Performance measurement: the new accountability

Over the years, "accountability" in the human services has focused upon issues such as the legal framework, organizational management, financial responsibility, political concerns, and client inputs and expectations. Within the past decade, the meaning of "accountability" has been extended to the more dynamic organizational functions of "efficiency" and " effectiveness." Efficiency and effectiveness increasingly must be put to the tests of performance measurement and outcome evaluation. Forces outside the social work profession, including, among others, federal expectations and initiatives and the increased implementation of the concept of managed care, will ensure that efficiency and effectiveness will be central and highlighted concerns far into the future. This "new accountability" is demanded by the stakeholders in the nonprofit sector and by federal requirements built into the planning, funding, and implementation processes for nonprofits and for-profits alike.