Volume 01 | January 15, 2019
Welcome!
Introducing the inaugural issue of our monthly TA newsletter to CSBs! Our evaluation team aims to keep you informed with tips to make data entry easy, efficient, and accurate. We will also share important upcoming timelines and due dates, and provide links to websites and email addresses -- all in one place!
Julia, Ivonne, Eden, Cindy & Cheryl
Featured Article: Calculating Demographics
Two easy-to-use tools to get the demographic totals you need!
Tool #1: There is a feature built into PBPS that allows you to automatically calculate and report the population of your entire catchment area, a locality, or a subset of either. Did you know you can change the total and all the category totals will self-adjust? Easy as pie!

Tool #2: The OMNI-developed Downloadable Demographics Calculator Excel spreadsheet offers more refinement of a population total into sub-categories for each demographic category: gender, age, race, or ethnicity. You are able to filter out particular sub-categories from your calculation if particular groups were not targeted by your cohort or campaign, like those in youth or senior age ranges.

OMNI has developed a document called FAQs and TA Tips on Calculating Demographic Data to guide you through using either of these tools. It provides helpful scenarios for when one might be the best option over the other.
News you can use...
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:

When should I enter individual activities in PBPS?
The short answer is "Rarely, if ever!" All activities should tie back to a cohort or campaign you have registered in your Plan Channel. When recording a new activity, the PBPS default selection is "Individual Activity", so be sure to change it to "Cohort" or "Campaign", as appropriate.

Where should I enter staff time in PBPS?
Either in the (1) Build Capacity Channel or (2) Implement Channel when entering an activity. In the Implement Channel, enter staff time directly associated with the activity. All time spent with preparations or in-service to a cohort or campaign, but NOT the actual implementation activity, should be entered in the Build Capacity Channel. Don't enter the same staff time in both places. For additional clarification, reach out directly to Marfel at DBHDS.
Bright ideas to make your job easier...
  • Please refer to your data entry plan when doing data entry in PBPS. This will help data to be as accurate as possible, and will save staff time in having to correct errors later.
  • Consider sharing your data entry plan with other staff who also do data entry so they may refer to it.
  • Consult with the OMNI TA Team when adding new cohort or campaign strategies to ensure the correct elements are chosen from the Master Data Entry Plan.
Timelines and Important Dates
  • Winter/Spring 2019: Measurement Plans
  • Spring 2019: TA Training Webinar