Ventura County Profile Provides Resources for Media, Community

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – February 2005 – With growing numbers of urgent and critical issues – such as domestic violence, gang violence, teen pregnancy, AIDS and homelessness – facing our community, the Profile of Health and Human Services in Ventura County has been enhanced on the Web to offer the best statistical picture of the socio–economic conditions in the county. The Web site – located at http://www.venturaprofile.org – provides information to assist the media, businesses and citizens in investing our limited resources more effectively.

The site is maintained by California Lutheran University’s Center for Leadership and Values, which is one of eight members of the consortium of public and nonprofit organizations that implemented the service in 2003. “To solve problems, the first step is knowing and understanding what the problems are and to what extent they are being addressed already,” explains Jamshid Damooei, Ph.D., a professor of economics at CLU and co–director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Values. The data on the use–friendly Web site is updated quarterly, and is available in html and Excel formats.

Users of the database may choose from 13 different data domains: Demography; Socio–economic Conditions; Dependency Issues; Education; Food and Shelter; Financial Assistance; Employment; Healthcare; Public Safety; Recreation; Environmental Indicators; Real Estate; and Housing Affordability.

Along with the Profile Web site, CLU’s Center for Leadership and Values provides resources, articles and informative speakers that promote discussions on value–based leadership and social progress within the University and the larger community.

For additional information about the maintenance of the Profile of Health and Human Services for Ventura County Web site or about CLU’s Center for Leadership and Values, please contact Dr. Jamshid Damooei at (805) 493–3357 or damooei@clunet.edu.