CNCS SCVC Effective Budgeting RSVP Worksheet

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ACTIVITY GUIDE For each document, discuss the following list of questions in a small group at your table and report out on the answers at the end of the exercise.

Appoint a note taker and a facilitator.

Review the handouts: Work plan Scenario Instrument Discussion Questions Key Elements of High Quality Data Relevant Performance Measure Instructions

Review Documents (5 minutes)

Work Plan Discussion (Discuss for 5 minutes): Q: Does the community needs statement make a clear connection to the output and outcome? Q: The service activity description should include who the beneficiaries are, what the volunteers will be doing with the beneficiaries; how often volunteers will provide the service, for how long, and where the service will take place. Does the service activity contain all of the required information? If not, what is missing? Q: Does the description of how often volunteers will provide the service and for how long seem sufficient to claim the volunteer has contributed to the change or improvement? Q: The output instrument description should give the name of the instrument, briefly describe who will collect the data, from whom the data will be collected, and when it will be collected. Does the output instrument description contain all of the required information? If not, what is missing? Q: Does the outcome instrument description contain all of the required information? If not, what is missing?

Scenario Discussion (Discuss for 5 minutes): Q: Will the data collection method described in the scenario support the output and outcome being measured? If not, why not? Q: Will the data collected under this scenario be valid? Will it be complete? Q: Does the scenario describe a data collection process that is consistent? Accurate? Verified? Q: Does the scenario describe an effective method of data collection? What works well? What could be improved?

Instrument Discussion (Discuss for 5 minutes) Q: HOW - What method is used to collect data? Q: WHERE - What is the source of the data? Q: WHEN – What is the schedule for data collection? Q: WHAT - Will the instrument collect data that is valid? Q: WHAT - Will the instrument collect data that is complete?

REPORT OUT (15 minutes)

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4 | P a g e Activity A – Companionship

Work Plan

Focus Area: Total # Stations: 2 Healthy Futures Objective: Total # Unduplicated Volunteers: 12 Aging in Place Community According to the 2000 Census there are 15,000 individuals are over the age of 65 in Need the service area. The caseworker from ABC Home Health stated that increased interaction among the older adult population can aid the social isolated individuals in being more responsive to their own needs as a direct result of their increased social ties and social support system.

Service Companionship Activity Service Volunteers will each serve 3-4 homebound older adult residents. Senior Corps Activity volunteers will establish a supportive relationship providing one-on-one assistance Description to clients that enables them to continue to live in their homes. Output (H8) Number of homebound OR older adults and individuals with disabilities receiving food, transportation, or other services that allow them to live independently.

Target 200 Instrument Activity Log

Instrument Timesheets Description Outcome (H9) Number of homebound OR older adults and individuals with disabilities who reported having increased social ties/perceived social support.

Target 100 Instrument Survey Instrument A 3 question survey will measure the outcomes. Description

Scenario

The Blue Sky SCP/RSVP Program pairs homebound or older clients with senior volunteers who build one-on-one supportive relationships together. Individuals receiving services meet the criteria of a homebound or older adult suffering from one or more of the following that substantially limits one or more major life activities: 1) mental impairment; 2) physical impairment; and/or, 3) advanced age. Senior volunteers will visit with their clients twice a week for 3-5 hours each visit over the course of the 3-year grant period. They may visit at home; they may take clients to appointments or to engage in social activities at senior centers; they may prepare and share meals together.

Timesheets completed bi-weekly by volunteers will indicate how much time volunteers and clients spend together. The client and the volunteer will sign the timesheet and the volunteer will deliver the timesheet to the SCP/RSVP Director every other Friday. Sometimes volunteers call in weekly hours and promise to turn in timesheets the next time they are at Blue Sky.

In the 10th month of each year of the 3-year grant period, the Senior Corps Independent Living Survey will be conducted by SCP/RSVP staff. Program staff will schedule home visits with all clients and administer the survey. Clients who have cognitive or other issues that keep them from completing the surveys are allowed to skip the survey process if they choose. In some cases, volunteers are able to help clients answer survey questions as volunteers believe they understand what their clients would respond if they could because they spend so much time together.

SCP/RSVP staff compile survey results in their Volunteer Management System and report results as required.

Instrument

INDEPENDENT LIVING PERFORMANCE MEASURE SURVEY

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. We would like to know how the Senior Volunteer who has been assisting you has affected your life.

All information will be kept confidential; please do not disclose your name. You may choose not to answer questions.

This 1st question is about how many hours of service you receive in a typical week from the volunteer.

Tell us how many TOTAL HOURS in a typical week you received services. Here is an example of how Mrs. Jones would answer question #1:

The volunteer usually spends one hour on Monday with Mrs. Jones and two hours on Wednesday. Therefore, the total hours a week that she receives services is 3 hours a week.

1. In a typical week, the volunteer is with me for hours

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Because I Have an SCP/RSVP Strongly Somewha Somewhat Strongly Volunteer … Disagree t Disagree Agree Agree

2)…I feel less lonely. 1 2 3 4

3)…I feel I have close ties to more 1 2 3 4 people.

4)…I am able to do more of the 1 2 3 4 things I need to do.

5)…I am able to do more of the 1 2 3 4 things I want to do.

6)…I can remain living in my own 1 2 3 4 home.

7)…I am eating regularly 1 2 3 4 scheduled meals.

8)…I am able to get to medical 1 2 3 4 appointments.

9)…I am able to get to the grocery 1 2 3 4 store. 10)…I am able to take care of other necessary 1 2 3 4 errands/appointments. 11)…I am more satisfied with my 1 2 3 4 life.

12) Overall, I am satisfied with 1 2 3 4 the Senior volunteer. 13) Overall, the independent living program has met my 1 2 3 4 expectations. Page 2 of 2

8 | P a g e Activity B – Transportation ACTIVITY GUIDE For each document, discuss the following list of questions in a small group at your table and report out on the answers at the end of the exercise.

Appoint a note taker and a facilitator.

Review the handouts: Work plan Scenario Instrument Discussion Questions Key Elements of High Quality Data Relevant Performance Measure Instructions

Review Documents (5 minutes)

Work Plan Discussion (Discuss for 5 minutes): Q: Does the community needs statement make a clear connection to the output and outcome? Q: The service activity description should include who the beneficiaries are, what the volunteers will be doing with the beneficiaries; how often volunteers will provide the service, for how long, and where the service will take place. Does the service activity contain all of the required information? If not, what is missing? Q: Does the description of how often volunteers will provide the service and for how long seem sufficient to claim the volunteer has contributed to the change or improvement? Q: The output instrument description should give the name of the instrument, briefly describe who will collect the data, from whom the data will be collected, and when it will be collected. Does the output instrument description contain all of the required information? If not, what is missing? Q: Does the outcome instrument description contain all of the required information? If not, what is missing?

Scenario Discussion (Discuss for 5 minutes): Q: Will the data collection method described in the scenario support the output and outcome being measured? If not, why not? Q: Will the data collected under this scenario be valid? Will it be complete? Q: Does the scenario describe a data collection process that is consistent? Accurate? Verified? Q: Does the scenario describe an effective method of data collection? What works well? What could be improved?

Instrument Discussion (Discuss for 5 minutes) Q: HOW - What method is used to collect data? Q: WHERE - What is the source of the data? Q: WHEN – What is the schedule for data collection? Q: WHAT - Will the instrument collect data that is valid? Q: WHAT - Will the instrument collect data that is complete?

REPORT OUT (15 minutes)

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10 | P a g e Activity B – Transportation Work Plan

Focus Area: Healthy Total # Stations: 5 Futures Objective: Aging in Total # Unduplicated Volunteers: 200 Place Community Need The 2014 Transportation Study, conducted by the State Department of Transportation, identified significant transportation barriers for older adults and persons with disabilities in the tri-county service area of X, Y and Z. The study showed that limited public transportation options for the 2,800 homebound older adults and persons with disabilities in the region results in significant barriers to accessing health care and adequate nutrition. It also indicated that those affected have an increased risk of social isolation.

In addition, medical research indicates that having positive social ties and feeling that support is available can help individuals remain physically and mentally healthy (Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB (2010) Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review). The healthier people are, the more likely they are to remain living in their own homes. Service Activity Transportation Service Activity 200 volunteers will provide 2,000 clients with transportation services. Description Output (H8) Number of homebound OR older adults and individuals with disabilities receiving food, transportation, or other services that allow them to live independently. Target 2,000 Instrument Database Instrument The Transportation Log is completed daily by Senior volunteers and entered Description into the database on a monthly basis by the Project Director. Outcome (H9) Number of homebound OR older adults and individuals with disabilities who reported having increased social ties/perceived social support. Target 1,260 Instrument Survey Instrument The Transportation Survey will be administered once a year to clients who Description have received transportation services.

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Scenario

Springfield Seniors sends 200 volunteers to drive older people and people with disabilities to medical appointments, to pick up prescriptions, to purchase groceries, and to complete other errands necessary to remain living in their own homes. Some clients need consistent assistance and are driven three or four times a week throughout the year. Others, recently released from medically induced stays in assisted living facilities, need transportation services for a few months while recovering. Others still call in episodically for transportation services when friends or family are unavailable. Additionally, as drivers have consistent contact with clients over time, they develop relationships which can lead to the client feeling that he or she has increased social support.

Volunteer drivers complete daily transportation logs that contain the client’s name and location driven. The logs are delivered to the project office when the driver completes his or her rounds for the day. The Director enters this information into a database monthly.

When clients mention that they will no longer be using the service, volunteer drivers survey the clients using the Transportation Survey. If clients do not let the drivers know that they will no longer be using the service, they may not be surveyed. Clients that utilize the transportation service throughout the year are surveyed annually at the end of the project year by their driver. The Director assigns clients with more than one driver to the driver they see most frequently. Drivers return the surveys to the Director who enters the information into a database.

The Director is able to determine how many clients return the survey out of the total clients served; however, she is unable to survey clients that have discontinued using the service before being surveyed. Additionally, she has discovered that some clients are surveyed more than once during the year, as they use transportation services inconsistently throughout the year.

12 | P a g e Activity B – Transportation Instrument INDEPENDENT LIVING PERFORMANCE MEASURE SURVEY TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

 Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. We would like to know how you feel about the Senior Volunteer Program services you have been receiving.  All information will be kept confidential; please do not disclose your name. You may choose not to answer questions.

 Feel free to comment on your experience on the back of this page. Somewha Somewha Strongly Strongly Not Because I have a Senior volunteer… t t Disagree Agree applicable Disagree Agree

1) I am able to get to medical appointments.

2) I am able to get to the grocery store.

3) I am able to take care of other necessary errands and appointments.

4) I am able to increase my participation in social activities.

5) The transportation I receive is reliable.

6) I have increased social support.

7) I can remain living in my own home.

8) Overall, I am satisfied with the Transportation services.

9) Overall, the volunteer has met my expectations.

Program Staff Section Date Received: Date Data is Compiled: Staff Initials:

13 | P a g e Support Documents for both Activities Key Elements of High Quality Data

14 | P a g e Support Documents for both Activities From Performance Measures Instructions

Measure H8 Number of homebound OR older adults and individuals with disabilities receiving food, transportation, or other services that allow them to live independently. Definition of Homebound: Individuals unable to leave their personal residence due to Key Terms disability, injury, or age; may be a short-term or long-term need; for example, an individual may have a broken hip that prevents them from driving for a few months but after the injury has healed they no longer require help to live independently. Older Adults: Individuals age 65 or older. Individual with a Disability: An individual who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment. Receiving food, transportation, or other services: Individual should receive the supports needed to maintain independent living; not all individuals will require the same supports; may include food deliveries, legal and medical services, nutrition information, transportation, etc. Live independently: Individuals live in a private residence (house, apartment, mobile home, etc.) rather than in an assisted living facility, nursing home, or group home. How to At the outset of the activity the grantee should indicate the “dosage,” or how Calculate many sessions, days or hours of the service are required to influence the Measure/ desired outcomes. Collect Data Only count clients who received some minimum “dosage” that can be expected to have some effect in terms of reducing social isolation.

Count number of qualifying individuals as defined above who receive the service. Each individual should be counted only once. If two eligible individuals live at the same address, they should both be counted. If an eligible individual lives with someone else who is not eligible, the non- eligible individuals in the household should not be counted. Each individual should be counted only once during the program year even though most individuals are likely to need on-going support.

Grantees need to develop a tracking system to record the number of individuals receiving companionship services.

15 | P a g e From Performance Measures Instructions

16 | P a g e Measure Number of homebound OR older adults and individuals with disabilities who H9 reported having increased social ties/perceived social support. Definition of Homebound: Individuals unable to leave their personal residence due to Key Terms disability, injury, or age; may be a short term or long term need; for example, an individual may have a broken hip that prevents them from driving for a few months but after the injury has healed they no longer require help to live independently. Older Adults: Individuals age 65 or older. Individual with a Disability: An individual who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment. Social ties/perceived social support: Relationships with other people and/or the belief that these people will offer (or have offered) effective help during times of need. How to Calculate Measure/ At the outset of the activity the grantee should Collect Data indicate the “dosage,” or how many sessions, days or hours of the service are required to influence the desired outcomes. Only count clients who received some minimum “dosage” that can be expected to have some effect in terms of reducing social isolation.

Programs should collect data for this measure from surveys of the homebound older adults/individuals with disabilities who received companionship services or a survey of a family member or caseworker for those unable to respond to a survey themselves.

CNCS is providing a recommended survey instrument for both the Senior Companion Program and RSVP: Senior Corps Independent Living Performance Measure Survey CNCS is also currently considering making this instrument the mandatory independent living performance measure instrument for SCP. See the CNCS Resource Center, www.nationalserviceresources.org, to search for performance measurement tools that CNCS has developed for volunteer and service programs.

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