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ERIC Number: ED448547
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2000
Pages: 9
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Measuring Program Outcomes.
Kowalski, Gabrielle
This paper describes how one non-profit organization is evaluating its effectiveness in providing services to adults with developmental disabilities. Kindcare, a non-profit ecumenical organization serves over 150 adults with developmental disabilities in the southeastern Wisconsin area. The program provides education, social, and support programs which encourage community integration and normalization of individuals with mental retardation through personalized professional and volunteer services. To measure the outcomes of the program, an evaluation team began by identifying the following inputs of the program: facilities, equipment, supplies, trained staff and volunteers, community linkages, grant dollars, donations, in kind donations such as theater tickets, and the availability of transportation. The activities provided were formal leisure education classes, organized community outings, informal guidance and counseling, and the provision of a drop-in center. Potential outcomes of the program were also identified: friendship, employability, self-advocacy, positive self-esteem, budgeting and use of money, and community integration. Preliminary findings of surveys of participants and their caregivers indicate that the provision of a drop-in center, as originally conceptualized, was not successful while other aspects of the program were. Evidence was found that the participants not only demonstrate the identified outcomes but that they continue to desire the support of the program. (CR)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Reports - Evaluative; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association on Mental Retardation (124th, Washington, D.C., May 31-June 2, 2000).