The measurement of treatment outcomes and demonstration of service effectiveness has become critical for human service organizations, and is more and more frequently demanded by major stakeholders (Policymakers, State and County Councils, Juvenile Court Judges, Service Providers, Clients, and Payor Sources).

The increased attention in recent years has not only resulted in more child welfare jurisdictions developing measures and reporting on outcomes but in the federal government establishing outcome measures to be tracked nationally

As a result, researchers and service providers have developed systems of evaluation that assess the impact of service, which has led to the development of strategies to improve service effectiveness.