An overview of the National Performance Measures

118 NOVEMBER 2011THE CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL & COMMUNITY SERVICE

Description of Focus Area Priority and Pilot Measures Evidence Basis for Intervention Aligned Performance Measures Resources

It will be helpful to have the 2012 National Performance Measures Instructions for Disaster Services open as you review this presentation. It can be found here: http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/funding/nofa_detail.asp?tbl_nofa_id=91

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Build the capacity of national service network organizations to help their

states and localities prepare, respond, recover and mitigate disasters and

increase community resiliency.

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Grant activities will:◦ increase the preparedness of individuals, ◦ increase individuals’ readiness to respond, ◦ help individuals recover from disasters, and ◦ help individuals mitigate disasters.

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National Performance Measures are organized into five Tiers

Priority Measures (Tiers 1 & 2) roll up into the CNCS Agency-Wide Priority Measures and Strategic Plan

Pilot Measures (Tier 3) are additional national performance measures in the Focus Areas

Tiers 4 and 5 are for applicants not using national measures

Disaster Services measures fall into Tier 1

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Only grantees whose program model specifically focuses on Disaster Services may opt into Tier 1.

D1: Number of individuals that received CNCS-supported services in disaster preparednessD2: Number of individuals that received CNCS-supported services in disaster responseD3: Number of individuals that received CNCS-supported services in disaster recoveryD4: Number of individuals that received CNCS-supported services in disaster mitigation

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If an applicant has a program model focused on providing disaster preparedness, response, recovery, or mitigation services, they MUST select from the Tier 1Priority Measures provided.

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FEMA does not make a clear distinction about where response ends and recovery begins so programs will have to make that determination for themselves.

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In addition to documenting that the need exists, programs must describe how the interventions the AmeriCorps members and volunteers are engaged in are both evidence-based and will have a measureable impact.

The term “evidence-based” refers to data that supports the presence of a cause and effect relationship between the intervention and the outcome.

The evidence provided must support the program’s theory of change, which articulates why the intervention (member and volunteer activities) will lead to the outcomes identified by the program.

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Sources of Evidence May Include:Past performance measurement dataResults from an impact evaluation of the programResearch studies documenting the outcomes of similar programsEvaluations documenting the outcomes of similar programs

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Programs must have at least one aligned performance measure that captures the measurable impact of their primary service activity.

Aligned measures have two key components: Output and Outcome

Alignment refers to whether:◦ The outcome is likely to result from the intervention

and output, and ◦ Whether the output and outcome measure the same

population.

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Outputs are counts of the amount of service that members or volunteers have completed.For example: The number of community members that complete disaster preparedness training.

They do not provide information on benefits to or other changes in the lives of members and/or beneficiaries.

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Outcomes specify changes that have occurred in the lives of members and/or beneficiaries. For example: The number of community members that are prepared for a disaster after being trained.

Outcomes should be:RealisticMeasurable during grant periodRelevant to theory of change

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Outcomes measure changes in:AttitudeBehaviorCondition

Most programs should aim to measure a quantifiable change in behavior or condition

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The Disaster Services Focus Area does not have outcomes. Programs are required to develop their own outcome that is aligned with the selected output.

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Community Need

A community-wide survey documents

that a high proportion of

individuals and families have not

taken steps to prepare for disaster.

400 community members

surveyed know where to go in

the event of disaster and have created emergency

preparedness kits.

Outcome

500 community members complete

training. (D1: Individuals

receive disaster

preparedness services)

OutputMember Activity

25 AmeriCorps Members and volunteers will

provide disaster preparedness

training to community members.

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2012 National Performance Measures Instructionshttp://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/funding/nofa_detail.asp?tbl_nofa_id=91

Other Performance Measurement Resources, including Webinars and Sample Instrumentswww.nationalservice.gov/resources/npm/home

Information on the AmeriCorps Grant Competitionsamericorpsgrants@cns.gov or 202.606.7508

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