The challenges of defining and measuring outcomes in nonprofit human service organizations

Abstract

This editorial focuses on the challenges faced by human service executives and managers in developing a transparent and readily understood method for identifying and aligning outcomes with overall client-centered goals and organizational resources. It is based on the premise that Human Service Organizations (HSOs) share an overall goal of improving their clients’ quality of life by providing assistance aimed at resolving a crisis, creating stability, or fostering development and improvement.1 It argues that the scope of outcomes measurement should expand beyond what a service does to include all of the collateral work needed to make a service possible and successful. Finally, outcomes measurement needs to be part of a continuous quality improvement (CQI) system.