LACES Advisory Workgroup

Purpose & Scope of the LACES Advisory Workgroup

The Los Angeles County Evaluation System: An Outcomes Reporting Program (LACES) was implemented in 1999. The purpose of LACES is to evaluate the adult alcohol and other drug treatment system in Los Angeles County on several levels, including the client, program, agency, and system level.

 

It is expected that the advisory workgroup will engage in a number of activities, some of which will involve advising SAPC and UCLA regarding policies and procedures; other activities will include working together in small groups to determine the best course of action for a particular goal.

 

Specifically, the group was formed with the following purposes in mind.

 

• Assist in the further revision and refinement of the LACPRS admission and discharge questions.
• Determine the best method for disseminating LACES findings.
• Brainstorm ideas regarding edits and changes to LACES reports (Site Report, Clinical Narrative, Discharge Outcome Report, etc.).
• Discuss how to use NIATx methods to encourage process improvement at programs.
• Ascertain the need and settle on the best procedure to collect encounter data (number of individual/group sessions).
• Provide input on additional ways SAPC and LACES can work together to improve treatment in Los Angeles County.
• Additional activities as needed

In addition, with the new emphasis on program performance and client outcomes, future LACES activities will focus on performance-based monitoring and management. Both performance-based monitoring and management will ultimately culminate in the development and implementation of a performance-based contracting system.

In addition to the activities listed above, the advisory group may also be called to form smaller workgroups that will assist in developing and implementing performance monitoring and management systems. Once performance management and monitoring are in place, the workgroup may also be asked to assist in developing the performance-based contracting system.

Overall, the tasks of the advisory group will help to determine the course of action for LACES over the next two years. The knowledge, experience, input, and support of this workgroup will be needed in order to ensure that the Los Angeles County alcohol and other drug treatment system improves services, staff knowledge, and accountability, thereby improving treatment outcomes.

 

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