LOGIC MODEL SUMMARY

Logic models summarize the relationships betweens a program’s goals, characteristics of clients at the beginning of a program, services provided to achieve the goals, the status of clients at the end of a program (outputs, short term outcomes, or short term results), and long-term results of the program (long term outcomes, or impacts). It forces attention on several questions. What are the goals of a program? What is the situation of clients when they enter a program that may affect those goals? What does the program do to achieve the goals? What are the immediate results of a program? And, What are the long-term outcomes of the program?

PROGRAM GOALS

The goals of a program are what the program wants to achieve, what it wants to accomplish. Every program has goals. Sometimes they are explicitly declared in a goal statement or a mission statement. Other times they may exist as assumptions by program personnel, for whom the goals may seem obvious and their need for formalization unnecessary.

Identifying goals is necessary to having consistent criteria for holding a program accountable. They help to tell whether the program actions are appropriate for the program and are related to the results of the program. They are not the only things that can be used to understand or evaluate a program. More happens in a program than just goal-oriented activity; but some of what happens should be goal oriented.

CLIENT STATUS AT BEGINNING

The client’s status when entering a program refers to how the client is doing with respect to the goals the program is trying to achieve. If it’s a poverty program, the status refers to a family’s income when entering the program. If it’s a substance abuse program, the status refers to the nature and degree of the substance abuse. Client status also covers client characteristics that may be related to a program’s goals—such as, marital status, employment status, or education. These characteristics are sometimes also referred to as program “inputs.”

Logic models identify what characteristics of a client are relevant to know when the client enters a program. It often includes an assessment of the severity or nature of a problem at the beginning of a program. It may include information regarding the client’s family or environment that might encourage or impede progress in the client’s goals. It also may cover financial or other characteristics of the family relevant to eligibility or reimbursement for the program.

SERVICES/ACTIVITIES

The services and activities of a program are intended to promote its goals. The services may promote the goals by directly addressing a problem to be solved, such as counseling that addresses a mental health problem, or the activities may address underlying causes of problems, such as job training that promotes better employment opportunities. Since the goals may focus upon building on existing strengths, the services or activities may also focus on increasing skills of a client to advocate for him or her self or improving parenting skills. Goals may also be promoted indirectly, such as by hosting events sponsored by a program that have the intended benefit of increasing contacts between clients and members of a community or community organizations. These services and activities are sometimes referred to as program “throughputs.”

One value of a logic model is to identify which services or program activities are more closely related to the program goals. A review of the services and activities and their relationships with the goals may also suggest additional services or activities that are needed to address all of the program goals.

SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES

The short-term outcomes are what the program has produced at the point that a client leaves a program. These results are sometimes referred to as “outputs” of the program. The short-term outcomes are tied to the goals of the program. They correspond to the status of the client when beginning the program. Change in the status indicates improvement or decline in goal achievement. The absence of change indicates stability in goal achievement.

Outputs of the program are sometimes confused with program activities. The outputs are not the number of services provided, nor the number of people receiving services. Outputs are what has happened to the participants as a result of the program. For example, services for a mental health program might include the number of individuals provided counseling services. The outputs would be improvement in the mental health of those people who have completed the program.

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES

Long-term outcomes, also called “impacts,” are what results after clients leave a program. The duration of time to which “long-term” corresponds depends on what standard one uses. Long-term might be six months, a year, or many years. If, for example, a person completes a substance abuse treatment program, the short-term outcomes would be that person’s substance use (or non-use) at completion of the program. The long-term outcome might be the extent of one’s use a year later. For an employment-training program, the impact of the program might be whether the person remained employed full-time two years after graduation from the program.

Logic models include long-term outcomes because the short-term outcomes do not always remain across time. The benefits of a program may fade over time or their may be delayed impacts that intensify the effects of the program after time has elapsed.

LOGIC MODEL TABLES AND DIAGRAMS

Logic models may be represented as tables or diagrams. It doesn’t matter what format us used to summarize the logic model. What matters is that all the elements are present.

An example of a logic model in table format appears in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Program Logic Model Table

Goals	Inputs	Services/ Activities	Intermediate Outcomes	Long-term Outcomes
Increased parenting abilities	Parenting skill at intake	Parent education	Decrease in at-risk status	Reduced need for state intervention
Improved family interaction	Family interaction at intake	Counseling	Decrease in at-risk status	Reduced need for state intervention
Improved family safety	Family safety at intake	Safety assessment	Decrease in at-risk status	Reduced need for state intervention
Improved child well-being	Child well-being at intake	Counseling	Decrease in at-risk status	Reduced need for state intervention
Improved environmental conditions (e.g. housing, finances, nutrition)	Environmental conditions at intake	Environmental assessment and advocacy	Decrease in at-risk status	Reduced need for state intervention
Increased self-sufficiency (e.g. employment, education, ability to access community resources)	Self-sufficiency at intake	Employment training, educational planning, self-advocacy skill development	Decreased isolation	Enhanced connectedness to community Reduced need for state intervention
Increased community involvement	Community involvement at intake	Education in community resources	Decreased isolation	Enhanced connectedness to community

An example of a logic model in diagram format appears in Figure 2.

USES OF LOGIC MODELS

Logic models can be used to organize program services, allocate program resources, monitor ongoing programs, or evaluate program results. Those services closely related to a program’s goals and outcomes are more critical than services not as closely related. The more critical services may have a higher priority claim on resources than those not as critical.

Monitoring the program elements linking goals to services and outcomes assures accountability of the program, compliance with existing standards, and assurance the program is doing what it is supposed to do. Evaluations that focus on goal related services and program processes that deliver those services are more likely to produce findings relevant to the policy environment of the program.

This does not mean that programs should be paired down to only reflect their logic model. There are many activities in a program that are unrelated to the goals, but which are necessary for maintaining program operation. This does mean that logic models help one understand how elements of a program fit together and contribute to the program outcomes and how those elements can be made more efficient or more effective.