In 1995, the Indiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges challenged Indiana’s residential childcare community to provide evidence that the programs and services provided to abused, neglected, and delinquent children were effective. The IARCCA Board of Directors committed to work with the Juvenile Court Judges by establishing an Outcome Measures Project focused on identifying measurable variables to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and services.

A volunteer committee was formed from IARCCA member agencies to design the project, focusing on an assessment of the strengths and limitations of existing services, and ultimately attempting to answer the following questions:

What programs and services are best suited for a given child and his/her family?

Under what conditions are these programs and services most effective?”

After completing a pilot Outcome study in 1997 with nineteen member agencies, the Outcome Measures Project was expanded in 1998 to all member agencies of IARCCA. With data collected annual for over 4,500 children, the Project has continued to identify areas for improvement.

In 2002, IARCCA received a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to expand the Outcome Measures Project to meet the following key objectives:

To broaden the research and knowledge base about services to children and families

To further analyze data about service effectiveness

To expand the project across human service organizations

To influence systemic change in a positive direction for children and families

To develop the capacity and sustainability of services for children and families

To assist children and families so that they may succeed in their communities.

At the end of 2004, the Outcome Project completed its seventh full year of data collection from the broad array of programs including:

Residential care programs utilizing public schools

Residential care programs utilizing public and on-grounds schools

Residential care programs that are staff- or locked-secure

Foster care programs

Transitional / independent living programs

Home-based programs

Day treatment programs

Shelter care

Crisis stabilization programs

In 2004, the IARCCA Outcome Project began marketing the Outcome Measures Project nationally with four agencies. Several additional agencies are also considering participation.

In 2005, the software package EON (Evaluate Outcomes Now) was made available to member agencies for purchase.