Bob Mook, Pagosa Daily Post
Here in Colorado, human services programs aim to ensure that communities have the building blocks for a prosperous future, such as food, health care, child care and financial assistance. An interactive dashboard released this week, the ‘Human Services Gap Map,’ aggregates county-level data to provide a clear picture of how these programs are ensuring the well-being of all Coloradans.
The new ‘Human Services Gap Map’ features caseload and performance data from all of these programs in one place for the first time to show how these programs are helping people in their communities. Funded by various combinations of state revenue and federal dollars, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), Colorado Works and Medicaid all provide resources so that Coloradans get support to maintain a solid foundationn throughout their lives.
Key features of the dashboard include:
- Caseload data for each program by county with estimates of how many people may still be eligible for these basic needs programs.
- Fiscal data displaying how taxpayer dollars are spent on these programs, as well as benchmarks for efficiency.
- Performance data for programs funded by federal block grants and analysis tools for determining the true costs of serving eligible families.
The project was led by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) with support from The Bell Policy Center, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, Colorado Covering Kids and Families, and Hunger Free Colorado.
Read the full article here.