GEMS Gives You Answers
GEMS is customized to answer the questions you care about.
You define the outcomes you want to achieve. GEMS tracks the appropriate
data and helps you evaluate the progress being made. Below is a sampling
of the questions GEMS can answer.
Generic Questions that GEMS Answers
- Whom do you serve?
- How severe are the presenting issues?
- What services are provided?
- What outcomes are achieved?
- How much does it cost?
- How do you report the results to stakeholders?
Whom do you fund?
- What strategies are being funded?
- What programs are being funded?
- What strategies and goals are grantees intending to serve?
- What is the geographic reach of the grantees?
- Who are the key grantee personnel?
- How much technical assistance does each grantee require?
- What are the key contract characteristics (award information, Scope
of Work, etc.)?
- What contract amendments have been made?
- When, why and by whom were the site visits conducted and what were
the results?
How do you fund?
- What is the funding hierarchy; i.e. agency, contractor, and subcontractor
relationships?
- What alternate funding sources (matching grants, if applicable) do
grantees use?
- What is the budget breakdown (detailed line items) for grantee contracts?
- Where are grantees spending their money?
- What invoices have grantees submitted and how much budgeted money
still remains for each of the line-items?
How compliant have your grantees been with the contract?
- What insurance policies do grantees have and when do they expire?
- How timely and accurate has their evaluation data been?
- How timely and accurate have their periodic reports have been?
- Have your grantees been serving the clients that they had projected?
- Are your grantees providing the services that they have been funded
for?
- Have your grantees been performing their program activities in a
timely manner and meeting the objectives of their project?
Whom do you serve, including individual service providers and programs?
- What are their demographic profiles?
- Where do they come from and live?
- Which target populations are you reaching and missing?
- What are the pressing needs and problems of clients served?
- What are their strengths?
What services are being delivered?
- What type of services are delivered, how much, and where?
- Are more services being delivered than in the past?
- Where are programs providing duplicate services?
- Where are there service gaps?
- What is the ratio of services provided to target population?
- Are services being delivered in the areas of greatest need, to high-risk
populations, etc.?
- Is service coordination leading to more timely services?
- Are referrals being followed-up with quickly?
- Are programs providing integrated, coordinated, and comprehensive
services?
- What service patterns can we uncover?
What results and outcomes are achieved?
- Are children and families getting the support they need?
- Is their well-being improving?
- Are parents developing skills to help their child live healthier
and prepare for school?
- Are children healthy and developing optimally?
- Are children being prepared for success in kindergarten?
- Are providers gaining increased knowledge and skills to work with
children and families?
- Are programs improving the quality of their services?
What are the results for the service system?
- What is the quality of the early care and education environment?
- How many early care and education providers are certified or licensed
at a certain level of training, etc.?
- How long have providers been in the field?
- How many programs are licensed and accredited?
- How many early care and education "slots" are there in
the community?
- What is the estimated need?
- How many are being created by each funding source?
- What was the impact of provider trainings?
- How efficient is each provider?
- Which providers are having the most impact?
- How many children need early care and education services?
- How many children received early care and education services?
- In what types of settings are children typically receiving early
care and education services?
- What is the quality of care in early care and education services?
- Are children receiving services in their primary language?
- How are providers' skills increasing?
- How are services being improved?
- Are schools ready for children?
What are the results for the community?
- Are community indicators improving?
- Are high-risk neighborhoods getting better services?
- How do parents feel about child development, having their child enter
kindergarten, etc.?
How much does it cost?
- Are programs cost-effective?
- How are agencies able to leverage funds for sustainability?
- How do you report the results to stakeholders?
What can we come away with, and how do we move forward?
- What services are most effective?
- What programs are most sustainable?
- What service delivery models are having an impact?
- What service improvements are being made and how effective are they?
- How are funded programs engaging families and other community members
in the decision making process?
- How are programs improving the service system?
- How are programs improving access to services for families?
- What are programs doing to provide culturally and linguistically
appropriate services?
