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Duquesne University's Graduate Center for Social
and Public Policy proposes to train and make available
Community Development Fellows as community budget
analysts to assist residents of the Hill District
and Uptown to take a more active and informed
part in the preparation of the city's Consolidated
Community Development Plan. Two Community Budget
Analysts will each work ten hours per week on
this project during the spring semesters, when
preparations must be made for the public hearings
on the Consolidated Community Development Plan
(in March) and the city's capital budget (in June).
Community Development Fellows from the Policy
Center work part-time (typically twenty hours
per week) in a number of public and nonprofit
community organizations and agencies while they
are in school. They make significant contributions
to the organizations in which they work and at
the same time gain valuable community experience
that they bring back to their studies in the Policy
Center. In the process they earn a stipend that
supports them in their studies and gain excellent
contacts and experience that prepare them for
future employment.
In the case of the proposed Community Budget Analysts,
the Fellows will likely be graduate research assistants
in the Policy Center, with some background in
research and program evaluation, who will serve
half of their time in the community and the other
half assisting faculty members in the Policy Center.
The stipend for the Fellowship portion of their
work, the time they spend as Community Budget
Analysts, will come from the Community Outreach
Partnership Centers grant during the grant period.
If their help proves valuable to the communities,
the Policy Center will seek other funds to continue
the service in the future. Community Budget Analysts
will work under the direction of Dr. Evan Stoddard,
the Policy Center's Associate Director for Community
Outreach.
Sequence of Tasks
Each fall semester Dr. Stoddard will work with
Dr. Michael Irwin, the Policy Center's Administrative
Director, to identify two students who have the
skills and interests to serve as Community Budget
Analysts the following semester.
At the beginning of the spring semester Dr.
Stoddard will introduce the Community Budget Analysts
as resources to community leaders in the Hill
District and Uptown. He will also introduce them
to the Community Development staff in the Department
of City Planning, including Mr. Richard Bellisario,
Assistant Planning Director for Community Development,
and Dr. Susan Scheuring, Community Development
Program Supervisor. These officials have expressed
enthusiasm for the concept of the Community Budget
Analysts, and an interest to work with Duquesne
on this project to see if it can improve public
participation in the Consolidated Planning process.
The analysts will also become experts on the Consolidated
Community Development Plan, the city's capital
budget, and the programmatic resources available
to the communities through those resources.
The analysts will attend meetings of the Hill
Consensus Group, Uptown Community Action Group,
and other community organizations in the two neighborhoods,
listen for ways they can help to connect community
leaders with resources, and offer their suggestions
and help in a number of ways. They may be able
to suggest already existing programs or budgetary
resources to help meet needs in the communities.
They may become aware, through their research,
of significant community development needs in
the communities that are not adequately addressed
in the plans and budgets. They may do research
on ways other communities have tried to address
such needs, and recommend programmatic approaches
that community residents may propose in public
hearings. They may assist in meetings with public
officials to explore the impact of present or
proposed programs on the communities. They may
help prepare testimony on existing or proposed
programs or projects, by gathering data, compiling
statistics, writing, and so forth.
The analysts will attend hearings on the Consolidated
Community Development Plan with community residents,
and may testify at those hearings, if requested
to do so. They will be able to follow through
with reports or other materials that will help
to reinforce testimony or explore additional options
that come out of the hearings or meetings with
public officials.
Products to be Developed and Impact Objectives
Products
that may come out of this activity are statistical analyses, program
evaluations and other reports, testimony, and, ultimately, changes in
the plans and budgets that will be the focus of the Community Budget
Analyst's attention.
The expected impact will be a higher level of
participation in the planning and budgeting process
by residents and business owners in the two communities.
A related objective is greater understanding among
community residents and business owners of how
they can effectively take part in the planning
and budgeting process, as reported by themselves,
including the type of contribution that can best
assist public officials to support community development
efforts.
Duplication and Appropriateness
No other organization in Pittsburgh is performing
the function described above. Many years ago community
planners in the Department of City Planning performed
a similar role, acting as intermediaries and,
at times, advocates of community needs in the
city's planning and budgeting process. Fiscal
constraints eliminated the cadre of community
planners in the department, and there is now no
one in city government who is playing this role,
nor is there a nonprofit organization that gives
this type of support to low-income communities.
The proposed project will provide a significant
service to the communities that are Duquesne's
partners and at the same time will give students
in the Policy Center an excellent opportunity
to connect local governmental processes with the
needs of communities. It will call on their expertise
in research and analysis, policy development and
implementation, and writing, in a practical and
useful endeavor.
Contact: Dr.
Evan Stoddard or call 396-5179
Project
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