An Assessment of the Utility of Federally Required Program Evaluation in Community Mental Health Centers. Volume I

摘要

The CMHC Amendments of 1975 (PL 94-63) made explicit requirements for all CMHCs to carry out program evaluation studies, and specified the kinds of program evaluation activities to be done. These requirements constituted a real change in the philosophy of management of mental health program because the new legislation required CMHC managers to plan and make decisions based upon systematically collected data and the effects of services upon clients, and also to report such information annually. Development of program evaluation to produce data-based decision-making requires a wide range of specialized skills which many CMHCs in the past have not had readily available to them. This study assesses the implications of PL 94-63 for CMHC evaluation activities: the usefulness of Regional Office and NIMH assistance to CMHC evaluation; and develops recommendations for Federal support of program evaluation. This study consists of two phases, Phase I and II, of which only Phase I is described in this final report. Phase I of the study describes results of interviews conducted at nine CMHCs, selected randomly from strata of metropolitan, non-metropolitan and large and small centers, with six persons at each center--the director; the fiscal member; a program evaluator; a clinician; a community board member; and a citizen. The interviews focused on the usefulness of Federal requirements for self-evaluation, quality assurance, citizen review, and the value of Federal technical assistance. A large number of recommendations are presented.