b'CEO Bob Gehman, Outcomes are the set of sailsCharry said. With that, we were able to rework that allows the wind to carry the board towardour recovery and counseling structure in that its destination. They allow the entire crew to bephase. The data then let us know if the change knowledgeable of where theyre going and workhad the desired effectand it did! together to get there. In the world of programIts important to note that, even when a client outcomes, data can demonstrate progress, change,exits the program earlier than wed like, there and transformation. Data also helps to diagnoseare still seeds planted that God can cultivate. and correct problems in your programs.Bob Emberger, executive director of Whosoever One example of how data can improveGospel Mission in Philadelphia, says, We view programs is in how Seattles Union Gospel Missioneach resident on a continuum of progress. His has used it to evaluate and fortify program reten- success is not all or nothing. We try to capture a tion. Charry DeAndres, the missions director ofmans success in achieving all kinds of outcomesdata and analytics, explained, We know that theshort-term, mid-term, and long-term. A short- longer an individual stays in program, the moreterm goal would be to achieve 90 days of clean likely they are to have long-term success in recov- time from drugs; a mid-term outcome would be ery. By measuring attrition throughout theto secure a full-time job that pays above minimum program, we were able to identify the phase whenwage; and a long-term goal would be that this most people left. In this example, data analysisresident is still working full-time and living not only found a correlation between programindependently one year later. Measuring all sorts length and success, but it also pointed to the pro- of outcomes and celebrating small victories helps gram phase when clients were most likely to exit. us to explain our ministry and its impact to our The mission was then able to drill down evenfunders and supporters. It can also be a great further into its analysis. We used that data toencouragement and motivation to both our evaluate why individuals were leaving at that spe- residents and our staff. cific point in program, compared to other times,Bob Gehman echoed that point: Outcomes \x02 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG 9'