TOWSON, MD—Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski on Wednesday unveiled BCSTAT, Baltimore County’s first data-driven performance management program, which aims to improve performance, ensure data quality, enhance transparency, and increase accountability across government.

BCSTAT will be focused on the operational performance of individual Baltimore County departments as well as cross-departmental, collaborative analyses focused on Olszewski’s top priorities.

“An open, transparent government is an accountable one and will empower us to better serve the residents of Baltimore County,” Olszewski said. “Baltimore County is moving forward in big ways, and BCSTAT will play a key role in providing an unprecedented level of accountability and transforming our vision for data-driven governance and innovation into reality.”

As part of Baltimore County’s Office of Government Reform and Strategic Initiatives, BCSTAT’s mission is to track performance and outcomes, help shed light on issues or inefficiencies, and provide solutions from an analytical and data-oriented perspective.

Led by Baltimore County’s Chief Data and Performance Officer, BCSTAT is spearheading Baltimore County departments’ efforts to improve performance through better data collection, review, and analysis. The BCSTAT team works in partnership with department staff to analyze data around existing functions and services, and identify notable trends.

Following the data review, the BCSTAT team convenes sessions with executive leaders, department heads, and department staff to discuss overall performance, highlight successes, and identify areas for improvement in order to enhance future performance. In between the quarterly BCSTAT sessions, the team will prioritize aggressive followup, placing a significant focus on documentation and accountability to ensure substantial progress has occurred in time for the next session.

Beginning in November 2019, Baltimore County began piloting initial BCSTAT sessions for the Department of Corrections, the Fire Department, and the Department of Aging. Review a summary of these initial department tracking sessions. Going forward, Baltimore County will post snapshots highlighting each individual department. Beginning in February 2020, Baltimore County piloted the first priority tracking focused on the collaborative efforts to address the opioid epidemic.

This cross-agency effort is convening stakeholders from County Executive’s Office, the Baltimore County Department of Health and Human Services, the Police and Fire Departments, the Department of Permits, Approvals, and Inspections, the Department of Corrections, and the Office of Law. Review the initial priority tracking snapshot on the opioid epidemic.

Baltimore County will continue to implement BCSTAT with additional departments and create additional priority tracking sessions to apply a data lens to other focus areas, such as public safety, transportation, housing and homelessness.