Community
Report Card
A Collaborative Community Project
City of Danbury
Danbury Hospital
United Way of Western Connecticut
Western Connecticut State University
www.wcsu.edu/reportcard
Community Report Card
What is a Community Report Card?
 A document which presents views on
how a community is doing
 Topics vary by community and can
vary over time
 Certain issues/indicators, are selected
as important measures of a
community’s well-being
Community Report Card
What will Our Community Report Card Include?
 Phase 1 will focus on health related indicators in ten
towns
Bethel
New Milford
Bridgewater
Newtown
Brookfield
Redding
Danbury
Ridgefield
New Fairfield
Sherman
 Our Report Card will be available in print and online
Community Report Card
What are the benefits?
 Increases everyone’s awareness about their
community
 Engages and motivates people and agencies
 Feedback will provide us with a better
understanding of community perceptions of local
problems
Community Report Card
What are the benefits?

Learning what the public doesn’t know will help us
target health education and awareness efforts

Identifies what we don’t know and what issues need to
be worked on

Encourages joint planning and problem solving

Support for grant writing and responding to funding
opportunities
Community Report Card
Who were the pioneers?
 Tim Baughman & Elizabeth Goehring, United Way of Western
Connecticut
 Andrea Rynn, Danbury Hospital
 Scott LeRoy, Danbury Health Department
 James Schmotter, President WCSU
Community Report Card
The Steering Committee
CoChair:
Linda
Rinker
Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs, WCSU
CoChair:
Andrea
Rynn
Director, Public and Government Relations, Danbury
Hospital
Ellen
Durnin
Dean, Graduate Studies and External Relations, WCSU
Karen
Daley
Associate Professor of Nursing, WCSU
Neil
Dworkin
Associate Professor of Management, WCSU
Elizabeth
Goehring
Executive Vice President, United Way of Western
Connecticut
Robyn
Housemann
Assistant Professor of Health Promotion & Exercise
Sciences, WCSU
Chris
Kukk
Associate Professor of Social Sciences, WCSU
Scott
LeRoy
Director of Public Health, City of Danbury
Shane
Murphy
Assistant Professor of Psychology, WCSU
Marie
O’Neill
Senior Vice President, Retail Banking, Marketing and Sales,
Union Savings Bank
June
Renzulli
CEO, United Way of Western Connecticut
Community Report Card
The Steering Committee
 Review existing Community Report Cards
 Prepare preliminary list of indicators
 Meet with stakeholders for feedback on indicators
 Determine which indicators would best measure our well-being

Focus on health related issues during Phase 1

Compile additional indicators that could be added at a later date

Expand the scope of the Report Card in the future
Community Report Card
The Indicators
37 indicators have been selected in the areas of:

Access to Health Insurance

Child Abuse

Diseases

Education

Emergency Room Visits

Health & Lifestyle

Mental Health

Poverty

Pregnancy

Suicide
Community Report Card
The Links
Additionally, the report card will provide links to
further information on the indicators as well as links to
information not covered by the indicators. For
example:

A link to Prevent Child Abuse CT to get help on
questions, issues and reporting child abuse

A link to the Housatonic Valley of Elected
Officials website for demographic and affordable
housing statistics
Community Report Card
The Future
Finally, future phases of the report card will incorporate
additional indicators. Examples include:

Public Safety

Recreation and Culture

Environment

Community Involvement
At each new phase of the report card stakeholders will
provide feedback on indicators to incorporate.
Community Report Card
Collecting and Organizing the Data
hired two Graduate Assistants to:
 Create a project plan
 Determine availability of the data on the
indicators for the ten towns
 Acquire data and compile into the final
product
 Have both print and online version of Report
Card available in May 2008
Community Report Card
The Budget
Funds
Received
Funds Needed
$19,200
$10,000
$9,200
Personnel, Staff Support and
Editorial Review
$1,280
In Kind
$0
Printing/Binding
$3,000
In Kind
$0
Marketing
$2,000
$0
$2000
$10,000
$11,200
Item
Personnel—Research, Writing and
Web
Total
Estimated
Cost
$25,480
Personnel:
 Two graduate assistants shall conduct research and write the Community Report Card and one faculty member shall
provide direction for the students.
 Staff support and editorial review, approximately 40 hours at $32.00 per hour.
Printing and Binding:
 1,000 copies of a 32 page booklet (full color cover, two color pages inside).
Marketing and Press Conference:
 Press release, invitations to a reception/press conference and refreshments.
Community Report Card
Our Funders
….Making a difference in our communities. Thank you for supporting this health initiative!
 Boehringer Ingelheim
 Danbury Hospital
 Fairfield County Bank
 Fairfield County Community Foundation
 Savings Bank of Danbury
 Union Savings Bank
 United Way of Western Connecticut
 Western Connecticut State University
Community Report Card
Feedback
The data secured on the indicators
will be shared with stakeholders
before it is published