Service Model
- Review your records to clarify your service model and logic model
- Find the strong, new practices already in your work
- Clarify or reset the outcomes you expect for your services and clients
Our work
Work that leaves something behind
We work in three phases, and we start wherever you are. This page shows the phases, how we work with you, and examples of the work in practice.
What we do
The three phases
Most clients come to us at one of three points. Each phase builds on the one before it.
Data Management
- Map how your data is collected and kept today
- Build or revise your data system so it matches your service model
- Build or refine the tools and steps used to collect data
Data Use
- Train leaders and staff to run their data system and analyze results
- Coach leaders to use data for reports, grants, and better services
- Help leaders present data to staff, boards, and funders
How we work with you
Service Immersion
For longer projects, we place a consultant inside your organization for at least six months. We call this Service Immersion. It lets us: (a) learn how your work really runs, (b) give you feedback as we go, and (c) coach your staff as issues come up.
There is research behind this choice. Dr. St. Roseman's research found that the gains from evaluation are clearest in longer projects. Those projects pair data work with workshops, coaching, and hands-on support.
Current work
Gestalt Empowerment Evaluation in practice
The ARCHES ACDT Coaching Workbook
DCG built and runs this online coaching tool for ARCHES. It draws on a library of partnership strategies and walks a team through its own plan, one step at a time. The finished work exports to PDF or Word.
The workbook answers a common problem. Teams write a plan for a grant, then never connect it to the work or the data. As one ARCHES planning call put it, the plan becomes "a great ornament." The workbook keeps each page tied to the team's own priorities, so the plan stays in use.
It is also the working model for the online tools we are building to carry Gestalt Empowerment Evaluation.
The Just Trust
The Just Trust is a $350 million criminal justice reform effort that works across seven states. Evaluation there was part of daily work, not an outside review done once in a while.
- Mission. At a retreat, leaders used a funnel image to sort their priorities. It cut scope and helped the group let go of work that no longer fit.
- Taking Stock. Staff used an AI assistant that drew only on their own chosen data. It found missing and inconsistent entries.
- Building skill. The team built a shared library of evaluation resources. It used the library to make training slides, quizzes, and infographics.
- Analysis. Thirteen interviews became analyses with every source cited.
At one point, the team paused its evaluation to realign its message with its mission. That pause was not a failure. It was a sign of good judgment.
Past work
Three decades of projects
Over the years, our work has covered college access, teacher recruitment, gang prevention, and domestic violence services. Here are three examples. We describe the work and keep each client private.
Evaluation systems for new programs
An education services firm asked us to evaluate its new enrichment and college planning programs. We:
- Reviewed how it tracked its programs
- Built evaluation plans and data collection tools
- Grew its staff's skill with data analysis
- Co-wrote its yearly performance reports
Studies of county service contracts
For a research firm, we studied how a large county's service contracts ran and what they achieved. We:
- Measured services at three domestic violence centers
- Tracked a new network of gang prevention services
- Led a workshop on building evaluation skill
- Co-wrote yearly performance reports
A five-year study of learning and leadership
Paul led a five-year evaluation with a program that recruits teachers for an urban school district. The study became the basis for his research. One program leader described what the work meant to her:
"I want to continue to utilize program evaluation in the rest of my work, no matter what the work is."
Names in the study were changed to protect the people in it.
Have a project in mind?
Tell us where you are and what you hope to learn. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.