Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2
SAGE was founded in 1965 by Sara Miller McCune to support the dissemination of usable knowledge by
publishing innovative and high-quality research and teaching content. Today, we publish over 900 journals,
including those of more than 400 learned societies, more than 800 new books per year, and a growing range of
library products including archives, data, case studies, reports, and video. SAGE remains majority-owned by our
founder, and after Sara’s lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures our continued
independence.
3
Designing and Managing Programs
An Effectiveness-Based Approach
Fifth Edition
Peter M. Kettner
Arizona State University
Robert M. Moroney
Arizona State University
Lawrence L. Martin
University of Central Florida
Los Angeles
London
New Delhi
Singapore
Washington DC
4
Copyright © 2017 by SAGE Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
FOR INFORMATION:
E-mail: order@sagepub.com
1 Oliver’s Yard
55 City Road
United Kingdom
India
3 Church Street
Singapore 049483
Names: Kettner, Peter M., 1936- author. | Moroney, Robert, 1936- author. | Martin, Lawrence L., author.
Title: Designing and managing programs : an effectiveness-based approach / Peter M. Kettner, Robert M. Moroney, Lawrence L. Martin.
Description: Fifth edition. | Los Angeles : SAGE, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
5
Identifiers: LCCN 2015039160 | ISBN 9781483388304 (pbk.: alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Social service–United States–Planning. | Social service–United States–Evaluation. | Social service– United States–Finance.
Classification: LCC HV95 .K428 2017 | DDC 361.0068/4– dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015039160
16 17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
6
Brief Contents
1. List of Figures and Tables
2. Preface
3. Acknowledgments
4. About the Authors
5. PART I: ASSESSING CURRENT PRACTICES
1. 1. Contemporary Issues in Human Service Program Planning and Administration
6. PART II: PROBLEM ANALYSIS/NEEDS ASSESSMENT
1. 2. The Contribution of Theory to Program Planning
2. 3. Understanding Social Problems
3. 4. Needs Assessment: Theoretical Considerations
4. 5. Needs Assessment: Approaches to Measurement
7. PART III: PLANNING, DESIGNING, AND TRACKING THE INTERVENTION
1. 6. Selecting the Appropriate Intervention Strategy
2. 7. Setting Goals and Objectives
3. 8. Designing Effective Programs
4. 9. Designing Effectiveness-Based Information Systems
8. PART IV: CALCULATING THE VALUE AND COST OF THE INTERVENTION
1. 10. Performance Measurement, Monitoring, and Program Evaluation
2. 11. Impact Program Evaluation and Hypothesis Testing
3. 12. Budgeting for Financial Control, Management, and Planning
4. 13. Developing Line-Item, Functional, and Program Budgeting Systems
9. Index
7
Detailed Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
PART I: ASSESSING CURRENT PRACTICES
1. Contemporary Issues in Human Service Program Planning and Administration
The Era of Accountability
Designing for Monitoring, Performance Measurement, and Program Evaluation
The Logic Model
Community Focus
The Issue of Effectiveness
Assessing an Existing Program
What Is Effectiveness-Based Program Planning?
Using Effectiveness Principles to Understand Existing Programs
Defining Programs
Assessing Diverse Populations
Problem Analysis
Needs Assessment
Selecting a Strategy and Establishing Objectives
Program Design
Data Requirements for Performance Measurement
Monitoring and Using Information Technology
Program Evaluation
Budgeting
Implementation Considerations
Summary
Review Questions
PART II: PROBLEM ANALYSIS/NEEDS ASSESSMENT
2. The Contribution of Theory to Program Planning
The Use of Theory in Program Planning
Theory in Practice
Planning Theory
Types of Planning
Application of Planning Theory to Clinical Practice: Problem Solving as Applied to Practice
With Clients
Application of Planning Theory to Macro Practice: Problem Solving as Applied to Program
Planning
Problem Analysis and Needs Assessment
Establishing Goals and Objectives
Designing the Program
Developing a Data Collection System
Developing a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
Theory in Program Planning
Summary
Review Questions
3. Understanding Social Problems
Addressing Social Problems
Stating Problems as Solutions
The Limitations of This Approach
8
The Need for a New Approach
Identifying a Social Condition
Defining Problems
Social Problems and Standards
Frameworks for Problem Analysis
Summary
Review Questions
4. Needs Assessment: Theoretical Considerations
The Concept of Need
Theoretical Understandings of Need
Needs Assessment and the Planning Process
Factors Influencing the Definition of Need
Different Perspectives on Need
Normative Need
Perceived Need
Expressed Need
Relative Need
An Application
Need Categories and the Planning Process
Determining Who Is in Need
Two Major Problems: Reliability and Availability of Data
Summary
Review Questions
5. Needs Assessment: Approaches to Measurement
Methodologies Used in Measuring Need
Extrapolating From Existing Studies: Normative Need
Strengths and Limitations of Surveys
Using Resource Inventories: Normative Need
Strengths and Limitations of Resource Inventories
Using Service Statistics: Expressed Need
Strengths and Limitations of Service Statistics
Conducting a Social Survey: Perceived Need
Strengths and Limitations of Social or Community Surveys
Holding a Public Forum: Perceived Need
Strengths and Limitations of Public Hearings
Using Focus Groups
Selecting the Best Method
Approaches Useful for Locating Concentrations of High-Risk Groups
An Overview of the Issues
An Example of the Need for Spatial Analysis
Spatial Analysis Defined
Factor Analysis: An Example
Human Service Applications
Summary
Review Questions
PART III: PLANNING, DESIGNING, AND TRACKING THE INTERVENTION
6. Selecting the Appropriate Intervention Strategy
The Program Hypothesis
A Maternal and Child Health Example
Types of Program Hypotheses
Where to Intervene
Example 1: Political Economy as a Factor Contributing to Unemployment
9
Example 2: The Presence of a Child With a Disability as a Factor Contributing to Child
Abuse
Example 3: Sexuality and Teenage Pregnancy
The Process of Developing a Program Hypothesis
Statement of a Condition
Statement of a Social Problem
Needs Assessment
Mothers Working in Marginal Jobs
Program Hypotheses and the Idea of Consequences
From Program Hypothesis to Service
Incorporating Problem Analysis Into Program Design
Benefits of the Program Hypothesis
Summary
Review Questions
7. Setting Goals and Objectives
From Program Hypothesis to Goals and Objectives
The Function of a Mission Statement
Goals and Objectives: A Framework for Action
Agency Example: Safe Haven
The Formulation of Goals
The Formulation of Objectives
Requirements for All Objectives
Clarity
Time Frames
Target of Change
Results
Criteria for Measurement
Responsibility
Outcome Objectives
Process Objectives and Activities
Time Frames
Target and Result
Criteria for Measurement or Documentation
Responsibility
Integrating Outcome Objectives, Process Objectives, and Activities
Is It Worth the Effort?
Summary
Case Example
Review Questions
8. Designing Effective Programs
The Significance of Program Design
Program Design and Diversity
Defining the Elements of a Program
Inputs
Throughputs
Outputs
Outcomes
Specifying the Program Hypothesis
Summary
Case Example
Review Questions
9. Designing Effectiveness-Based Information Systems
10
Documentation Practices in Human Services
Designing a Data Collection System for a Program
Step 1: Consider the Evaluation Context of Data Collection and Aggregation
Step 2: Identify the Programmatic Questions to Be Answered
Step 3: Identify Data Elements
Step 4: Develop a Strategy for Analysis
Step 5: Prepare Format for Monthly Reports
Summary
Case Example
Review Questions
PART IV: CALCULATING THE VALUE AND COST OF THE INTERVENTION
10. Performance Measurement, Monitoring, and Program Evaluation
The Link Between Performance Measurement, Monitoring, and Evaluation and Information
Systems
Feedback and Self-Evaluating Systems
Performance Measurement
Monitoring
Program Evaluation
Program Data Requirements
Coverage Data
Equity Data
Process Data
Effort (Output) Data
Cost-Efficiency Data
Results (Outcome) Data
Cost-Effectiveness Data
Impact Data
Performance Measurement, Monitoring, Program Evaluation, and Program Data
The Utility of Performance Measurement, Monitoring, and Program Evaluation
Summary
Case Example
Review Questions
11. Impact Program Evaluation and Hypothesis Testing
Differentiating Impact Program Evaluation From Performance Measurement
Impact Program Evaluation
Impact Program Evaluation and Hypothesis Testing
Research Designs for Impact Program Evaluation
Single Group Pretest/Posttest Design
Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design
Randomized Experimental Design
Summary
Case Example
Review Questions
12. Budgeting for Financial Control, Management, and Planning
The Differences Between Budgeting and Accounting
The Principal Purposes of Budgeting
The Financial Control Purposes
The Management Purposes
The Planning Purposes
Budgeting and the Systems Framework
Major Models of the Budgetary Process
Major Budgeting Systems
11
Line-Item Budgeting Systems
Functional Budgeting Systems
Program Budgeting Systems
Dealing With Revenue Increases and Decreases
Budgeting in Human Service Agencies and Programs Today
Summary
Case Example
Review Questions
13. Developing Line-Item, Functional, and Program Budgeting Systems
Developing Line-Item Budgeting Systems
Designing the Line-Item Budget Format
Developing Common Budget Definitions and Terms
Identifying All Revenues and Expenses
Balancing the Budget
The Link Between Line-Item, Functional, and Program Budgeting Systems
Developing the Line-Item Budget
Determining the Agency’s Program Structure
Creating the Cost Allocation Plan Format
Identifying Direct and Indirect Costs
Assigning Direct Costs to Programs and Indirect Costs to the Indirect Cost Pool
Allocating Indirect Costs to Programs and Determining Total Program Costs
Total Direct Cost Methodology
Direct Labor Costs Methodology
Direct Labor Hours Methodology
Direct Costing Methodology
Which Cost Allocation Methodology Is Best?
Is Cost Allocation Worth the Effort?
Functional Budgeting Systems
Selecting the Program’s Intermediate Output (Unit of Service) Measure
Determining the Program’s Intermediate Output (Unit of Service) Objective
Computing the Program’s Cost per Intermediate Output (Unit of Service)
Selecting the Program’s Final Output (Service Completion) Measure
Determining the Program’s Final Output (Service Completion) Objective
Computing the Program’s Cost per Final Output (Service Completion)
Program Budgeting Systems
Selecting the Program’s Intermediate Outcome Measure
Selecting the Program’s Intermediate Outcome Objective
Computing the Program’s Cost per Intermediate Outcome
Selecting the Program’s Final Outcome Measure
Determining the Program’s Final Outcome Objective
Computing the Program’s Cost per Final Outcome
A Comprehensive Budgeting System
Summary
Case Example
Review Questions
Index
12
13
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
Figure 1.1 The Logic Model 6
Figure 1.2 Organizational Chart Displaying Programs 9
Figure 1.3 The Logic Model Applied to the Planning Process 12
Figure 2.1 Comparison of Clinical and Program-Level Problem-Solving Processes 32
Figure 3.1 A Comparison of Two Approaches to Problem Analysis 40
Figure 3.2 Framework for Problem Analysis 46
Figure 4.1 Two Definitions of Need 51
Figure 6.1 The Relationships Between Variables 92
Figure 7.1 Relationship of Mission, Goals, Objectives, and Activities 111
Figure 7.2 Organizational Chart Illustrating Safe Haven Programs 112
Figure 7.3 Logic Model as Applied to Process and Outcome Objectives 113
Figure 7.4 Hierarchy of Goals, Objectives, and Activities 114
Figure 7.5 Relationship Between Logic Model and Objectives and Activities 126
Figure 8.1 Logic Model as Applied to Program Inputs 135
Figure 8.2 Flowchart of Client Processing 138
Figure 8.3 Logic Model as Applied to Program Throughputs 142
Figure 8.4 Logic Model as Applied to Program Outputs 149
Figure 8.5 Logic Model as Applied to Program Outcomes 155
Figure 9.1 Dashboard Example Using Self-Esteem Scores by Ethnicity Over the First Quarter 163
Figure 9.2 The Fit of Five Types of Evaluation With Phases of the Logic Model 168
Figure 9.3 The Fit of Information System Data Elements to Phases of the Logic Model 171
Figure 9.4 Time–Series Comparison of Completions in Job Training 185
Figure 10.1 The Systems Framework, Feedback, and Self-Learning Systems 193
Figure 11.1 The Relationship Between Program Hypothesis, Program Design, and Desired Result 205
Figure 12.1 The Systems Framework and the Principal Purposes of Budgeting 218
Figure 12.2 The Systems Framework and the Three Major Types of Budgeting Systems 221
Figure 13.1 Comprehensive Budgeting System 248
14
Tables
Table 4.1 Four Types of Need 58
Table 5.1 Age Distribution, Franklin County 69
Table 5.2 Impairment and Disability, by Age (Rates per 1,000) 70
Table 5.3 Estimates of Persons With Disabilities, Franklin County 71
Table 5.4 Resource Inventory, Franklin County Services for Women Who Have Been Abused, Franklin
County Community Action Agency 73
Table 5.5 Service Utilization Survey, Franklin County Community Action Agency 75
Table 5.6 Correlation Matrix 82
Table 5.7 Factor Analysis 83
Table 5.8 Rank Ordering of Census Tracts by Level of Risk 84
Table 5.9 Indicators by Socioeconomic Status (SES) Areas 84
Table 7.1 The Fit Between the Logic Model and the Program Hypothesis 109
Table 7.2 Examples of Mission Statements 110
Table 7.3 Examples of the Relationships Between Goals and Objectives 115
Table 7.4 Example of an Outcome Objective 119
Table 7.5 Relationship Between Intermediate and Final Outcomes 121
Table 8.1 Variables Related to Program Inputs 133
Table 8.2 Narrative Chart 139
Table 8.3 Throughput Elements 142
Table 8.4 Calculating Units of Service 144
Table 8.5 Output as an Element of Service Design 145
Table 8.6 Calculating Output Units 146
Table 8.7 Dimensions of Quality 148
Table 8.8 Focus of Standardized Measures 151
Table 8.9 Level-of-Functioning Scale Measuring Personal Safety 151
Table 8.10 Outcomes as Elements of Service Design 153
Table 8.11 Calculating Outcome Units 154
Table 8.12 An Illustration of How Intermediate and Final Outcomes Might Be Calculated 155
Table 9.1 Scorecard Example Illustrating a Client’s Scores at Intake and During the First Quarter of
Training 163
Table 9.2 The Relationship Between Hypothesis, Goals and Objectives, and Data Elements 165
Table 9.3 Formative and Summative Evaluations 167
Table 9.4 Some Data Elements to Be Considered in Creating a Profile for Victims of Domestic Violence
172
Table 9.5 Considerations in Developing a Strategy for Data Analysis 182
Table 9.6 Table for Data Analysis 183
Table 9.7 Cross-Sectional Analysis of Safe Haven Clients at Entry 185
Table 9.8 Comparison to Other Data Units on Safety at Entry and Follow-Up 186
Table 10.1 A Comparison of Performance Measurement, Monitoring, and Program Evaluation 195
Table 10.2 Types of Program Data and Related Assessment Questions 197
Table 10.3 Performance Measurement, Monitoring, Program Evaluation, and Type of Program Data 199
Table 11.1 Differences Between Impact Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement 204
Table 11.2 Three Types of Impact Program Evaluations 208
Table 11.3 Major Threats to Internal Validity 209
Table 12.1 An Example of a Line-Item Budgeting System for a Human Service Agency 222
Table 12.2 An Example of a Functional Budgeting System for a Case Management Program 223
Table 12.3 An Example of a Program Budgeting System for a Case Management Program 223
Table 12.4 Budgeting Systems, Revenue Shortfalls, and the Level of Debate 224
Table 13.1 Safe Haven Line-Item Budgeting System 231
15
Table 13.2 Safe Haven Cost Allocation Plan Format 234
Table 13.3 Safe Haven Assigning Salary and Wage Costs 236
Table 13.4 Safe Haven Assigning ERE Costs 237
Table 13.5 Safe Haven Determining the Total Direct Costs of Programs and the Total of the Indirect
Cost Pool 238
Table 13.6 Safe Haven Allocating Indirect Costs to Programs Using the Total Direct Costs Methodology
and Determining the Total Cost of a Program 240
Table 13.7 Safe Haven Allocating Indirect Costs to Programs Using the Direct Labor Hours Methodology
and Determining the Total Cost of a Program 242
Table 13.8 Suggested Bases for the Direct Charging of Indirect Costs 243
Table 13.9 Case Management Functional Budgeting System 246
Table 13.10 Case Management Program Budgeting System 247
16
Preface
Our first edition of this book was published by Sage in 1990 at a time when concepts like “outcomes” and
“performance measurement” were beginning to emerge as important new directions in planning and funding
human service programs. Most of the milestone documents—such as the Government Performance and Results
Act of 1993, Governmental Accounting Standards Board service efforts and accomplishments reporting, United
Way of America’s requirements on measuring program outcomes, and accreditation requirements and funding
policies requiring outcome measurement—had not yet been developed.
At that time we were simply trying to get across the concept that the purpose of measuring results or outcomes
was to determine whether a particular program was worth the investment and that this kind of information could
never be determined by the long-accepted practice of focusing only on “process” or services provided.
It has become clear over the last 25 years that outcome measurement is a worthwhile and widely accepted
principle, and a great deal of research, publication, and policy development has gone into ensuring that the focus
of practice must shift to understanding what types and volumes of services provided for what types of clients get
what results at what cost.
However, it has also become clear that while the basic principles of performance measurement are becoming well
entrenched in federal, state, and United Way policies, and in most grant and contract funding, they have not
made great inroads in terms of being widely translated into everyday practices in public and private human service
agencies. Several researchers and authors have noted that designing and implementing the kinds of information
systems that will produce meaningful outcome findings are still beyond the reach of all but the best funded and
most highly professional human service agencies.
The target audience of this book since the first edition in 1990 has been local agency program managers and
administrators. From the beginning we have been committed to helping local agency supervisors and managers
understand how they can take the principles and concepts associated with outcomes and performance
measurement and translate them into the policies and practices of their local agencies.
For us, this process has always begun with a solid grounding in theories of program planning and theories of
human behavior so that, if local agency personnel choose to undertake the challenge of converting their focus and
data collection systems to client outcomes, they will be able to make the needed changes from the perspective of a
full professional understanding, and not merely as a technician applying a formula. To quote from our first
preface, “The methods and techniques are introduced and discussed within a theoretical perspective. To do
otherwise would imply not only that the subject matter is atheoretical, but that the professional practitioner is
basically a technician. Programs without a sound theoretical base, we believe, are built on a flimsy, unsupported
foundation.”
Building on a sound theoretical base, we have tried to present, in a logical, systematic manner, the steps necessary
to develop successful programs: (1) beginning with the explication of a program hypothesis, (2) continuing
through the articulation of goals and objectives, (3) building in the necessary elements of program design, (4)
collecting meaningful and useful data, (5) evaluating results from a variety of perspectives, and (6) learning how to
analyze the costs associated with each phase of the program.
With each new edition we have tried to be responsive to feedback from faculty, students, and practitioners, and
this edition is no exception. Chapter 1 has been reorganized to focus more on the elements to look for at each
stage of an existing program to determine whether it can be translated to conform to effectiveness-based planning
principles. The questionnaire has been removed from Chapter 1 and put online. In Chapters 2 through 6,
concepts have been explained in new ways and terms clarified to help the reader better grasp their significance. In
Chapters 7 through 9 many graphics have been added to accommodate the visual learner. In response to several
requests, the fit between the logic model and effectiveness-based planning has been further explained in the text
17
and illustrated in flow charts. In Chapters 10 through 13 examples have been updated and budget and evaluation
figures adjusted to reflect current realities of practice.
As requested, we have kept the Safe Haven domestic violence shelter example throughout to enable the reader to
follow the flow of program development from initial articulation of the program hypothesis through the final
stages of program evaluation and budget analysis.
While we are very pleased with the progress that has been made over the last 25 years at the policy and funding
levels, we continue to hope that future programs and services at the local agency level will wholeheartedly adopt a
focus on outcomes and performance measurement, and that local agency administrators, managers, supervisors,
and practitioners will develop a curiosity about the complex questions: What types of services with what types of
clients receiving what types of services get what results and at what cost?
In our fourth edition we included an afterword that offered suggestions about how some agencies have made use
of existing resources, including interns, volunteers, technical expertise, board members, and other resources, to
begin to construct a data collection system that would help to better understand client needs, design meaningful
services, and measure results. This section has been eliminated at the suggestion of several reviewers, the message
being that most local human service agencies already have their hands full and cannot realistically take on anything
of this scope on top of their regular duties. Hopefully policymakers and funders will recognize what it takes at the
local level to produce meaningful data and information on outcomes, and the next major emphasis in the
outcomes movement will be to offer incentives and the level of funding needed to make effectiveness-based
planning a reality.
We wish to thank our reviewers for their very thoughtful responses to the many questions posed to them about
changes needed to the fourth edition. We assure them that their feedback was taken very seriously and
incorporated wherever possible. We hope they and other faculty across the country find the changes helpful. Our
enduring thanks goes to our SAGE Publications acquisitions editor for human services, Kassie Graves. She has
always solicited detailed feedback from reviewers and organized it for us in a way that leads to making the new
edition better than the one before. Our thanks also to Carrie Montoya, senior editorial assistant, for always being
available to respond quickly to our questions and bringing the manuscript through to completion. Ultimately, the
hope of the authors, editors, and reviewers is that this book can help to make the planning process understandable
and useful for students and practitioners.
Peter M. Kettner
Robert M. Moroney
Lawrence L. Martin
18
Acknowledgments
19
About the Authors
Peter M. Kettner
is professor emeritus at the Arizona State University School of Social Work. He is the author of six books,
four of which have been translated into multiple languages. He has also authored over 50 articles,
monographs, and book chapters on the topics of purchase-of-service contracting, privatization, macro
practice in social work, human services planning, and social work administration. Over his 30-year career in
academia, he served as consultant to five different state human service agencies and dozens of local nonprofit
agencies on their purchase-of-service contracting practices and in the design and implementation of
effectiveness-based planning systems. In retirement, he has continued his writing and consultation with local
government and nonprofit agencies.
Robert M. Moroney
is professor emeritus of Social Policy and Planning at the School of Social Work at Arizona State University.
He is the author of 10 books and over 60 articles and book chapters on various aspects of policy, planning,
and program evaluation. He has been associated with a number of policy centers, including the Bush
Institute at the University of North Carolina and the Vanderbilt Institute of Public Policy. He also spent a
year at the invitation of the Joseph Rountree Memorial Trust and the Department of Health and Human
Services, England, examining that country’s social policies affecting the family. He recently was a Senior
Fulbright Scholar with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University College Dublin, and
more recently a Senior Fulbright Scholar at Vilnius Pedagogical University. He currently serves as a board
member of the Rosalyn Carter Institute for Human Development. He does extensive consultation with
numerous national, state, and local human service organizations.
Lawrence L. Martin
is professor of public affairs, social work, and public administration at the University of Central Florida in
Orlando. He was previously on the faculty of the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York
City, where he directed the program in social work administration. He is the author or coauthor of 30
books and major monographs and over 100 articles and book chapters on human services administration,
procurement and contracting, performance measurement, state and local government, and budgeting and
financial management. His works have been translated and reprinted in Chinese, French, Korean,
Portuguese, Russian, and Mongolian. He has provided consultation and training to numerous state and
local governments and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. He has also worked
internationally with governmental and nongovernmental organizations in Canada, France, Germany,
Sweden, and Mongolia.
20
PART I Assessing Current Practices
21
Chapter 1 Contemporary Issues in Human Service Program
Planning and Administration
22
Chapter Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce:
The major governmental and other initiatives that have prompted the need for program planning
The relationship between the logic model and program planning
How agencies and community-wide networks relate to each other in addressing social problems
The steps that are involved in effectiveness-based program planning
The elements of a program that are critical to measuring effectiveness
Implementation Considerations
Summary
Review Questions
23
The Era of Accountability
When it comes to planning, funding, and implementing human service programs at the federal, state, and local
levels, times have changed dramatically over the last few decades. Since the concepts of accountability, measuring
results, and cost-benefit analysis have emerged over the past few decades, human services have been brought under
a good deal more scrutiny (Hatry, 2010). Instead of funding for service delivery, the focus shifted to funding for
results and return on investment.
The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Public Law No. 103-62; Office of Management
and Budget, 1993), reaffirmed by the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-352), has become a
major driver of performance accountability at the federal level (Hatry, 2014). GPRA requires federal departments
and agencies to annually report their performance to the president and Congress. A second driver of performance
accountability at the federal level is the performance contracting requirements of the Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR). The FAR represents the formal contracting policies and procedures of the federal government.
The FAR requires that “all federal service contracts (including human service contracts) be performance based to
the maximum extent possible” (FAR, 2015).
At the state and local government levels, two major drivers of performance accountability are the reporting
initiative of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and the performance measurement
requirements imposed by governors and legislatures. GASB sets financial and reporting standards for state and
local governments. GASB has long advocated that state and local governments adopt performance accountability
systems that track and report on the outputs, quality, and outcomes of government programs. GASB (1993) calls
its recommended performance accountability system service efforts and accomplishments (SEA) reporting. Private
sector funding organizations, such as foundations and the United Way (1996), have also adopted performance
accountability systems. Most nonprofit human service agencies that receive government, foundation, or United
Way funding through grants and contracts have likewise adopted performance accountability systems in order to
satisfy the reporting requirements of their funders (United Way, 2003).
In 2013 the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued new regulations governing federal grants
(Martin, 2013). The new regulations require that, in order to receive federal funding in the future, grant recipients
must specify performance and outcome measures. Additionally, some grant recipients may be paid for achieving
performance expectations and results, not activities, and these must be certified in writing (U.S. Government
Printing Office, 2015). If monitored and enforced, the new regulations will essentially require that the steps we
describe in the following chapters be standard expectations in order to receive federal funding for human service
programs. These requirements may create a tension between what the funding source expects and what the local
program hopes to accomplish, so in creating data collection systems it is important to consider as many
perspectives (e.g., client, staff, management, board, community interests) on the definition of effectiveness as
possible.
24
Designing for Monitoring, Performance Measurement, and Program
Evaluation
Designing programs and services for effectiveness involves collection of the kinds of data that will support
responsiveness to funding source mandates for accountability and at the same time will allow program evaluators
to determine whether the programs are getting the desired results. This is an important point. If monitoring,
performance measurement, and program evaluation information is anticipated at the end of service provision, this
information will be available only if certain design elements are incorporated at the beginning of the planning
process. The Urban Institute pioneered an effort to establish criteria by which programs could be assessed in terms
of whether they could be evaluated. They called this effort “Evaluability Assessment.” Here are some of the criteria
they specified in order for a program to be considered “evaluable”:
The term evidence refers to the collection of data around specified variables that define the details of service
provision and results. The term evidence-based practice has come into prominent use in many professions,
including social work, to emphasize that clinical decisions must be based on the best available evidence from
systematic research wherever possible (Johnson & Austin, 2006; McNeill, 2006). Management’s use of evidence
simply takes this concept to the next level, defining the parameters within which evidence will be collected, how it
will be aggregated, and how it will be used for monitoring, performance measurement, and program evaluation.
One thing should be made perfectly clear: Designing programs that can be evaluated means collecting quantified
data on service provision and client response. It also requires that data be captured in a spreadsheet or database
format to facilitate analysis. Only when data are displayed in some way that permits comparisons can the program
planner or analyst begin to understand what works and what doesn’t.
25
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.