Measuring Outcomes

With accountability pressures and growing concerns about quality of services, managers, practitioners, and system planners need resources to measure the outcomes of the services they provide and should be aware of the best efforts to measure client outcomes and services effectiveness. This newsletter provides resources for program administrators, managers, policy makers, and others about the implementation and use of outcome measurement. The drive toward accountability that is occurring in the mental health field is explored, as are other reasons for measuring client outcomes. Outcome measures and instruments developed as part of multi-site studies sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are described inside; and can serve as a valuable resource in planning an evaluation or quality assurance initiative. Also included is a set of considerations when planning and conducting a program outcome evaluation....