Catholic Relief Services, Futures Group and the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology (IHV) developed the Site Capacity Assessment tool to serve as a tool for routine program monitoring and supporting the long term sustainability of local health facilities.

What is the Site Capacity Assessment tool?

• The SCA tool is used to assess a health facility’s overall ability to deliver consistent and sustainable HIV care and treatment.
• The SCA tool does not assess program outcomes; rather, it assesses the capacity of program operations.
• The information is used to identify needs and prioritize activities to strengthen and improve capacity.
• The SCA tool also identifies areas of excellence that may be used to exemplify best practices.
• The SCA tool is designed to promote learning.
• Once gaps are identified, the health facility staff consider the root causes of problems and develop strategies for improvement, as well as to acknowledge and reinforce good work.
• The results of the assessment enable health facility staff to prioritize activities to strengthen capacity where needed.
• This tool will tell which health facility is meeting the basic “pass level” of sustainability, that is the minimum level of capacity to provide quality HIV care and treatment services on a continuing basis.

How is the SCA Tool designed?

The SCA is organized by 12 program components and 7 crosscutting functional areas. Each component includes a set of indicators that represent the capacities critical for sustainability. Each indicator has sets of observable statements on a 5-point scale. Level 3 on the scale represents the minimum level of capacity required for sustainability. A rating of level 1 represents no capacity, whereas level 5 represents a highly developed capacity and a potential best practice. The use of observable statements enables the health facility staff to see what is needed to move to a higher level with respect to each indicator. The functional areas are consistent across all components, which allows for analysis of scores by program component and by functional area.   

Use of the SCA Tool

The SCA Tool is intended to be used on an annual basis; however, it could be used by health facility staff for self-assessment on an ad hoc basis. For some health facilities, particularly those undergoing significant change, a six-monthly administration of the SCA would be helpful to track the impact of change, and to identify gaps and areas that need capacity strengthening.

To obtain a license agreement and the SCA Tool, please send a request to ics@crs.org

An Overview of the SCA tool is available by clicking open document below.