What is meant by “community-wide outcomes” as a benefit of this funding model?

Several years ago, Washtenaw County shifted from focusing on and funding outputs - that is, merely counting the number of people served, the number of shelter nights, or the numbers of classes or counseling sessions attended - to an outcome-oriented approach. Outcomes focus on what changes as a result of the above outputs or intervention. For example, a focus on the outcome of a services tells us how many people moved from shelter to stable housing, and, how many people maintained that housing. This outcome orientation allows for a better understanding of the impact of investments in specific programs.


Coordinated Funding enabled funders and agencies to advance this outcome approach by agreeing on a smaller single set of community-wide outcomes to measure for each priority area. Instead of collecting hundreds of diverse outcomes created in isolation by funded agencies, these agencies were asked to agree on a finite set of outcomes to measure service impact. These “community-wide outcomes” will allow Coordinated Funders, local policy-makers, and the community at-large to have a more manageable, coherent scorecard against which to measure impact.

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1. Does this model exist in any other communities?
2. What types of programs receive funding under this model and for how long?
3. Do the Coordinated Funding partners pool all their resources (public and private funds)?
4. What is the process to apply for program operating funds under the Coordinated Funding model?
5. How and by whom are decisions made for program operating funds regarding who gets funded and at what level?
6. What are the oversight and stewardship processes for those who receive funding?
7. What is meant by “community-wide outcomes” as a benefit of this funding model?
8. Is there a process for restricting funds once an agency has been awarded and for what reasons would this be implemented?
9. Is there a process in place to evaluate the Coordinated Funding model?
10. What has been the response from local agencies?