CITYLINK CLIENT PROGRESSION INDEX™
Pursuing the objective of holistic measurement was an iterative process over our first 6-years of operations. Along the way we wrestled through challenges and tensions to arrive at an approach which has enabled us to consistently quantify the client journey to better understand and improve our service. By quantifying the client journey we can better understand progression, regression, and stagnation.
EMPLOYMENT
Employment has 3 factors, type of employment, wage level and job retention. It is unique in that we add 1 point for every $0.50 in hourly wages. This makes it the highest weighted of all factors in all realms. As socio-economic mobility is largely driven by income this factor has the largest point value possible of 115.
An early tension we felt with previous evaluations is what occurs when someone leaves a job for a better paying job? This framework allows the freedom to recognize that increased wages is positive momentum but new jobs can be a source of instability, the independence of factors allow us to track the total trajectory.
EDUCATION
Education focuses simply on high school completion/ equivalency and any advance trainings. If a client enters with a commensurate or higher level of education, there is no movement for simply completing another certificate; the progression would be reflected in the employment domain if the program creates the opportunity for a new employment and wage level. It has a maximum point value of 40.
CHILDCARE
Childcare has a maximum point value of 15 which can be achieved either if childcare is not needed (not a parenting adult) or if formal childcare with a back-up plan is in place. Surprisingly, this is our strongest scoring realm, leading us to appreciate that Childcare is an acute but not pervasive barrier.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Financial Management is comprised of 4 total factors, focusing on behaviors and current status. Utilization of budget, active saving, savings balance and absence of bad debt each are evaluated and documented. Realizing that some debt is more problematic than others, absence of debt prompts the addition of points. Financial Management has a maximum score of 30.
HOUSING
Housing evaluates the type, stability and affordability of housing. Recognizing that housing is a foundation for stability, more factors attempt to capture the totality of the picture. A maximum score of 35 points is totaled from the 6 factors.
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation addresses the accessibility, affordability, reliability and legality of transportation. Within our context of a mid-size city without adequate public transportation, the scale is heavily weighted towards private transportation which is necessary for economic mobility.
WELLNESS
Fortunately assessments exist to quantify mental health, the GAD7 and PHQ9 are utilized in conjunction with occurrences, support and capacity to score wellness. The total possible score for the domain is 40 points.
All clients establish their baseline score utilizing the framework above. With that framework we are able to then track progression, regression or stagnation with the updates from partners and our client facing staff. The data is utilized to drive decisions at the individual client level, the program level, and the total center's work on portfolio management and continuous improvement.
In the graph to the right, the baseline is on the X-axis and the progression is on the Y-axis. Breaking the analysis down by program engagement, total activity, and demographics give us actionable insights to improve client outcomes.
APPLICATION
If you are interested in joining other organizations who have adopted the CityLink Client Progression Index ™ to learn and grow together, we are here to support you.
Contact us below to receive examples of continuous improvement work and options of how we can support your adoption of the CityLink Client Progression Index ™.
We are excited to have more organizations come together to strengthen opportunities and outcomes for our neighbors.
ADOPTION
