhood Renaissance
Summary of Matching Funds for CAMConnect, 2004-2005
Camden Reports 2004: Injuries, Employment, Budget and Taxes, Social Capital Survey
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CAMConnect / The Cooper Foundation1December 31, 2004
Grant #: 202.0759Final / Annual Progress ReportRequest ID #: 945531.02