Yes / No / Task
Governance
1. Does the department adhere to its local government’s policies and procedures around interim appointments and processes for filling a permanent vacancy? (CSBG Std. 4.5)
2. The department’s tripartite board/advisory body is structured in compliance with CSBG Act by:
§ At least one-third democratically selected representatives of the low-income community
§ One-third local elected officials (or their representatives)
§ The remaining membership from major groups and interests in the community
Or selected a board through another mechanism specified by the State to assure decision-making and participation by low-income individuals in the development, planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs.
(CSBG Std. 5.1)
3. Does the department’s tripartite board/advisory body have either:
§ Written procedures that document a democratic selection process for low-income board members adequate to assure that they are representative of the low income community
§ Or another mechanism specified by the State to assure decision-making and participation by low-income individuals in the development, planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs? (CSBG Std. 5.2)
4. Has the department documented that each tripartite board/advisory body member received a copy of the governing documents with the past 2 years? (CSBG Std. 5.4)
5. Does the department’s tripartite board/advisory body meet in accordance with the frequency and quorum requirements? (CSBG Std. 5.5)
6. Does the department’s tripartite board/advisory body fill board vacancies as set out in its governing documents? (CSBG Std. 5.5)
7. Has each tripartite board/advisory body member signed a conflict of interest policy within the past 2 years? (CSBG Std. 5.6)
8. Does the department have a process to provide a structured orientation for tripartite board/advisory body members within 6 months of being seated? (CSBG Std. 5.7)
9. Has tripartite board/advisory body members been provided training on their duties and responsibilities within the past 2 years? (CSBG Std. 5.8)
10. Has the department’s tripartite board/advisory body members received programmatic reports at each regular board/advisory meeting? (CSBG Std. 5.9)
Leading People
11. Do senior leaders have the right capabilities to support the future strategy of the agency?
12. Does the agency require new leadership capabilities that currently do not exist in the organization?
13. Do leaders at all levels encourage staff members to openly express their views?
14. Are leaders at all levels ethical when dealing with each other, staff, and external partners?
15. Do leaders make timely and objective decisions?
16. Do leaders coach and mentor staff to meet or exceed their goals?
17. Are leaders of the agency trusted?
18. Do leaders at all levels make their expectations clear to their staffs?
19. Do leaders at all levels help staff prioritize work to align with strategic objectives?
20. Do leaders hold people accountable for results?
21. Do leaders hold people accountable for behavior?
22. Do leaders at all levels give people sufficient autonomy to do their jobs?
23. Do staff members receive sufficient feedback on their performance?
24. Do leaders support the training and development of staff members?
25. Do leaders delegate authority effectively?
26. Do leaders effectively manage change?
Financial Leadership
27. Are you or your finance team lacking adequate accounting skills?
28. Is your board uninterested in financial metrics?
29. Do you have high turnover of auditors?
30. Do you (the chief executive) fail to focus on finances?
31. Is there a lack of financial accountability in your organization?
32. Is there too much trust and not enough skepticism in your organization?
33. Is there internal borrowing from restricted funds?
34. Does your organization lack investment expertise?
35. Are financial reports often late?
36. Does your organization have poor credit?
37. Does your organization lack adequate board policies?
38. Is there too much reliance on the audit in your organization?
39. Are you spending down cash reserves?
40. Is the department’s annual audit completed through the local governmental process in accordance with Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (if applicable) and/or State audit threshold requirements? This may be included in the municipal entity’s full audit. (CSBG Std. 8.1)
41. Is the department following local government procedures in addressing any audit findings related to CSBG funding? (CSBG Std. 8.2)
44. Has the department’s tripartite board/advisory body been notified of the availability of the local government audit? (CSBG Std. 8.3)
45. Has the department’s tripartite board/advisory body been notified of any findings related to CSBG funding? (CSBG Std. 8.4)
46. Has the tripartite board/advisory body received financial reports at each regular meeting, for those programs(s) the body advises, as allowed by local government procedures? (CSBG Std. 8.7)
46. Has the tripartite board/advisory body been given input as allowed by local governmental procedure into the CSBG budget process? (CSBG Std. 8.9)
47. Does the department follow local governmental policies for document retention and destruction? (CSBG Std. 8.13)
Action Plan
Action(based on gaps on assessment) / Responsible / Timeline
Yes / No / Task
1. Are the agency’s metrics a mix of both financial and operational measures?
2. Are the most important things in the agency being measured and monitored?
3. Do the metrics include both leading and lagging measures?
4. Do metrics inadvertently drive undesired performance?
5. Have metrics been cascaded down from the top to align with interdependent roles?
6. Are targets challenging?
7. Have the metrics been clearly communicated?
8. Does the organization have a system of rewarding good performance?
Action Plan
Action(based on gaps on assessment) / Responsible / Timeline
Yes / No / Task
1. Have the core processes needed to produce the department’s products/services been identified?
2. Are there established integration points between core processes that must collaborate?
3. Have processes that no longer support the strategy been eliminated?
4. Do core processes have enough resources to be effective?
5. Are the processes that have too many resources that decrease efficiency or quality?
6. Does the department follow local governmental policies in making available the employee handbook (or personnel policies in cases without a handbook) to all staff and in notifying staff of any changes? (CSBG Std. 7.2)
7. Does the department have written job descriptions for all positions? Updates may be out of the purview of the department. (CSBG Std. 7.3)
8. Does the department follow local government procedures for performance appraisal of the department head? (CSBG Std. 7.4)
9. Is compensation of the department head made available according to local governmental procedure? (CSBG Std. 7.5)
10. Does the department follow local governmental policies for regular written evaluation of employees by their supervisors? (CSBG Std. 7.6)
11. Does the department provide a copy of any existing local government whistleblower policy to members of the tripartite board/advisory body at the time of orientation? (CSBG Std. 7.7)
12. Does the department follow local governmental policies for new employee orientation? (CSBG Std. 7.8)
13. Does the department conduct or make available staff development training on a regular basis? (CSBG Std. 7.9)
14. Does the department make ROMA training available to staff? (CSBG Std. 7.9)
15. Does the department have a system or systems in place to track and report client demographics and services customers receive? (CSBG Std. 9.1)
16. Does the organization have a system or systems in place to track family, agency, and/or community outcomes? (CSBG Std. 9.2)
17. Has the department presented to the tripartite board/advisory body for review or action, at least within the past 12 months, an analysis of the agency’s outcomes and any operational or strategic program adjustments and improvements identified as necessary? (CSBG Std. 9.3)
18. Has the department submitted its annual CSBG Information Survey data report? (CSBG Std. 9.4)
19. Does the CSBG Information Survey data report reflect client demographics and organization-wide outcomes? (CSBG Std. 9.4)
Action Plan
Action(based on gaps on assessment) / Responsible / Timeline
Yes / No / Task
1. Does the department have a strategic plan, or comparable planning document, in place that has been reviewed and accepted by the tripartite board/advisory body within the past 5 years? (CSBG Std. 6.1)
2. Does the approved strategic plan or comparable planning document, address reduction of poverty, revitalization of low-income communities, and/or empowerment of people with low incomes to become more self-sufficient? (CSBG Std. 6.2)
3. Does the approved strategic plan or comparable document, contain family, agency, and/or community goals? (CSBG Std. 6.3)
4. Has an Annual Operating Plan been developed to cascade goals to responsible departments and staff?
5. Has customer satisfaction data and customer input been collected as part of the community assessment and included in the strategic planning process or comparable document? (CSBG Std. 6.4)
6. Has the tripartite board/advisory body received an update(s) on progress meeting the goals of the strategic plan/comparable planning document within the past 12 months? (CSBG Std. 6.5)
7. Has a clear strategy been articulated for your agency?
§ What elements are clear?
§ What elements are unclear?
8. Has the tripartite board/advisory body reviewed the department’s mission statement within the last 5 years and assured that:
§ The mission addresses poverty.
§ The organization’s programs and services are in alignment with the mission
(CSBG Std. 4.1)
9. Is the Community Action Plan outcome-based, anti-poverty focused, and ties directly with the community assessment? (CSBG Std. 4.2)
10. Does the department’s Community Action Plan and strategic plan document the continuous use of the full Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) cycle or comparable system (assessment, planning, implementation, achievement of results, and evaluation). In addition, the department documents having used the services of a ROMA certified trainer (or equivalent) to assist in implementation? (CSBG Std. 4.3)
11. Is the information from Community Action Plan integrated into the Strategic Planning?
12. Has the tripartite board/advisory body received an annual update on the success of strategies included in the Community Action Plan? (CSBG Std. 4.4)
13. Does the department comply with its local government’s risk assessment policies and procedures? (CSBG Std. 4.6)
14. Has the department conducted or been engaged in a community assessment and issued a report within the past 3 years (if no other report exists)? (CSBG Std. 3.1)
15. As part of the community assessment, does the department collect and include current data specific to poverty and its prevalence related to gender, age, and race/ethnicity for their service area(s)? (CSBG Std. 3.2)
16. Does the department collect and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data on its geographic service area(s) in the community assessment? (CSBG Std. 3.3)
17. Does the community assessment include key findings on the causes and conditions of poverty and the needs of the community? (CSBG Std. 3.4)
18. Has the tripartite board/advisory body formally accepted the completed community assessment? (CSBG Std. 3.5)
19. Has the data from the community assessment been analyzed as part of the strategic planning process?
20. Does the department demonstrate low-income participation in its activities? (CSBG Std. 1.1)
21. Does the department analyze information collected directly from low-income individuals as part of the community assessment? (CSBG Std. 1.2)
22. Does the department have a systematic approach for collecting, analyzing, and reporting customer satisfaction data to the tripartite board/advisory body, which may be met through broader local government processes? CSBG Std. 1.3)
23. Has the department documented or demonstrated partnerships across the community? (partnerships include other anti-poverty organizations in the area) (CSBG Std. 2.1)
24. Does the department utilize information gathered from key sectors of the community in assessing needs and resources, during the community assessment process or other times? These sectors would include at a minimum: community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, private sector, public sector, and educational institutions. (CSBG Std. 2.2)
25. Has the department communicated its activities and its results to the community? (CSBG Std. 2.3)
26. Has the number of volunteer hours in support of the department’s activities been documented? (CSBG Std. 2.4)
Action Plan
Action(based on gaps on assessment) / Responsible / Timeline
Yes / No / Task
1. Is the agency structured appropriately? (e.g., functional, geographic, product, customer or matrix)
2. Are spans of control appropriate for the work that needs to be done?
3. Are there any roles in the agency that no longer align with the new strategy?
4. Are there functions or teams that no longer align with the strategic objectives or are redundant as a result of the new strategy?
5. Are there new functions or teams that must be created to execute the strategy?
6. Has decision-making been allocated to ensure that strategy-impacting decisions are made at the right level?
Action Plan
Action(based on gaps on assessment) / Responsible / Timeline
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