Urban Systems Research & Engineering, Inc. (USR&E), in cooperation with the Center for Management Resources, Inc. (Center), proposes to develop a tool by which the performance of human service provider agencies may be assessed, opportunities for costeffective improvement identified, and the "best practices" of provider agencies documented for replication in other settings. Based upon consultations with human service managers and a review of the literature in a number of fields, USR&E and the Center will develop and pretest an instrument which captures key dimensions of an agency's performance in a form that will permit comparison: 1) with other agencies 2) with the same agency over time 3) in relation to established standards and norms, and 4) against goals and objectives established by the agency.An optional dissemination task is recommended to provide for a critical assessment of the Phase I effort by a large number of managers in moderate size human development service agencies.The results expected of the Phase I effort would permit a decision regarding the utility of the approach with respect to the management of human service agencies and a decision as to commercial viability of the venture.Office of Human Development Services
