SHANNON D. DONOFRY, DANIEL SICONOLFI, SAMANTHA MATTHEWS, AVAH MOUSAVI,
NICOLE K. EBERHART
Evaluation Approaches
for Key Fresno County
Behavioral Health
Services
Process and Outcomes Measurement
for Crisis Continuum, Supportive
Housing, and Forensic Behavioral Health
Programs
P
ublicly funded behavioral health services include a diverse range of programs and activities.
For example, the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) oversees multiple
service areas, including crisis continuum services, inpatient services, outpatient services,
high-intensity treatment services, child welfare services, school-based services, supportive
housing services, psychiatry services, forensic behavioral health services, access points, and other
outreach and supportive services (Fresno County DBH, 2024). Within each of these service areas,
there is further diversity in the specific programs included with regard to their activities, popula-
tions served, and evaluation data. This can present challenges for “apples to apples” comparisons of
programs within a given service area and, when appropriate, comparison of programs across service
areas to evaluate how programs are performing relative to one another. Without the ability to com-
pare program performance, it is difficult to make informed decisions about where to most effec-
tively invest limited DBH resources.
To facilitate future meaningful comparisons across programs in a given service area, the Fresno
County DBH tasked RAND with developing evaluation guidance that could be used to assess mul-
tiple, often heterogenous programs within a given service area, with an emphasis on measures of
program implementation and outcomes. We sought to identify common activities and components
Research Report
