Community Renewal Programme - Community Renewal Index (CRI)

Community Renewal Programme – Community Renewal Index (CRI)

Prepared for the November 13, 2024 Symposium of Best Practices for Social and Community Development

A single number that establishes a ranking/position for each community along a renewal continuum.
A composite index composed of five interconnected domains and 13 component indicators that measure multi-dimensional progress towards community renewal goals in the 100 most volatile and vulnerable communities in Jamaica.
CRI scores are bound on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 representing least renewed and 100 most renewed (the ‘ideal’).
The CRI is an innovative tool that was conceptualized in 2016 by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), through its Community Renewal Programme (CRP), and finalized in 2019 in collaboration with key stakeholders.

To allow multidimensional phenomena (i.e. five CRP components) to be converted to unidimensional
To allow situations to be compared across time more easily
To compare communities and/or other cases in a transitive way (ranking and benchmarking)
To allow clear cut answers to deﬁned questions related to change across time or comparison between communities, parishes, etc.
To assess the impacts and achievements of current CRP interventions and/or determine ways of improving those interventions
To explore potential priority areas for community renewal

The CRI consists of five (5) interrelated dimensions and 13 component indicators that are outcome-focused.

Dimensions	Component Indicators
Prosperity	Employment
	Non-Poor
	Education
	Internet access
Security	Security related to absence of murders
	Security related to absence of other major crimes
	Security related to absence of gangs
Health & Environment	% of household members without major NCDs (hypertension, asthma, diabetes)
	Housing Quality Index
	Condition of the built/physical environment
Cohesion	Degree of community organization
Justice Mechanisms	Existence of justice points
Justice Mechanisms	Frequency of reporting of interpersonal conflicts to the police

A community that is secure, cohesive, just and prosperous, with healthy environments, in keeping with Vision 2030 Jamaica. Benchmarks for a renewed community are to be determined as the Index is applied across more communities.

The CRI is a statistical estimate that is constructed using secondary data that is collected by select Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government, and primary data from community surveys commissioned by the CRP Secretariat.
The index is computed as a weighted aggregate of component indicators for each of the five dimensions of community renewal.

Raw values for individual indicators are converted to standardized values using the following formula:
All indicators that measure community renewal in a negative direction are reverse scored.
The standardized indicator values are then combined in a weighted sum to produce a score for each dimension. This score is used to generate dimension ranks for each community.
The scores for each dimension are added to produce an overall score for each community.
The score becomes the basis for the ranking of communities relative to each other.

The CRI creates an overall score between 0 and 100, which is used as the basis for ranking
A score of 100 indicates a very high level of community renewal (the ‘ideal’)
A score of 0 represents a low level of community renewal
Communities are ranked by each of the five dimensions and by the overall community renewal score

Illustrative: CRP communities are divided into the following four categories according to their score in the CRI:

*benchmarks for a renewed community to be established empirically

In its first round (Community Renewal Index, Version 1.0) in 2020, the CRI covered 17 communities in Kingston and St. Andrew.

The CRI will be produced every two years, subject to funding.