Developing a new system to measure outcomes in a service coordination program for youth with severe emotional disturbance

Monitoring and Evaluation of Substance Abuse Services in South Africa: Implications for Policy and Practice

“…Despite growing evidence that performance and outcomes monitoring holds multiple benefits for substance abuse service providers (Brown et al 2003;Shannon et al 2008), findings show that a relatively small proportion of substance abuse programmes in South Africa monitor client outcomes on a routine basis or evaluate their treatment outcomes. As a result, treatment providers are unable to refute perceptions that substance abuse treatment in South Africa is of poor quality and limited effectiveness.…”

“…This hampers data collection as service providers have to manually collect and enter data. This is not only time consuming and costly (in terms of staff time) but often results in errors in data entry as well as delays in the availability of data for service improvement initiatives (Shannon et al 2008). Electronic data collection systems that require clinicians to maintain client records by routinely collecting data on key areas of client progress are useful as they address many of the problems associated with pen-and-paper systems (Shannon et al 2008).…”

“…For policy makers, performance data facilitate evidence-based decision-making about funding directions and the distribution of scarce resources (McCorry et al 2000;Newman and Tejeda 1996). In the current climate of budget restrictions, evaluating service outcomes is critical not only to secure funds for additional services, but also to ensure continued levels of funding for existing services (Shannon et al 2008).…”

An Outcome Evaluation of a Youth Development Programme

“…Outcome evaluations are critical in securing additional funds for youth development programmes and providing an evidence base for programme activities for future programmes (Shannon, Walker & Blevins, 2009). Evidence from the current evaluation has highlighted how difficult it is to attain ambitious accommodation and employment outcomes for youths aging out of care.…”

Establishing a computerized substance abuse surveillance system for district social workers in the Western Cape Province, South Africa: Methods, successes and challenges

“…The routine collection of data on substance abuse trends and service needs from each region in the province offers a method of addressing this information barrier. These data would enable policy makers and service planners to better identify at risk and vulnerable segments of communities and plan appropriate intervention strategies Shannon, Walker, & Blevins, 2008). One way of facilitating the collection of these data is through the use of a Drug Information System (DIS, Shand, Topp, Darke, Makkai, & Griffiths, 2003).…”