Charting your Human Services Course with Data.

One of the great pitfalls of facility or system management in human services is the lack of effective use of data. In an era where agencies seek to use evidence-based treatment solutions they still fail to use or understand data’s ongoing value to improving and sustaining change in their environments. Data analysis is not only valuable in the business world of industry. The business world realizes efficiency effects profitability. “Six Sigma is a process improvement methodology.  It is a disciplined, data-driven approach for eliminating defects and waste from a process.”[i]  In human services we can learn from this model, if we identify our barriers to effectiveness then we can improve client success rates. Evidence based models, to put it simply, are only as effective as your agency’s ability to implement them. Years ago, I sat in a meeting with two different agencies providing the same evidence based in-home services to similar populations in one city. One agency was having success and was preferred by the referral sources though both agencies were providing the same model. The struggling agency reported significant staff turnover which made making the needed family connections difficult. Without identifying the causes of the staff turnover, the program would have struggled to move forward.

There are several organizations that provide a framework for human services administration to implement strategies for change through data analysis. The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMPD) promoted the importance of data analysis in its “Six Core Strategies to Prevent the Use of Restraint and Seclusion”[ii].  Similarly, Juvenile Justice facilities who have used Performance based Standards (PbS)[iii] have been challenged to use data to create Facility Improvement Plans (FIP). In the FIP process, facilities are challenged to develop plans to address identified concerns with ongoing data analysis. Though PBS was developed for Juvenile facilities at least one state piloted using it within their adult facilities.

Are you effectively using your data in your programs? Have you set a goal and identified interim measures? Are you sharing your findings with staff? Data gains value the more you use it and the more you share it. Staff are more willing to try changes if they can see the reasons why. I was recently at a presentation where the keynote speaker said, “you need to be using data to chart your course” “If you do not study your data, you are a sailboat without a rudder”.[iv] Good facilities put data to use. In keeping with the sailing analogy, these facilities chart a course toward success; understanding both what they do well and what they need to improve upon.

As you set sail on improving the items you identified to work on make sure the plan has sufficient time for the crew to make needed changes and work through problems. Speed is not always your friend, ask the people on the Titanic. As you chart the course be sure to identify key crew members who can support the change process. A diverse group will help motivate others to support the changes. Your goal should have a sufficient period of time to allow for good data sampling and to ensure change has truly taken hold. In using data to make changes you want to identify elements that need to occur regularly to keep your program on the charted course, these are often referred to as interim measures.

Through regular interim reviews, your crew will find things that work and others that do not. Reviewing data every month will help you make course adjustments if your original plan has been blown too far in the wrong direction. Program Directors, like ship Captains, must read the signs around them. In residential environments, where I have spent most of the past thirty-five years, one can tell when the environment is in a good place or when tensions are high. Human service is a high stress world and one client or bad interaction can lead to a crisis. Interim data will help to identify how you are progressing and if the crisis has been impacted by the course you have charted.

As your crew is working hard, you want to identify successes as they occur. Take time to acknowledge, and appreciate the crew for the interim data improvements.  Staying with our sailing metaphor, this is like being able to see land. It does not mean your trip is done, but you can see your goal. If you have been experiencing rough seas as you work toward your goal use encouragement to ensure the staff stay the course. As the ship’s Captain do not be afraid to adjust your course based on the information from your data.  

Once your program reaches the shores of success where your improvements have become institutionalized you will want to share the success with both the staff and the clients. Celebrating success with both staff and clients reinforces that the changes are the expected norm.  It provides confidence in your leadership and in the staffs’ ability to take on new challenges. You will also begin to take full stock of all your data to see how successful you were at making and sustaining changes. Discuss with the key crew members the lessons learned from the process and what data you might want to next address. If the course you charted was smooth, you may want to risk harder data driven issues. If you were in rough seas before you made it to the shores of success, you may want to pick an easier route for the next trip to avoid your crew becoming fatigued.

Happy Sailing!


[i] Management and Strategy Institute

[ii] National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMPD) “Six Core Strategies to Prevent the Use of Restraint and Seclusion”

[iii] Performance based Standards (PbS) – Braintree MA

[iv] Terri Williams -Community Solutions Incorporated (CSI) talk at PbS Coordinators Conference. 2018