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Research and Advocacy Program Initiatives • 2002-2003
CLA's Policy Research and Advocacy Program contemplates several initiatives to further the directive to use applied research as a tool for advancing a common advocacy agenda for the Latino community and the organizations that serve them.
Improving the State of DC Latinos. With generous support from the Trellis Fund and other donors, CLA's two-year research project is on schedule for the May 2002 publication of the State of Latinos in the District of Columbia. The goal of year three is to make this publication a key advocacy resource through interactive media campaigns, public education forums, and CLA membership capacity building.
Research as the Cornerstone of Effective Latino Advocacy. Local and national agencies' frequent requests for reliable data and policy briefings means that CLA must expand its in-house research expertise. This initiative will support efforts to identify new datasets, analyze quantitative data on Latino populations, and convert data into usable formats for distribution to CLA member agencies and other organizations with a policy research mission.
Latino Kids Count, Too. The annual D.C. Kids Count report omits analysis by ethnicity, thereby perpetuating the statistical invisibility of Latino youth in the District. This initiative will conduct secondary analysis of census data by ethnicity, with comparative results and recommendations for action.
Latino Health and Housing Survey. A key finding of the State of DC Latinos is that reliable quantitative data are woefully lacking, thereby hampering effective advocacy on behalf of Latinos. This initiative would lay the groundwork for a population-based survey of Latino households resident in two District census tracts, providing timely information to complement CLA's recent qualitative research and policy work on housing issues and health-seeking behavior affecting Latinos.
Research Objectives & Strategies
Document and analyze the needs, assets, capacities and voices of CLA membership agencies and their constituencies.
Objective
1. Conduct action-oriented research designed to produce findings that focus on the critical issues affecting the DC Latino community and the agencies that serve them.
Strategies
• Cultivate relationships with existing data collection and reporting organizations
• Promote integration of qualitative and quantitative methodologies
• Triangulate findings through diversified data source
2. Carry out data analysis of primary and secondary data focusing on priority policy issues for the DC Latino community and the agencies that serve them.
Strategies
• Pressure DC government agencies to include data on Latinos
• Close information gaps in DC government statistic centers
• Use State of Latinos in DC report for further policy analysis and follow-up project planning
3. Report research results with clear policy relevance and service delivery implications for DC-area Latino populations
Strategies
• Highlight both quantitative and qualitative results
• Provide information in digestible form
4. Disseminate findings from all research endeavors that have direct policy and program relevance to CLA member agencies and their constituencies.
Strategies
• Maximize policy research impact by using a wide array of media outlets, including print, radio and electronic, and targeting multiple audiences.
• Establish CLA as a key media resource on issues affecting the Latino community.
Advocacy Objectives and Strategies
Develop and implement a common advocacy agenda driven by CLA membership and their constituencies to impact DC policy and services.
Objective
1. Establish a common advocacy agenda and unite member agencies and their constituencies around issues of common concern such as immigration, health, education, affordable housing, civic participation, and cultural heritage.
Strategies
• Develop core task force groups around specific issue areas with participants who work directly with people most affected by the issue.
• Form a rapid response policy team/advisory group to respond to urgent issues and to provide systematic analysis.
2. Act as the "advocacy catalyst" to ensure that CLA member agencies and their constituencies advocate more effectively for issues of concern.
Strategies
• Coordinate advocacy exchange with advocacy/policy experts.
• Inform members of advocacy opportunities (i.e. hearings, town hall meetings, city initiatives).
• Disseminate digestible policy research products synthesizing information, budget analyses, and community perspective.
3. Conduct direct-action advocacy on behalf of CLA members and the Latino community.
Strategies
• Create advocacy opportunities and coordinate activities to exploit them.
• Develop direct relationships with policymakers and their staff.
• Establish CLA as a key media resource on issues affecting the Latino community.
Research and Advocacy Tools
NEW!
Applied - Research: Missing Latinos on the DC Statistical Map
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Research as a Cornerstone for Effective Latino Advocacy
Background
In March of 2000, the Council of Latino Agencies (CLA) was awarded a grant by the Trellis Fund to begin this project, which focuses on improving access to data and enhancing databases on the DC metropolitan Latino community. The project grew out of the awareness of how much advocacy, planning, and programming of social and health services for the Latino community has suffered due to lack of adequate, reliable and current data. During the first phase of this project, a cross section of community leaders came together in a series of meetings to assist in the formulation of the project.
A key problem they identified was the lack of reliable and up-to-date data on Latinos in the DC metropolitan area. Without such data, advocacy efforts that attempt to attract resources into the community, document lack of services, or otherwise seek to address community grievances are undermined. Services being designed/delivered cannot be assured in terms of either responsiveness or effectiveness, as the ability to measure interventions against baseline data is not possible. Community-wide planning is not as informed, and communities such as the DC Latino community cannot attract the kind of resources necessary to address systematic problems without accurate data.
There are many probable reasons for the lack of accurate data on Latinos in DC. Through consultations with CBOs, community leaders, academics and researchers, some primary causes we have identified are:
1. Governmental agencies that collect data do not separate the indicators by ethnicity when reporting.
2. Sources of data gathered by CBOs are not routinely reported to an entity that could distribute the information to policy makers.
3. Research in the private sector routinely leaves ethnicity out of its reporting.
4. Crucial information is not being collected by any source.
Project Description
CLA will use three strategies for overcoming barriers to gathering, analyzing, archiving and using demographic information about DC Latinos.
The first is improving the inclusion of Latinos in data collection. Advocacy efforts will be undertaken to demonstrate the essentials of and methods for including data about Latinos in public and private research. This will be done primarily through outreach to research organization, both public and private, to explain and demonstrate the importance of collecting data on Latinos. The additional benefit to this work will be the important relationships built with these organizations and the access to their data.
The second method is developing strategic data collection. The Latino community does not have critical data that it needs to advocate for the community. To improve access to data, CLA will develop and formalize partnerships with researchers and research institutions to collect data in certain strategic areas.
The final method CLA will utilize is building CBO data capacity. In the past, this area has been addressed primarily by disconnected research projects with limited long-term impact. In order to maximize the use of information, CBOs must develop technological infrastructures and incorporate research into their core mission. Work will be done with to explore possible responses to this challenge.
All of the information gathered through the above-described strategies will be used to manage an up-to-date database, formulate policy papers, and conduct advocacy activities. Gathering the information is not an end in of itself but instead a tool to assist the community in reaching its larger goals. One of the ways this will be done is by creating a ?State of the Latino Community? document.
In order to help guide the formulation of the project, an Advisory Board has been established that includes CBOs, researchers and individuals with policy formulation experience.
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