Understanding the QPR and PPR To correctly interpret and report results to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), it is important to know what is and is not included in the calculations for the quarterly performance progress report (QPR) and semiannual performance progress report (PPR). This cheat sheet describes how to interpret nFORM data and calculations for the reports. The most frequently misunderstood items are flagged with exclamation marks.

Overview of Reporting Periods for each QPR/PPR

Each QPR/PPR covers an additional quarter in the grant year. That is, reports are cumulative within the grant year. The reporting period defines which clients’ data are included in the nFORM calculations. Only clients who were enrolled during the reporting period are included.

Recruitment

Section C-01 in the PPR shows the recruitment methods and sources that grantee staff reported using during the reporting period (on the Program Operations Survey). It also shows how applicants heard about the program and their reasons for enrolling (from the Applicant Characteristics Survey).

See Module VIII.A of the nFORM user manual and the third training video for information on how to generate the QPRs and PPRs, and see Appendix B of the user manual for in-depth descriptions of each section of the reports.

Applicant Characteristics

Section C-02 in the PPR shows characteristics of clients enrolled during the reporting period (from the Applicant Characteristics Survey). It also shows what clients said about their lives at the beginning of the program (from the Entrance Survey).

Enrollment

Table C-03.2 in the PPR and table B-01.2 in the QPR show the grantee’s progress toward enrollment targets during the reporting period.

Initial Participation

Section C-04.1 in the PPR and section B-02.1 in the QPR show how quickly clients engage in services.

Attendance at Workshops

Section C-04.2 in the PPR and section B-02.2 in the QPR shows client attendance for workshops with session series that were completed during the reporting period.

Individual Service Contacts

Table C-04.3 in the PPR shows how often clients participated in individual service contacts, such as meeting with case managers.

Quality Assurance and Monitoring

Section C-05 in the PPR and section B-03 in the QPR show the levels of training and supervision of staff who provided program services during the reporting period.

Caseload

Table C-05.4 in the PPR shows the average client caseload for the grantee’s case managers.

Referrals

Section C-06 in the PPR shows the number of referrals that grantee staff gave to clients and how many clients followed through on the referrals, as recorded in nFORM.

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Implementation Challenges

Section C-07 in the PPR and section B-04 in the QPR show the program challenges that grantee staff experienced during the reporting period (from the Program Operations Survey).

Participant Outcomes

Section C-09 in the PPR shows what clients said about their lives at the end of services and how they rated the program (from the Exit Survey).