| In recent years there has been
increasing interest in what family programs accomplish
and how they contribute to the Army's overall mission.
This question is not only important from the standpoint
of the resources that are being allocated for these
programs, but also because of the importance of what
family programs have been asked to do and the potentially
damaging effects that result from leaving these issues
unattended. Family programs must be able to acquire and
allocate resources based on defensible, quantitative data
that link their services to desired Army outcomes.
However, the question for many FAP Managers and Chiefs of
Social Work Services is what data should prevention and
treatment providers be considering and how should they be
using it in order to link their services and programs to
Army outcomes. This manual describes a process
that can be used to determine what data to collect, how
to analyze it, and how to present findings to different
audiences. However, more importantly, this manual
proposes a different mind-set or perspective for
providers when looking at what they do. Just as FAP
Managers and Chiefs of Social Work Service must wear many
different hats; administrator, program developer,
therapist, counselor, fund raiser, public relations
representative, and personnel director, they must also be
an objective evaluator of the way their programs and
clinical services relate to the outcomes of interest to
the Army.
The evaluation model described in the next several
pages will help service providers identify the questions
they should be asking about their programs in order to
know if programs are effective and making a difference in
areas important to the Army. If the recent past is any
indication of the near future, accountability will
continue to grow in importance and programs that can
demonstrate what they do for the Army will be those most
likely to continue. In addition to helping assure
survival, evaluation is an important tool for
strengthening and improving programs and services.
This manual is presented in four very short sections
and a rather lengthy appendix. Each section should be
read carefully; however, the appendix is designed to give
the reader additional information in areas of interest or
where there may be difficulty understanding after a quick
reading. The next section will describe the performance
based model.
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How can providers link programs and
services to Army Outcomes? This manual explains:
 |
The steps of a performance based model |
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What data to collect |
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How to analyze it |
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