Participants subsequently prioritized the proposed outcome measures by availability and usefulness. The second meeting of the Expert Committee involved the review and discussion of performance outcome measures suggested by the Partners, and the documented measures currently used by the Partners agencies. The Committee also deliberated over the use of data from national surveys as indicators of performance for programs for older Americans. The Project has adapted a theoretical framework developed by the United Way to guide its work. Based upon the measures they are testing, the Partners are participating on a variety of technical support and discussion groups led by staff and by contract researchers.
Final work is now underway on data-collection instruments.
Data collection from the field test will be completed by September, 2000. First, AoA restructured its plan to conform to the new HHS Department-wide format. The standardized format also allows HHS to meet the requirements of the FY 2001 Annual Performance Plan, the FY 2000 Revised Final Performance Plan, and the FY 1999 Performance Report in one document. AoA chose to organize this document around four strategic goals. Second, AoA has clarified several of its objectives to provide a single, concise statement of its program activities.