The Measurement Group

Improving outcomes in health, behavioral health & social services through applied social research

Evaluation of Mental Health Programs

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The Measurement Group works with a range of mental health programs for underserved populations. Our senior staff are strongly committed to evaluating and disseminating effective mental health service models.

  • TMG evaluates programs designed to increase access to quality mental health services.
  • TMG works with programs specializing in treatment for persons with mental health and other co-occurring disorders.
  • TMG evaluates programs that aim to increase the capacity of service providers to meet evolving needs in mental health.
  • TMG evaluations document the processes of innovative mental health services so that successful programs can be replicated.
  • TMG evaluations measure outcomes at the client, program, and systems levels.
  • TMG evaluations document the implementation of best practices in mental health.

Evaluation of Programs for Substance Use Disorders

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The Measurement Group works with a range of substance abuse treatment and prevention programs. TMG was awarded the Distinguished Contribution Award from the California Association of County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators for its work in establishing and evaluating innovative models of service care throughout the State of California.

  • TMG evaluates programs designed to increase access to quality substance abuse treatment and prevention services.
  • TMG works with programs specializing in treatment for persons with co-occurring substance abuse and other co-occurring disorders.
  • TMG evaluates programs that aim to increase the capacity of service providers to provide state-of-the-art substance abuse interventions.
  • TMG evaluations document the processes of innovative substance abuse services so that successful programs can be replicated.
  • TMG evaluations measure outcomes at the client, program, and systems levels.
  • TMG evaluates substance abuse programs for general and specific populations, including women, families, and youth.

Selected Examples

PROTOTYPES implemented an innovative process improvement project to strengthen access and retention in substance abuse treatment, as part of the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (supported by a partnership of CSAT and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation).

Since 1990, The Measurement Group has worked with a number of community-based programs to evaluate and disseminate model substance abuse treatment programs for women and children (various federal, state, local, and private funders).

Two rural-frontier counties in Northern California (Lassen & Plumas) collaborated to develop an integrated substance abuse prevention and treatment system for adolescents and their families (funded by CSAT).

Evaluation of Healthcare Programs

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The Measurement Group works with a range of healthcare programs for high-need and vulnerable populations. We specialize in the evaluation of programs that provide direct services, as well as initiatives for building infrastructure and affecting systems change.

  • TMG evaluates programs designed to increase access to quality healthcare services.
  • TMG works with programs specializing in treatment and prevention of major health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
  • TMG evaluates healthcare workforce development programs that aim to increase the capacity of providers to meet evolving needs.
  • TMG evaluations document the processes of innovative healthcare programs so that successful programs can be replicated.
  • TMG evaluations measure outcomes at the patient, program, and systems levels.
  • TMG evaluations document the implementation of best practices in healthcare.

How is program evaluation like tennis?

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Image courtesy of nixxphotography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of nixxphotography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How is program evaluation like tennis?

I’ve been playing tennis on and off for as long as I can remember. I took a long break while my son was younger and my free time was a lot more limited. Now that I’m an empty nester and working on some fitness goals, it seemed like a good time to pick up my racquet again. But once I got on the court, I discovered that not only was I pretty rusty, my recall of how to hit basic strokes was off — even though I’d had plenty of practice and repetition in the past.

So how is program evaluation like tennis? It’s the issue of “drift.” With my tennis game, I was hitting my forehand shot how I thought I remembered it was supposed to be done. However, I quickly discovered with a new instructor that I had a lot to re-learn! In evaluation, we design protocols and procedures for collecting data, we train our data collectors, and off they go. However, without regularly checking in with data collectors, doing refresher trainings, and conducting data quality assurance, it’s all too easy for people to drift in how closely they follow data collection procedures. Moreover, if a project has multiple data collectors and each drifts with respect to protocols in different ways, there is no longer a consistent protocol being followed. This can lead to systematic differences in how data are collected by different people.

How to minimize data collection drift? Open and frequent communication, monitoring, and periodic training for data collectors. All are important parts of the evaluation process to maximize data quality. It’s important to ensure that everyone involved has a consistent understanding of how to implement data collection, how to address unexpected situations as they come up, and to make adjustments to make sure our measurement tools are working as intended – just like the tennis player who wants to make sure she hits the ball where she wants it to go instead of into the net.

PS – I recently read a blog asking how statistics are like knitting (and of course I can’t find the link to share here, sorry). The upshot of that post was that you get better with practice. The same can be said about program evaluation – and tennis.

Evaluation Internship/Part-Time position

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Image courtesy of mrpuen at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of mrpuen at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Evaluation Internship or Part-Time Position
Coding of Family Strengthening Themes in Qualitative Case Studies

The Measurement Group LLC has an immediate opening for a part-time temporary Evaluation Assistant/Intern position. The Evaluation Assistant/Intern will primarily assist with coding qualitative case studies from an evaluation of the Westside Partnerships for Families program, a child abuse prevention program that uses a mental health home visiting framework. The Evaluation Assistant/Intern will:

  • Receive training on coding procedures and code of a set of case studies as part of a study to be submitted for publication;
  • Learn how to use qualitative data analysis programs such as NVIVO for coding;
  • Learn about reliability analysis in qualitative inquiry;
  • Assist with preparation of project data for submission to a professional journal;
  • Work under the supervision of senior evaluation staff.

The Evaluation Assistant/Intern may also be assigned additional evaluation support tasks on other projects as needed. This is a short-term position. $15/hour. Work must be performed at the offices of The Measurement Group in Culver City, CA during business hours (9am – 5pm, M-F).

Requirements: Undergraduate or graduate psychology or related social science major, plus experience/knowledge of child welfare, child development, and/or related social services. B.A. preferred, although an undergraduate with relevant experience will be considered.

This project is part of an evaluation of the Westside Partnerships for Family program, which was recently featured in an article in Children and Youth Services Review. The qualitative coding is for a new article that examines in more depth how this mental health home visiting model promotes protective factors for child abuse prevention and family strengthening.

Contact Dr. Lisa Melchior