Measuring Functional Outcomes

Abstract

Generating effective results is the mission and responsibility of residential treatment providers. With increasing demands to demonstrate comparative effectiveness it is critical for providers to develop and implement systems for measuring outcomes. This paper from the American Association of Children’s Residential Centers addresses the importance of this effort, defines differing types of measurements, offers tis and strategies for designing an outcome measurement system, and addresses issues and concerns. The importance of readiness and community partnerships is critical in this work.

KEYWORDS:

• residential treatment
• functional outcomes
• process indicators
• experience of care measures
• shared vision
• recidivism data
• collaborative tensions
• use of data
• funder mandates

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

AACRC would like to thank Drs. John Lyons, Mark Courtney, James Whittaker, and Jeremy Kohomban for information contained in this article that was derived from their presentations at the 2011 annual conference, as well as the subsequent webinar. Additionally, AACRC thanks the Teaching Family Association for the article “Keeping your Eyes on the Prize” (September, 2011) and the Building Bridges Outcomes Workgroup for information and perspectives contained in this document. Finally, it is thankful for the family members and youth who work tirelessly in partnership with the Association to improve the outcomes of our work across the country.