Our Impact

Performance measurement is an integral part of high-quality service delivery at JF&CS. The monitoring and evaluation function is led by the Department of Evaluation and Learning (DEL), which supports the agency’s goal of providing state-of-the-art, evidence-informed services.

JF&CS regularly implements process evaluations to inform program design and conducts outcome evaluations to assess program impact. Through rigorous ongoing data collection and analysis, we endeavor to ensure that the organization’s work is of high quality and that our agency is a resource in the community for best practices.

The Department of Evaluation and Learning team is comprised of staff with bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees and expertise in program evaluation, research design, relational database design, statistical analysis, and child development. An Advisory Committee—comprised of college and university faculty, social-service program leaders, and program evaluation experts—provides guidance and advice.

How We Measure Impact

DEL tailors its approach to monitoring and evaluation to each JF&CS program. We use a variety of approaches, models, and tools to guide the evaluation process. These include:

• Strategic planning and logic model development
• Literature reviews to better understand current best-practices
• Development of tools and measures, both standardized and customized
• Report writing, ranging from monitoring reports to in-depth internal evaluations
• Collaboration with academic partners for research

Whenever possible, our approach is evidence-based and research-supported. JF&CS uses Efforts-to-Outcomes (ETO) software to record data about clients and services received. This allows us to understand whom we are serving and in what ways, which in turn allows for continuous improvement.

For more information, call 781-647-JFCS (5327) or email your questions via our contact us page.