“When I first joined…the key issue for the board and for the agency is that they really need to get outcomes. They had metric up the ying-yang and that is something that Covenant House does really well – it measures lots and lots and lots of things…what’s key is understanding how well we’re doing. So we needed to put together a key set of indictors, what we call key performance indicators, the outputs and the outcomes.” — John Harvey, Director of Program Services, Covenant House Vancouver

One of the ways an organization can measure whether it is achieving its mission and meeting its goals is through the development of ‘Key Performance Indicators’ (KPI). “Performance measurement is a process that systematically evaluates whether your efforts are making an impact on the clients you are serving or the problem you are targeting”.

While KPIs vary depending upon organization and program, a good Key Performance Indicator provides a measurement of success that is quantifiable.  Being able to count allows for comparison between programs, between years or between organizations.

Performance Indicators generally measure ‘outputs’ – specific numerical measurements (clients served, number of youth rehoused, number of hygiene kits given out). Some will measure specific achievements – i.e. “80% of clients will successfully complete ROP within a year” whereas others measure progress towards overall organizational goals: “The average length of stay in shelters is reduced.”

KPIs allow an organization to determine what is and is not working and to adjust programming to improve outcomes. In selecting the correct KPI an organization has to have:

• a clear mission
• well-defined goals
• a set of desired outcomes
• prioritization of the most important factors. 

An agency may have several goals and outcomes that it wishes to measure. By creating clear KPIs an organization can indicate which of these it views as most important. For example, a graduated transitional housing program may wish to see its clients move on to independent living within a certain time frame, say 12 or 18 months. However, it also wants its clients to complete all steps in the program before graduation (see Steps section for an idea of a graduated plan to completion). The agency needs to understand which of these is most important and therefore, which key performance indicator holds the most weight.

Therefore, if completion of all program steps is more important than moving on to independent living with a set number of months, success can be obtained when a high number of youth complete all steps even if it takes them longer to move into independent living. Since a step program would be aimed at providing youth with the necessary skills for independence, the likelihood of achieving long-term successful housing will be greater with this outcome than if youth are pushed through the program to meet the length of stay goal.

An effective evaluation program uses a logic model to join the key goals and outcomes together in a straightforward and organized fashion. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation defines a logic model as a “systematic and visual way to present and share your understanding of the relationships among the resources you have to operate your program, the activities you plan, and the changes or results you hope to achieve.”

Logic Model Template

Resources	Activities	Outputs	Outcome	Goal
Resources dedicated to or consumed by the program	What the program does with the inputs to fulfills its mission	The direct products of program activities	Benefits for participants during and after program activities	Desired long-term result of the program

(from http://nnlm.gov/outreach/community/logicmodel.html)

In 2006-2007 Covenant House Vancouver developed the use of Key Performance Indicators.  After a pilot year, they committed to using the indicators for three years before doing an in-depth review of the data and making any programmatic adjustments. This began in 2008 officially.

“We just wanted to develop a pool of data so that we can say ‘ok, now what? What does this tell us after three year?’” — John Harvey, Director of Program Services, Covenant House Vancouver

Case Manager Lisa Ronaldson (ROP Vancouver) explains how the statistics that are collected at ROP are based on the youth’s individual case plan. “We look at what are they working on—employment, education. Are they stuck in a certain area? Health—so that could be mental health, it could be medical health, it could be dental health. Legal—if there’s any legal stuff and where they are in that continuum. Housing—if I’ve started to work with them on different types of housing, filling out applications.” Overall, she says, “it’s a way for us to keep track of the work that the youth is doing.”