Meeting the Challenge: Field Evaluations of Community Support Programs

Changing perceptions about the capacities of people with serious mental illness and the supports they need has led to an alteration in the values and goals of community mental health programs, and in the methods and tools used to evaluate them. Intensive programs, with small caseloads, low turnover, and hard-to-serve clients pose additional challenges to evaluators. The authors present and discuss 5 challenges faced when evaluating community support programs. These include selecting an appropriate design, engaging program staff obtaining an adequate study sample, involving clients and selecting measurement domains and tools that reflect program values.