Greenby Mental Health Center

The Greenby Community Mental Health (Greenby) has a Center Consultation and Education Department (C and E Department), and it is about to lose its funding, and needs to show the board of directors that its program is indeed useful. The C and E department is useful to many individuals, and helps the other programs gain clients, but the C and E Department needs to show proof to the board that there is a connection by showing evidence of this. C and E department needs to utilize a process evaluation and an outcome evaluation, which will show that the programs it has, does generate clients for the other programs within Greenby. The paper will show one process evaluation measure, and one outcome evaluation measure that will show the efficiency and effectiveness of Greenby’s C and E Department. The paper will also discuss challenges and issues of these measures. Process Evaluation

According to Lewis, Packard, and Lewis the “Process evaluation involves assessing agency activities to determine whether programs are operating in accordance with plans and expectations,” (Lewis, Packard & Lewis, 2007, p. 226). McDonald the executive director of Greenby thinks cutting the C and E program is the answer but proving that C and E program is actually beneficial to Greenby it is necessary to do a formative evaluation will show the accomplishments of the C and E programs. This process will make it easier to show the accomplishments, and compare them to the objectives showing what services have been provided. It will show who did what and how these services were provided. When a proper evaluation is done the data that has been collected can be shown to the board to show exactly what kinds of progress the C and E department actually has. It will show how the program works the assets, and objectives. This will ensure that the program is working and moving in the right direction. It can effectively show the costs and expenses the programs have. C and E needs to show exactly what each program in the department is doing and why, and how it is providing these services by showing a list of programs and what purpose that each one has. Show how each program is connected to the community, and even show past participants to the program, and whatever reasons these individuals had or have for being in the different programs. Outcome Evaluation

The outcome evaluation is to provide the results of each programs success, and the results of what happens with the clients, and how it connects to the other departments in Greenby. “Outcomes evaluation looks at impacts/benefits/changes to [the] clients (as a result of the program(s) efforts) during and/or after their participation in [the] programs” (McNamara, n.d., p. 1), and even the community, such as the schools programs. By showing the connection from the community and the people that are coming from these different programs to the other departments will show the stakeholders just how valuable this department is.

By using a logical model the C and E department can show the board exactly this, and performing a satisfaction survey with the staff and clients this will show how much the community actually depends on the C and E department, and the programs that it offers. Some examples of what can be a result in an outcome evaluation can be things such as families that come in to do a family oriented workshop, and discover while in this program that the issues that the family unit is having is need of family counseling not a short-term program. Then another example would be a single mother having disciplinary issues with a child finds support and answers in a parenting class, and short-term program is all she needs. The importance here is to show what impacts the clients, groups, and what the end results of the program have on each one. Challenges and Issues

The challenges and issues that the C and E may have is proving that these worships, and programs are essential for the clients that the Greenby end receiving as an end result of what C and E provide. According to Lewis, Packard, and Lewis (2007), some of these challenges will be the “ ability to satisfy multiple stakeholders, ability to survive and grow by adapting and acquiring resources, inclusion of internal processes such as effective management systems, and attention to human relations considerations including job satisfaction and organizational culture” (p. 240). Another challenge is if the evaluations have any negative results the community, which can result in losing clients, and Greenby board of directors will see this and could use this to end the program. It is a risk worth taking especially if it is does more good than bad then the community could become involved in attempting to save the C and E department because of the help it does do within the community. Conclusion

An evaluation on the program’s provided by C and E department will provide results that will show the Greenby board of directors just how valuable this department can be to its organization. A properly done evaluation can show the results of how the C and E department affect the community, and the lives of the clients that receive referrals to other departments within Greenby. By using the evaluation’s C and E department can show the process, outcomes, and the efficiency, and effectiveness that the department has as a whole. It is possible that with this information it is higher plausibility that the board will favor in the direction of keeping the C and E department. It is a risk worth taking especially if it is does more good than bad then the community could become involved in attempting to save the C and E department because of the help it does do within the community.

References

Lewis, J. A., Packard, T. R., & Lewis, M. D. (2007). Management of human service programs (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning. – Cengage Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, (n.d.) Authenticity Consulting, LLC., Basic Guide to Outcome-Based Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations with very Limited Resources, retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/evaluation/outcomes-evaluation-guide.htm