The Performance Center was founded in 2002, inspired by the success of Baltimore's CitiStat program and the New York City Police Department's CompStat program, which is credited with reducing the city's murder rate by 67 percent. Both are performance management systems built on the principle of accountability.

By making performance data available to everyone within the agency, and setting targets so that progress toward goals can be measured, all staff members can see what is working and what is not. Individuals can see how their performance affects the performance of the agency as a whole, and leaders can brainstorm solutions to potential problems and collaboratively arrive at solutions.

At Performance Center management meetings, program managers, deputy directors, and others lead discussions on the progress of key performance measures. Performance Center staff host these meetings and provide detailed analytical reports prior to them. Afterward, they post this information on the Performance Center website, http://odjfsperformancecenter.ohio.gov.