The City’s OutcomeStat initiative won the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) 2017 Award for Excellence in Government Finance, Management and Service Delivery. The award was presented to Baltimore City at the organization’s annual conference in Toronto last week.

OutcomeStat uses data-driven decision making to align resources from all sectors in building and sustaining the best possible quality of life in Baltimore. OutcomeStat aligns strategic planning, program management, and budgeting. 

“The GFOA's Awards for Excellence in Government Finance recognize innovative programs contributions to the practice of government finance that exemplify outstanding financial management. The awards stress practical, documented work that offers leadership to the profession and promotes improved public finance.”

OutcomeStat is an alignment between Baltimore City’s Outcome Budgeting and CitiStat processes, with a newly added strategic planning component that engages more external City partners. There are four primary goals of OutcomeStat:

• Create a strategic plan for Baltimore structured around our Priority Outcomes and associated measurable indicators (see attachment listing Outcomes & Indicators).
• Better align existing performance management systems to ensure consistent priorities Citywide.
• Engage community stakeholders and partners in an ongoing, collaborative effort. 
• Identify 5-year targets for each indicator and action plans to help us reach those targets.

OutcomeStat aligns budgeting with strategic planning and performance management. It gives greater meaning to the budget process, both by (1) ensuring our resources are supporting action plans developed by a variety of stakeholders, and (2) involving more community partners in budget planning and review, and hopefully leveraging outside resources toward the same goals.

To learn more about the City’s OutcomeStat initiative or engage with data about Baltimore’s population-level indicators, visit OutcomeStat.baltimorecity.gov. 

For more information, contact budget@baltimorecity.gov.