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ROMA Certification

Results Oriented Management and Accountability

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What is ROMA?

The system known as ROMA, or Results Oriented Management and Accountability, was created in 1994 by an ongoing task force of Federal, state, and local community action officials – the Monitoring and Assessment Task Force (MATF). Based upon principles contained in the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), ROMA provides a framework for continuous growth and improvement, and was defined as "a performance-based initiative designed to preserve the anti-poverty focus of community action and to promote effectiveness among state and local agencies receiving Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds."

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The premise of ROMA is built on Six National Goals. These goals for community action specifically addressed the three areas identified in the 1994 amendment, and added agency goals. The Community Services Network has been guided by these six broad anti-poverty goals since they were established by the MATF in 1994.

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Six National Goals

Goal 1: Low-income people become more self-sufficient. (Family)
Goal 2: The conditions in which low-income people live are improved. (Community)
Goal 3: Low-income people own a stake in their community. (Community)
Goal 4: Partnerships among supporters and providers of service to low- income people are achieved. (Agency)
Goal 5: Agencies increase their capacity to achieve results. (Agency)
Goal 6: Low-income people, especially vulnerable populations, achieve their potential by strengthening family and other supportive systems. (Family)

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To accomplish these goals, local community action agencies have been encouraged to undertake a number of ROMA implementation actions that focus on

results-oriented management and results-oriented accountability:

 

Results-Oriented Management

  • Assess poverty needs and conditions within the community;

  • Define a clear agency anti-poverty mission for community action and a strategy to address those needs, both immediate and longer term, in the context of existing resources and opportunities in the community;

  • Identify specific improvements, or results, to be achieved among low-income people and the community; and

  • Organize and implement programs, services, and activities, such as advocacy, within the agency and among “partnering” organizations, to achieve anticipated results.

 

Results-Oriented Accountability

  • Develop and implement strategies to measure and record improvements in the condition of low-income people and the communities in which they live that result from community action intervention;

  • Use information about outcomes, or results, among agency tripartite boards and staff to determine the overall effectiveness, inform annual and long-range planning, support agency advocacy, funding, and community partnership activities.

Nationally Certified ROMA Implementer Training Program

What is it?

  • A new level of certification called the Nationally Certified ROMA Implementer (NCRI).

  • The ROMA Implementer will be charged with providing information at his/her own agency to further develop understanding throughout the agency related to what needs to be done to fully implement ROMA.  

  • The training and certification process for NCRI will assure that the individual has a deep understanding of the full ROMA Cycle, but has not demonstrated competence in the additional step of delivering the Introduction to ROMA Training. 

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Who should apply?

  • Individuals who decide to purse the NCRI certification are those who do want to support their agency’s use of the full ROMA Cycle but do not want to be a trainer or to do traditional classroom style training to groups. 

  • Candidates are those who works one-on-one or in small groups with agency staff to look more closely at the processes and practices in place and help identify how they can be improved for results.

  • To be eligible to apply to become an NCRI, the individual must have professional experience in service in the Community Action network for at least one year.

 

What is involved in the certification process?

Candidates will:

  • Complete an e-course – 6 modules of on-line training (non graded) with specific focus which includes a body of knowledge, principles and practices that have been vetted by the field,

  • Attend “Introduction to ROMA” training held by NCRT/Master Trainer (1 day) and participate in discussion about the basic principles and practices of ROMA, as they apply to their own agency and as they may be evidenced in agency documents.

  • Work with a Study Circle of peers and Nationally Certified ROMA Trainers to create portfolio documenting their competence in recognizing the appropriate implementation of ROMA and suggesting ways to improve,

  • Submit their portfolio for review by ROMA Master Trainer,

  • And successfully complete an on-line exam (graded by MT).

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If you would like to receive updates about the next cohort available for North Carolina member agencies, please email Nafia.Speach@nccaa.net. 

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The application fee for the training and certification process starts at $775.

Become a ROMA Trainer

The process to become a ROMA Trainer (NCRT) involves demonstration of understanding of the basic concepts related to Results Oriented Management and Accountability, demonstration of the ability to present these concepts in a training setting and acceptance of the role of the ROMA Trainer in the national training network to promote the use of ROMA in your agency, your state and though out the country. There are four phases to the training and certification process: taking an E-Course, attending a three day Train-the-Trainer Classroom Session, practicing the delivery of the content, being evaluated on knowledge and delivery of the content.


The Application Fee for the 2021 Training and Certification Process is $995.00.

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