MANAGING WHAT YOU MEASURE - CREATING OUTCOME-DRIVEN SYSTEMS OF CARE FOR YOUTH WITH SERIOUS EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES

This article presents the California System of Care Model for youth wi th severe emotional disturbances as an illustration of how ongoing ass essment of the costs and outcomes of service delivery can be an integr al part of a service delivery model. The core of this model, developed initially in Ventura County, California, is a five-step planning proc ess that guides care system development and implementation. The implic ations of each stage of the planning process for evaluation and feedba ck at the child, family, and system levels are highlighted. A set of p rinciples for selecting outcome measures deriving from the planning pr ocess are also presented that in conjunction with the planning model, serve as guidelines for establishing outcome measures within care syst ems. The resulting specific plan for measuring system-and client-level outcomes deriving from this process, along with challenges to the imp lementation of the outcome management plan, is described.