Evaluation Approaches for Key Fresno County Behavioral Health Services

This report focuses on distinct categories of behavioral health services that are under the direction of the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health: crisis continuum, supportive housing, and forensic behavioral health services. The authors provide evaluation guidance for assessing multiple, often heterogenous programs within a given service area. For each service area, the authors provide a logic model describing programs’ structure, processes for implementation, and intended outcomes. Based on environmental scans of the evidence base and best practices in evaluation in each service area, the authors identify the most-important domains for evaluation and provide recommendations for measuring processes and outcomes in each domain. Where appropriate, the authors emphasize measures that can be used across a diverse range of programs to facilitate meaningful comparisons for quality improvement and data-informed decisionmaking.