Performance Measure Instructions

Public Health AmeriCorps

2023 
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Table of Contents

Public Health AmeriCorps Performance Measure Requirements..................................................3

CAPACITY BUILDING ..........................................................................................................................4

HEALTHY FUTURES .............................................................................................................................5

Appendix A: Understanding MSY and Member Allocations ..........................................................7

Appendix B: Performance Measures Checklist............................................................................. 12

Appendix C: Frequently Asked Questions .................................................................................... 14
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Public Health AmeriCorps Performance Measure Requirements

Each applicant is required to select at least one aligned performance measure (output paired with 

outcome) that corresponds to the proposed primary service activity. Each applicant must choose from 

the following National Performance Measures:

Focus Area Objective Selection Rules Interventions

Outputs Outcomes

Healthy 

Futures

Access to 

Care 

H4A: Number of 

individuals served

H17: Number of 

individuals with increased 

health knowledge

H18: Number of 

individuals reporting a 

change in behavior or 

intent to change behavior 

to improve their health

H19: Number of 

individuals with improved 

health

H20: Number of 

individuals with improved 

access to medical care

Outreach

Education/Training 

Referrals

Medical Services

Counseling/Coaching 

Opioid/Drug 

Intervention/Harm 

Reduction 

Navigation of Services

COVID 

Response/COVID 

Recovery

Capacity 

Building

Capacity 

Building & 

Leverage 

G3-3.4: Number 

of organizations 

that received 

capacity building 

services

G3-3.10A: Number of 

organizations that 

increase their efficiency, 

effectiveness, and/or 

program reach*

* Each applicant must 

describe in detail how it 

will measure the 

organizational 

effectiveness, efficiency, or 

program scale/reach in 

meeting the public health 

needs of the community in 

the Described Instrument 

section.

Disaster Preparation

Disaster Response

Disaster Recovery

Disaster Mitigation

All performance measures must reflect significant program activities whose outputs and outcomes are 

consistent with the applicant’s core theory of change. Applicants are not expected to have 

performance measures for every program activity. 

All performance measures must be associated with one or more interventions (service activities). 

Applicants are expected to use the system-defined intervention categories if they appropriately 

represent the applicant’s program activities. Applicants may not create user-defined intervention 

labels that duplicate existing intervention categories. 
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CAPACITY BUILDING

Focus Area Notes 

• Programs should only opt into the Capacity Building performance measures if the measures 

reflect significant program activities aligned with the applicant’s core theory of change. 

• Activities associated with these measures must be carried out by National Service Participants 

or by volunteers directly recruited and/or supported by National Service Participants.

• Activities associated with these measures must meet the definition of capacity building 

specified in the “key terms” definition under G3-3.4.

• Programs are not permitted to create applicant-determined outputs in the Capacity Building 

focus area.

G3-3.4 (output) Number of organizations that received capacity building services

Definition of 

Key Terms

Organization: nonprofit or state/local/tribal government entity

Capacity building services: a set of activities that expand the scale, reach, 

efficiency, or effectiveness of programs and organizations. Capacity building 

activities may also leverage resources (e.g., funding, volunteers, in-kind support, 

or partnerships) for programs and/or organizations. As a general rule, 

AmeriCorps considers capacity building activities to be indirect services that 

enable organizations to provide more, better and sustained direct services. 

Capacity building activities must (1) be intended to support or enhance the 

program delivery model, (2) respond to the organization’s goal of increasing, 

expanding or enhancing services in order to address pressing community 

needs, and (3) enable the organization to provide a sustained level of more or 

better direct services after the national service participant’s term of service has 

ended.

How to 

Measure/ 

Collect Data

Tracking mechanism that ensures an unduplicated count of organizations who 

have received services

G3-3.10A 

(outcome)

Number of organizations that increased their effectiveness, efficiency, and/or 

program scale/reach

Definition of 

Key Terms

Organizations: those counted in G3-3.4

Effectiveness: Improved ability of the organization to achieve outcomes 

resulting in better success rates or better quality of outcomes achieved

Efficiency: Improved outcomes with the same level of resources; improved or 

consistent quality of services with fewer resources

Scale/Reach: The scope of a program’s services. Increased scale/reach can be 

measured by the number of new people served, new populations served, and/ 

or new or expanded services. 

How to 

Measure/ 

Collect Data

Organizational assessment tool or other instrument capable of measuring 

changes in effectiveness, efficiency, or scale/reach at the organization level. 

When possible, pre-post assessments should be utilized. 
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HEALTHY FUTURES

Focus Area Notes 

• Programs should only opt into the Healthy Futures performance measures if the measures 

reflect significant program activities aligned with the applicant’s core theory of change. 

• All individuals counted under these measures must be program beneficiaries, not National 

Service Participants. National Service Participant outputs and outcomes should be reported in 

the Performance Data Elements in annual Progress Reports.

• Activities associated with these measures must be carried out by National Service Participants 

or by volunteers directly recruited and/or supported by National Service Participants.

H4A (output) Number of individuals served

Definition of 

Key Terms

Individuals: recipients of AmeriCorps-supported services related to improving 

health-related outcomes

Served: substantive engagement of individuals with a specific health-related goal 

in mind. Cannot consist solely of mass dissemination of information such as email 

blasts, social media posts, or distributing pamphlets.

How to 

Measure/ 

Collect Data

Tracking mechanism that ensures an unduplicated count of individuals who have 

received services

H17 (outcome) Number of individuals with increased health knowledge

Definition of 

Key Terms

Individuals: those reported in H4A, V1, V7A, or V8

How to 

Measure/ 

Collect Data

Survey, test, or other instrument capable of measuring changes in knowledge at 

the individual beneficiary level. When possible, pre-post assessments should be 

utilized. 

H18 (outcome) Number of individuals reporting a change in behavior or intent to change 

behavior to improve their health

Definition of 

Key Terms

Individuals: those reported in H4A, V1, V7A, or V8

How to 

Measure/ 

Collect Data

Survey, interview, or other instrument capable of measuring changes in behavior 

at the individual beneficiary level. When possible, pre-post assessments should 

be utilized.

H19 (outcome) Number of individuals with improved health

Definition of 

Key Terms

Individuals: those reported in H4A, V1, V7A, or V8

How to 

Measure/ 

Collect Data

Assessment by a healthcare professional, survey, or other instrument capable of 

measuring changes in health condition at the individual beneficiary level. When 

possible, pre-post assessments should be utilized. 

H20 (outcome) Number of individuals with improved access to medical care
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Definition of 

Key Terms

Individuals: those reported in H4A, V1, V7A, or V8

How to 

Measure/ 

Collect Data

Survey, interview, caseworker assessment, or other instrument capable of 

measuring changes in health care access at the individual beneficiary level. 

When possible, pre-post assessments should be utilized. 
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Appendix A: Understanding MSY and Member Allocations

How to Calculate MSY and Member Allocations 

In the performance measure module, applicants enter the total share of program resources (MSYs and 

members) that will be directed to each objective. Member and MSY allocations entered in the 

application should be the program’s best estimate of how member time will be allocated.

The charts below show how a sample program could calculate its MSY allocations for different 

member types and different percentages of member time spent per objective. In this example, the 

program has a total of 135 members representing a variety of different slot types. All members spend 

at least some of their time contributing to the K-12 Success objective. The program’s full-time and halftime members also spend time contributing to the School Readiness objective: 50% of their time for 

full-time members and 20% for half-time members. 

Objective #1: K-12 Success

Type of Member MSY Multiplier 

for Type

x Number of 

Members for 

Type

x % of Member 

Time for 

Objective

= MSY 

Allocation

FT 1 x 100 x .50 = 50

TQT .7 x 0 x 0 =

HT .5 x 5 x .80 = 2

RHT .3809524 x 10 x 1.00 = 3.81

QT .26455027 x 10 x 1.00 = 2.65

MT .21164022 x 10 x 1.00 = 2.17

AT .05627705 x 0 x 0 =

Total Members 135 Total MSYs 60.63

Objective #2: School Readiness

Type of Member MSY Multiplier 

for Type

x Number of 

Members for 

Type

x % of Member 

Time for 

Objective

= MSY 

Allocation

FT 1 x 100 x .50 = 50 

TQT .7 x 0 x 0 =

HT .5 x 5 x .20 = .5 

RHT .3809524 x 10 x 0 =

QT .26455027 x 10 x 0 =

MT .21164022 x 10 x 0 =

AT .05627705 x 0 x 0 =

Total Members 105 Total MSYs 50.5

How It Looks on the MSY Tab

The program enters the total number of MSYs and members for each objective on the MSY/Members 

tab of the performance measures module. The system automatically calculates the percentage of 

MSYs allocated to each objective.
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Note: Programs that select the Find Opportunity objective (Economic Opportunity Focus Area) or the 

Teacher Corps objective (Education Focus Area) must enter 0 MSYs and members for these objectives 

and allocate their MSYs to other objectives. This is because the MSY allocations are designed to show 

how programs’ resources are allocated to activities that benefit the community. The Find Opportunity 

and Teacher Corps objectives are focused on benefits to members.

How It Looks in the 424 PDF

Table 1 and its corresponding pie chart show the total number of MSYs by Focus Area. Since both the 

K-12 Success and School Readiness objectives are in the Education Focus Area, Table 1 shows 100% 

of MSYs in Education.
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Table 4 in the PDF report shows the number of MSYs and members allocated to each objective, as 

seen on the MSY/Members tab:

Because some members are performing service related to both K-12 Success and School Readiness, 

the total number of members listed in this table (240) is greater than the total number of slots the 

program is requesting (135). This is OK; individual members can be counted more than once if they 

contribute to more than one objective. In contrast, MSYs cannot be counted more than once, because 

they represent the amount of member time spent on a particular objective. As a result, the total 

number of MSYs listed in this table must be equal to the total MSYs the program is requesting (111.13).

Table 2 and its corresponding pie chart show the same MSY information expressed as percentages of 

the total MSYs:

How to Assign MSYs to Performance Measures

When a program creates a performance measure, it must indicate how many MSYs and how many 

members will contribute to the measure. Based on the MSY allocations already entered for the sample 

program, the program may allocate up to 60.63 MSYs to K-12 Success performance measures and up 

to 50.5 MSYs to School Readiness performance measures. However, programs are not required to 

measure all of their activities, so it is possible that not all of these MSYs will be allocated to 

performance measures. 
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Our sample program has three performance measures, one (an aligned measure) under the K-12 

Success objective and two (an output-only measure and an applicant determined measure) under the 

School Readiness objective. 

Objective #1: K-12 Success

Intervention Performanc

e Measure

Percent of K-12 

Success Time Spent 

on Activities that 

Contribute to this 

Measure

x Total MSYs 

in 

Objective

= MSYs 

Allocated to 

Performance 

Measure

Mentoring* ED1A, 

ED27C

.75 x 60.63 = 45.47

Family 

Involvement

No 

Performance 

Measure

.25 x 60.63 NA

*This is the primary intervention

Objective #2: School Readiness

Intervention Performanc

e Measure

Percent of School 

Readiness Time 

Spent on Activities 

that Contribute to 

this Measure

x Total MSYs 

in 

Objective

= MSYs 

Allocated to 

Performance 

Measure

Other Classroom 

Support

ED1A .75 x 50.5 = 37.88

Parent 

Engagement

ApplicantDetermined 

Measure

.25 x 50.5 = 12.62

How It Looks in the 424 PDF

Table 3 and its corresponding pie chart in the 424 PDF report shows the percentage of MSYs allocated 

to National Performance Measures, applicant-determined performance measures, or no performance 

measures. As seen in the table above, the program has two National Performance Measures 

(ED1A/27C and ED1A), accounting for 83.35 of the 111.13 total MSYs (75%). The program has one 

applicant-determined measure accounting for 12.62 MSYs (11%), and the remaining percentage (14%) 

of program activity is not being measured.
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The configuration above meets the AmeriCorps requirement to have one aligned performance 

measure (output + outcome) corresponding to the primary intervention. Programs are not required to 

allocate 100% of their MSYs and members to National Performance Measures, or to any performance 

measures at all. 
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Appendix B: Performance Measures Checklist

This checklist is used to assess performance measures during the review process. Items on the 

checklist are common problems that require resolution but do not represent a comprehensive list. 

Refer to the Performance Measure Instructions for full requirements.

Checklist Item Primary 

Aligned 

Measure 

(required

)

Addition

al 

Measure 

(optional)

Addition

al 

Measure 

(optional)

Resource Allocation

1 MSY and member allocations to focus areas and objectives 

are consistent with the application narrative/logic model.

2 MSY and member allocations to performance measures are 

consistent with the application narrative/logic model.

Performance Measure Requirements

3 The application includes at least 1 aligned performance 

measure (output + outcome) corresponding to the primary 

intervention.

4 All performance measures reflect significant program 

activities whose outputs and outcomes are consistent with 

the applicant’s core theory of change.

5 Any output-only measures included in the application 

consist solely of National Performance Measure outputs.

6 The application does not include applicant-determined 

measures that duplicate existing National Performance 

Measures. (Note: Applicant-determined measures are 

recognizable by the labels OUTPT or OUTCM, followed by 

numbers. Any applications containing these labels are NOT 

National Performance Measures, even if the applicant has 

labeled them like a national measure.)

Interventions

7 Interventions are consistent with the program design and 

contribute directly to the outputs and outcomes.

8 The application does not include user-defined intervention 

labels that duplicate existing system-defined intervention 

categories.

Output Quality

9 Outputs clearly specify what is counted.

10 Outputs count only program beneficiaries, not National 

Service Participants.

Outcome Quality and Alignment

11 Outcomes are logically aligned with the outputs.

12 Outcomes reflect a meaningful change in knowledge, 

attitude, behavior or condition for program beneficiaries. 

(Note: completion of a program would be considered an 

output, not an outcome.)

13 Outcomes can be measured during a single grant year.

Targets

14 Output and outcome targets are reasonable for the 

proposed program design.
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15 Targets are expressed as numbers, not percentages.

Performance Measure Instructions

16 National Performance Measures conform to selection rules, 

definitions, and data collection requirements specified in the 

Performance Measure Instructions.

17 The application does not include any retired National 

Performance Measures (e.g., measures that do not appear in 

the Performance Measure Instructions).

Data Collection/Instruments

18 Data collection methods are appropriate for the 

output/outcome being measured.

Sampling (if applicable)

19 If sampling is proposed, the sampling plan is forwarded to 

AmeriCorps for consideration. (Note: Formula grantees are 

not permitted to sample.)
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Appendix C: Frequently Asked Questions

1. What should a continuation applicant do if one or more of their National Performance 

Measures is no longer present in the Performance Measure Instructions?

All applicants, including continuation applicants, must follow the National Performance Measure 

selection rules specified in the current Performance Measure Instructions. Applicants must revise their 

performance measures as needed to conform to the updated instructions.

2. What should a continuation grantee who is measuring a National Performance Measure 

output or outcome that has a changed definition do in the continuation application? 

If the grantee is unable to measure the output or outcome as defined in the current Performance 

Measure Instructions, the grantee should choose a different performance measure. 

3. What are National Performance Measures? 

AmeriCorps has established six Focus Areas: Disaster Services, Economic Opportunity, Education, 

Environmental Stewardship, Healthy Futures, and Veterans and Military Families based on the priorities 

included in the Serve America Act. Within these Focus Areas, as well as for Capacity Building, 

AmeriCorps has created National Performance Measures in order to aggregate the results of similar 

programs and demonstrate the impact across our agency programs and initiatives. 

4. What is an aligned performance measure? 

An aligned performance measure is an output paired with an outcome. The paired output-outcome 

measures may be National Performance Measures, applicant-determined measures, or the 

combination of a National Performance Measure output and an applicant-determined outcome. 

Applicant-determined outputs cannot be paired with National Performance Measure outcomes in an 

aligned performance measure.

5. What is an applicant-determined performance measure? 

An applicant-determined performance measure is one in which the applicant creates the language for 

the outputs and/or outcomes that will be measured. This is different from the National Performance 

Measures, where AmeriCorps pre-determines common outputs and outcomes that are available for 

applicants to use. 

6. What is an output-only performance measure?

An output-only measure is a National Performance Measure output without associated outcome(s). 

Applicants may select output-only measures if the output measures a significant program activity. 

These do not fulfill the requirement for an aligned performance measure, but may be selected in 

addition to the aligned measure(s).

7. What is the definition of "National Service Participant"? 

For AmeriCorps State and National programs, National Service Participant refers to the AmeriCorps 

members themselves. 

8. Can I count AmeriCorps members as beneficiaries of service under my performance 

measures? 
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No. Effective starting in 2019 for all applicants (new, recompete, and continuation), AmeriCorps 

members and other National Service Participants may not be counted as beneficiaries under either 

National Performance Measures or applicant-determined measures. Some member-focused outputs 

and outcomes may be reported as Performance Data Elements on annual Progress Reports.

9. Do the AmeriCorps members in my program have to be directly providing the service 

counted in the performance measures? 

The activities associated your performance measures must be carried out either by National Service 

Participants or by volunteers directly recruited and/or supported by National Service Participants. 

10. How many performance measures should I propose? 

Each program must have at least one aligned measure (composed of an output and an outcome) 

reflecting its primary intervention. It is appropriate to have additional performance measures for other 

significant components of your program, but AmeriCorps values the quality of performance measures 

more than the quantity. Performance measures reflecting activities that are not central to your program 

model should not be included in your application and do not need to be reported to AmeriCorps, 

although you might still collect the data for your own purposes. 

11. Can I count the same beneficiaries in more than one performance measure output? 

Unless otherwise specified, the same beneficiaries may be counted more than once across different 

measures for different interventions (services) they may be receiving. For example, if your AmeriCorps 

members helped one specific individual to both prepare for a disaster and obtain employment, you 

may count that same individual in both D1A and O1A. However, programs cannot count the same 

individual more than once within any one specific performance measure. So, for example, an 

individual who attended two disaster preparation training workshops during a single program year 

cannot be counted twice under D1A. 

12. Do all beneficiaries counted under a particular performance measure have to receive the 

same interventions?

Yes, the interventions associated with the measure need to be applicable to all of the beneficiaries 

counted under the measure, even if the details of the intervention (e.g., the exact dosage provided) 

may vary. If one set of beneficiaries is receiving one type of intervention (e.g., mentoring) and a 

different set of beneficiaries is receiving a different type of intervention (e.g., tutoring), the two sets of 

beneficiaries should be counted in separate performance measures even if the expected outcome is 

the same. In contrast, if all beneficiaries are receiving multiple interventions with the same expected 

outcome (e.g. all beneficiaries are being both mentored and tutored to improve their academic 

performance), they can be counted in a single performance measure.

13. Can one performance measure output have more than one outcome? 

Yes, there may be more than one outcome measure associated with a single output. Aligned 

measures should only be configured this way if it is expected that all of the individuals counted in the 

output will potentially achieve the outcomes indicated. If the outcomes are resulting from different 

populations being served, they should be counted in distinct performance measures.

14. Can I count the same people more than once under one performance measure output or 

outcome if they receive service in more than one grant year?
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If the individual receives services in more than one grant year, they may be counted as having received 

services in the output measure for each of the grant years in which they receive services. They may 

only be counted in the outcome measure for each grant year if they meet the specified level of 

improvement for the outcome in each year. For example, a student receives tutoring in second and 

third grade. The program expects that students will improve their reading score by one grade level 

each year. If the student is served in both second and third grade and improves by one grade level in 

each year, the student may be counted in output ED1A and outcome ED5A for both years. If the 

student improves by 1⁄2 grade level in second grade and one grade level in third grade, the student 

may be counted in ED1A for both years but only in ED5A for the third-grade year.

15. Am I allowed to allocate funds for collecting and analyzing data? If so, how much? 

Costs related to measuring the performance of a program are allowable grant expenses. There is no 

standard recommended amount. As with all grant expenditures, these costs must be reasonable, 

allowable for the proposed program, and properly allocated across grant activities. 

16. Is my program expected to monitor member time to ensure that it corresponds to what is 

entered into the Performance Measures Module for the focus areas and strategic plan 

objectives? 

Applicants should enter MSYs and members according to the distribution of time that members are 

expected to engage in each focus area and strategic plan objective. Programs will not be required to 

report on how the members actually spent their time. MSY allocations in the application should 

present the program’s best estimate.

17. On the logic model chart there are three outcome levels (short, medium and long). Should all 

of these outcomes be entered as performance measures? 

A program may have a theory of change that is based on accomplishing a long-term change in 

condition that is not measurable in a single program year. However, there may be shorter-term 

changes that can be linked to this ultimate goal that are strong indicators that the long-term change is 

likely to happen. While all of these outcomes may be included in the logic model, grantees are not 

required to measure or report on all of the outcomes. For performance measurement purposes, 

outcomes must measure changes that can be observed within a single program year. 

18. The National Performance Measure I want to select doesn’t appear in the drop-down menu. 

What should I do? 

Only performance measures corresponding to objectives selected on the Objectives tab will appear in 

the drop-down menu. Refer to the Performance Measure selection rules to determine which objective 

to select for each performance measure. Do NOT create an applicant-determined measure that 

duplicates a National Performance Measure.

19. I want to create an applicant-determined measure, but the Performance Measures Module 

isn’t allowing me to do that. What should I do?

There are some objectives for which the creation of applicant-determined outputs is not allowed. 

These include the Capacity Building and Leverage objective (Capacity Building focus area), the Find 

Opportunity objective (Economic Opportunity focus area), the Teacher Corps objective (Education 

focus area), the Green Jobs objective (Environmental Stewardship focus area), and the Access & 

Attract objective (Veterans and Military Families focus area). For the Capacity Building and Leverage 

objective, only National Performance Measure outputs are allowed to be used. For the Find 
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Opportunity, Teacher Corps, Green Jobs, and Access & Attract objectives, programs are not allowed 

to create performance measures. 

20. I am required to have a performance measure associated with my primary intervention, but I 

am not able to create a performance measure for the primary intervention I have selected. 

What should I do?

Since the Find Opportunity, Teacher Corps, Green Jobs, and Access & Attract objectives are memberfocused rather than beneficiary-focused, programs are not allowed to create performance measures 

under these objectives (see FAQ 9). If your primary intervention is connected to one of those 

objectives, you will need to go back and select a different primary intervention under a different 

objective. You can retain the member-focused objective as secondary.

21. Under what circumstances is it ok for grantees to use sampling to measure outputs and 

outcomes? 

Methodologically speaking, sampling is appropriate for competitive grantees as long as the grantee 

has a solid plan for ensuring that its sample will be representative. Practically speaking, we would want 

grantees to use sampling only when they are able to make the case that it is unrealistic to collect data 

from the whole population. Formula grantees, with rare exceptions granted by AmeriCorps, are not 

permitted to sample.

22. When would AmeriCorps not allow sampling? 

AmeriCorps will not allow sampling when it is reasonable to expect a grantee to collect data from the 

whole population. AmeriCorps will also not allow sampling if the grantee’s sampling frame is not 

sufficient or if the grantee’s methodology will not result in a representative sample.

23. How does a grantee set targets when it is planning to sample? 

In most cases the grantee should be able to set targets based on the population as a whole. If a 

grantee‘s sampling methodology is sound and results in a representative sample, then the program 

can extrapolate their results to report on an outcome for the population as a whole. For example, a 

program reports an output of 1000 children served. The program selects a representative sample of 

200 children. Of these, 180 students (90%) demonstrate the desired change. In this case, the program 

could report an extrapolated outcome of 900 students.

24. How do I request permission to sample?

A detailed sampling plan must be forwarded to AmeriCorps for consideration. Please consult the 

Notice of Funding Opportunity or your Portfolio Manager for instructions on how to submit additional 

documents.