PRIORITY AREA REPORTPLANNING

Overview and how to use this template:

  • PLANNING is the key to measurement of progress and good reporting, and continuous improvement. If you don’t plan – it doesn’t happen!
  • This template is meant to help with the planning.

Step 1

  • Agree on the Priority Area (s) that you will report on to Disability and Community Services (DCS) in July 2017. Do this as early as possible in the financial (reporting) year.
  • Your Priority Areas will be identified by community, and in discussion with your Board or Committee of Management. Priority Areas should feature in the Strategic Planning of a House.
  • The Priority Areas that you report about under your Funding Agreement with DCS do NOT cover the entire work of any House. A Priority Area report is meant to demonstrate to DCS that you are working with your community on specific areas of priority, doing it well, and making a difference in that area.
  • Measuring the outcomes of your work in a Priority Area will help a House to understand where things have worked and how to improve for the future.

Step 2

  • Use this planning document all year, to keep track of what you are going to do to demonstrate your progress in this Priority Area; what you are going to measure and how you are going to measure it.
  • Bonus! You should be able to use many sections of this Planning template when you do your report in July 2017 – just review, then cut and paste to the relevant section of the Report.

Step 3

  • Remember to design any surveys, interview questions etc with the measures you choose in mind. NHT can help with this, if and when you need support.
  • Keep your survey/interview/group discussion responses over the year– however is easiest - in hard copies, or take photos of whiteboards etc so that you have the stuff you need for reporting when the time comes.

Step 4

  • In July 2017, prepare your Priority Area reports to DCS using the Reporting template and drawing on your planning work, plus the evidence you gather throughout the year.

This planning template is NOT the report that will be submitted to DCS – that is a separate document.

One Planning template is needed for each Priority Area that you that will be reporting on. DCS requires a Priority Report on two (2) Priority Areas for 2016-17.

Name of House: ______

Description of Priority Area: ______

Population Accountability

What do we want to contributeto at a population level with your community? Write this in a way that describes what you would see if things were working well in this Priority Area.

Examples: Local people are job ready; people feel safe; people are connected and feel a sense of belonging;etc

This statement should match up with your House’s Strategic Plan asa priority outcome for your community that the House will contribute to working towards.

1.Identify the Population level outcome you aspire to contribute to

This information will be needed for reporting in Box 1 ofthe Report

2.Where did the evidence forchoosing this as a Priority Area come from? Background / Context

Here you can document the background, the rationale, drivers, reasons, gaps, for why this isa priority in your community. This information will be needed for reporting in Box 2 ofthe Report

What consultation was used to arrive at this Priority Area – show choice with an X in the box

Strategic Plan
Forums - Community/Service Providers
Network Meeting
Research (to support/inform consultation)
Surveys - client/Partner
Group Feedback
Individual feedback/discussions
Social Media feedback
Other
  • xx

3.Strategies

What will your House actually do for this Priority Area?What are your strategies i.e. programs/activities/actions to achieve the outcome?

Examples:Partnerships with Job Service Agencies; Justice Department (CSOs); Training providersetc

Work placements for work for the dole

Providing work based opportunities for people undertaking training

Delivering skills workshops in nutritious cooking, barista, IT etc

List your strategies here. This information will be needed for reporting in Box 3 of the Report.

Everything you do that fits under this Priority Area is an opportunity to gather evaluation information and data that can contribute to demonstrating and reporting on your progress. Gather information along the way For example – ask group participants, questions that provide you with information about the measures you have chosen. And/or pick a point in time to ask/survey your partners to gather information about their satisfaction with working with you, and the difference you are making together.

Make sure that you plan for this and be ready with a survey, interview questions or other ways to gather this information so you know about the impact you are having. Link the questions to the performance measures that you choose – below.

4.Performance Accountability

The Results-based Accountability approach will support you to evaluate the impact you are making in the areas thatyou are accountable for (as opposed to the contribution you make at a Population level). The following three questions are useful to help assess the impact you are having on the people and communities come tothe House or participate in your initiatives/programs or activities.

  1. How much did we do?
  2. How well did we do it? and
  3. Is anyone better off?

5.How much do we do?

Applying these measures will demonstrate that “things are happening, your doors are open, people are coming along to things or being connected with”.

This information, once counted, will be needed for reporting in Box 5 of the Report

Example:Number of work placements over the year (eg. number of participants)

Number / variety of work placements able to be offered(show choice with an X in the box)

Choose the MOST IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT measures only

Number of Participants
Number of Volunteers
Number of Volunteer Hours
Number of Partners
Number of Consultations (i.e. feedback/surveys etc)
Number of Activities
Comments:
  • xx

6.How well did we do it?

These measuresare about quality - demonstrating that your programs/activities/initiatives are “hitting the mark” with participants or partners.

Example:Surveys of participants; partners

Making sure the participants are mainly from the target group

Choose the one or two MOST IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT “How Well” measures and focus your evaluation around gathering information about these measures.

This information, when gathered, will be needed for reporting in Box 6 on the report

% of participants (per activity) are from target or priority groups
% of participants who complete the program / service / activity
% of participants report satisfaction with the design/content of program/service/activity
% of participants report their engagement with the House provided info & support relevant to their situation
% of programs / services / activities completed on time and as planned
% of partners report satisfaction with their relationship/interaction with the House
% of partners report improved collaborative practice
% of partners / orgs report satisfaction with the way the program/service/activity was run
What questions will be asked in the survey/feedback (if using one)? See suggested questions in the CD Toolkit, plus resources on NHT TasCOSS websites.
  • xx

Remember to collect evidence at every opportunity to support your evaluation and reporting

7.How will we know if anybody is better off?

This information, when gathered, will be needed for reporting in Box 7 of the Report

Select the one or two MOST IMPORTANT or MOST RELEVANT “Better off” measures and focus your evaluation data gathering around these. The measures should link to the Population-level outcome that you chose at 1) above. Or, develop your own performance measures and document them below.

Select
X / MEASURE / NH Strategic Framework Goal Area / Some ways you might gather information for reporting
# & % people / groups / organisations who report that goals were met (e.g. use a Likert scale) / 1,2,3,4 / Participant survey, Partner survey
# & % people report that engaging with the House has led to increased participation in social, recreation or learning activities OR increased connection with community / 1,2,3,4 / Participant survey, Partner survey, Observations, Interviews, Case study, Stories, Group evaluation discussion
# & % participants report they have improved or consolidated skills AND/OR been able to then use those skills in their daily lives / 1,2,3,4 / Participant survey, Follow-up participant survey, Observations, Interviews, Case study, Stories
# & % people who are involved (actively participate) in the development of community programs / services / activities / 1,3 / Observations, Stories, Participant survey
# & % people report the programs / services / activities connected them with one or more useful resources / 2,3 / Participant survey, Interviews
# & % participants report increased confidence and skill in addressing challenges and/or ability to respond to opportunities / 2 / Participant survey, Follow-up participant survey, Observations, Interviews, Case study, Stories
# & % participants report they feel more confident about their future / 1,2,3 / Participant survey, Follow-up participant survey, Observations, Interviews, Case study, Stories
# & % participants report increased knowledge of services available and/or use of community facilities, public amenities or open space / 2,3 / Participant survey, Observations, Group evaluation discussion
# & % participants report they feel safer / 1,2,3 / Participant survey, Observations, Group evaluation discussion
# & % participants report improvements in family relationships / 2 / Participant survey, Observations, Group evaluation discussion, Follow-up participant survey
# & % partner organisation report that the NHH contributes to positive community outcomes / 1 / Partner survey

Othermeasure(s):

What will you use? What questions will be asked in a survey/feedback (if using one)? See suggested questions in the CD Toolkit, plus resources on NHT TasCOSS websites.
What do we need to know from participants, partners and other stakeholders that will demonstrate that we are working well?
Develop survey questions and include questions that relate to the measures you chose under How well did we do it? AND Is anyone better off?

Remember to collect evidence at every opportunity

to support your evaluation and reporting

8.Use Case Studies and stories, documented observations and visual media

Case studies, stories, observations, interviews, focus groups, and visual media are all ways to capture information to demonstrate performance against these measures. Your report will need to include these alongside the data from surveys etc. The report template has space for this.This information, when gathered, will be needed for reporting at Box 8 of the Report

Case Study/Stories etc
The following questions can be used as a guide for your case study/stories:
  • What was the need, how was the House made aware of that need for the community or the individual?
  • What did the House do to meet that need, what were the steps taken along the way? What happened? What was the work that the House did? Tell us the journey.
  • Who else was involved, were other groups/partner organisations involved?
  • In the end was anyone better off? - What was the outcome for individuals and/or your community?
  • Is there anything you’d do differently? I.e. what worked; what didn’t work?

9.Learnings, Barriers, Challenges, Reflection, Comments

Remember to reflect on progress - record anything you have learnt, any barriers or challenges and what you did to make things work – or if something just was not feasible despite considerable effort. This information, when gathered, will be needed for reporting at Box 9 of the Report

Learnings, Barriers, Challenges, Reflection, Comments

Reporting

The report templateprovides a place to summarise evaluation findings and evidence of performance so that it can be drawn upon for a range of uses, including:

  • Service/program improvement
  • Evidenced-based decision making about what is working and what is not
  • Reporting to Management Committees or Boards
  • Reporting to funders
  • Content for advocacy for communities
  • Content for lobbying for funding or improved profile in relation to social policy agendas and
  • Feedback to staff, communities and partners