What's Next for Wholeness?
The Wholeness Index is only the first step in creating a whole Dallas, defining the problem and helping to identify the areas that need improvement. The next step is to move the needle, improving lives and eliminating disparities in quality of life. The Williams Institute has qualitative research projects underway to complement the Wholeness Index and help government, community groups, and ordinary citizens make the most impact.
Best Practices Research
The Institute strongly believes in the benefits of capitalizing on the successes of other cities. In the end, Dallas is not the first city to confront issues such as struggling public schools or troubling crime. With extensive research on existing tools, techniques, and approaches, the Institute will release a series of Best Practices Reports that catalogue "what works." More importantly, through our partnerships with local policy advocates and practitioners, the Institute will work to ensure that these best practices land in the hands of those working on the front lines to make Dallas a more whole city.
Faces of Wholeness
While the Wholeness Index, as a pointer system, helps to highlight disparities in quality of life using quantitative tools, it lacks the qualitative approach that examines life in Dallas through the eyes of families and children who live in disparate communities. A qualitative research approach is capable of capturing the subtle nuances of human experience, and the Faces of Wholeness initiative will take our understanding to a new level. This information will also be readily available to service providers and others who currently lack the information they need to effectively engage in program design and service delivery.