About Virginia Performs
Virginia's Performance Leadership and Accountability
System
The Commonwealth of Virginia has earned a strong reputation as a great place to live, get an education, work and raise a family. Like other states, Virginia faces the challenge of how to preserve an excellent quality of life amid changing opportunities and shifting economic & demographic landscapes.
Sustaining and improving our quality of life requires the collective effort of individuals, organizations and leaders in both the public and private sectors. Virginia's state government contributes to these efforts by creating policies that aim to transform Virginia, and by ensuring that the programs and services for which we are directly responsible meet their objectives and are efficiently managed.
www.VaPerforms.virginia.gov
Virginia Performs, a signature initiative of the Council, is a performance leadership and accountability system within state government. It begins with a vision for Virginia’s future: Responsible economic growth, an enviable quality of life, good government, and a well-educated citizenry prepared to lead successful lives and to be engaged in shaping the future of the Commonwealth. Seven long-term goals further define this vision by outlining specific outcomes we wish to achieve:
- Be recognized as the best-managed state in the nation (Government and Citizens)
- Be a national leader in the preservation and enhancement of our economy (Economy)
- Elevate the levels of educational preparedness and attainment of our citizens (Education)
- Inspire and support Virginians toward healthy lives and strong and resilient families (Health and Family)
- Protect, conserve and wisely develop our natural, historical and cultural resources (Natural, Historic and Cultural Resources)
- Protect the public's safety and security, ensuring a fair and effective system of justice and providing a prepared response to emergencies and disasters of all kinds (Public Safety)
- Ensure that Virginia has a transportation system that is safe, enables easy movement of people and goods, enhances the economy and improves our quality of life (Transportation).
The graphic model
below illustrates how the system
works. Selected societal
indicators for
each goal area answer the question, "How
is Virginia doing?" and
are used to monitor Virginia’s progress
-- recognizing, of course, that
state government sometimes has only
limited influence on certain societal
outcomes. These indicators, shown
in the Scorecard
at a Glance and throughout
this site, are measured
over time, and, where
possible, by region and
in comparison to other
states.
As with any performance system, priorities must be set to make improvements in the quality of life for Virginians, including how state government is managed. Making progress toward high-priority results is not the job of any single state agency; it is an enterprise-wide activity and sometimes includes entities outside of state government.
Beginning with the 2006-2008 biennium budget, state agencies established objectives and measures for programs and services as part of their strategic planning process. These strategic plans form the foundation for the Virginia Performs system. Agencies regularly report their performance results on the Virginia Performs site and to the General Assembly. You can monitor state agency progress on measures that interest you by going to State Agency Measures on the Virginia Performs site.
