Instituting an Outcomes Assessment Effort: Lessons from the Field

Abstract

Family Counseling of Greater New Haven, Inc., is a private, non-profit, mental health outpatient clinic serving children, adults, couples, and families using multiple modalities. In September 1997, in response to pressures for outcomes evaluation from funders and others, the agency launched an outcomes assessment effort using the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI). The instrument is administered at intake and at 90 days or upon termination. A comparison of pre-test with post-test scores indicates some degree of improvement in 96% of agency clients who completed both pre- and post-tests.

Obstacles to instituting the outcomes assessment effort are discussed. Initially, the authors identify a lack of human resources for the project, a lack of understanding of the assessment process, and resistance to the assessment process as obstacles. These may be attributed to fear about personal accountability and a misuse of the data collected, and were overcome by education of agency staff.

The authors share lessons they have learned about how to successfully institute an outcomes assessment effort. These include: designating staff to oversee the outcomes assessment work; involving clinicians very early in the process, and inviting their input on both process and product; carefully choosing assessment instruments to be closely aligned with program goals; and using the outcomes data for multiple purposes which are meaningful to various constituents within the agency, i.e., treatment plans, quality assurance, marketing, etc.