Assignment task: When you hear or read information about a human services program, there is often a statement about how many people the program serves. We know that we must look beyond that to understand not just who we are intending to serve and how many people we serve, but we must focus on what is most important- what is the impact?
We also saw this notion of impact in logic model planning, when we looked at long-term outcomes.
Using the example in the text (Figure 4.1) on p. 58, chose a type of human services program that you are familiar with or would like to work at and break down what it is the program does, using risk, target and impact populations to explain. Please also expand on the impact in your response.
For example in Figure 4.1, the stated impact is 45 people were helped to find jobs. How can you expand on that in a way that helps develop action plans and problem solving? So 45 people reported back to this program that they were hired for a job. How many of them were hired for full time positions that were seeking full time work? How many people remained employed for three months, six months, a year, etc.. How many people were unable to continue working after being hired because of issues with daycare or transportation? The more you continue to expand on what "success" means, the greater you will be able to quantify outcomes and work to serve participants in the best ways possible.