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Preventing Youth Crime And Violence: Intervention And Evaluation Issues, Nick Axford, Sajid Humayun

Peninsula Medical School

Whilst youth offending has been declining, there have been increases in serious youth violence in the last decade. Therefore, there is a pressing need to prevent youth crime and violence owing to its prevalence, harms and cost to society. Part of the effort to address this involves identifying and disseminating evidence-based practice. We explore key challenges in this endeavour and offer ideas for how to address them. These fall into two categories. The first concerns the focus and nature of interventions and the imperative to increase the effectiveness of our collective efforts. We start by considering neglected issues and groups …

International Collaboration To Explore Elements For An Effective Residential Childcare Workforce, Justyna Siemionow, Patrick M. Tyler, W. Alex Mason, Deogratias Musoke, Maia Ordonez, Jaime A. Gomez-Blaya, Joseph G. Grzywacz

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Residential childcare workers provide critical support to vulnerable children around the world. Building and maintaining a qualified residential childcare workforce is challenged by myriad forces, the foremost of which is recruiting and retaining staff for valuable work often misaligned with available compensation; making individual qualifications at hiring; ongoing training; supervision; and data support systems to monitor performance critical for quality care. This study explored the similarities and differences among these essential elements of staffing across distinct programs: Youth Education Centers (YEC) in Poland, CiudadEscuela Muchachos (CEMU) in Spain, and the Boys Town Family Home Program (BTFHP) in the United States. …

A Formative Evaluation Of ‘Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity And Building Resiliency’ With Hispanic Adolescents Prior To And During Covid‑19, Heidi Adams Rueda, Abigail Vera, Arminda Marcial, Amanda Mariano

Social Work Faculty Publications

Youth living in poverty are more likely to experience cumulative stressors including multiple adverse childhood events. Further, the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionality affected Hispanic youth and communities, leading to unprecedented levels of trauma. This research responded to a need for a youth resiliency-building program in an urban and impoverished area with a majority Hispanic population. We conducted a formative evaluation of a youth intervention entitled Mind Mat- ters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience, which aims to help youth overcome adversity and to build resilience via psychoeducation and skill development. Just prior to the pandemic in the United States (August-December, …

A Team's Journey Toward More Equitable Philanthropic Research And Evaluation Practices, Kimberly A. Spring, Maria Fernanda Mata, Jeffrey Poirier, Allison Holmes, Amir François

The Foundation Review

This article describes the journey of the Research and Evaluation team at the Annie E. Casey Foundation to develop an approach that would allow us to rethink and deepen how we, as funders of research and evaluation, center equity in our practice.

In particular, we explain how, through this process, we began to focus on what it means to orient research and evaluation toward participant owners and came to examine the assumptions, expectations, habits, and values that we held. These experiences have presented us with opportunities to learn and be open to new ways of engaging in our work.

We …

Utilization-Focused Evaluation On The Impact Of A Sports-Based Youth Development On Unaccompanied Youth Students, Eric Cortez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Unaccompanied immigrant youth (UIY) face obstacles that can hinder their education in their host countries. Given that educational attainment can help interrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty, the examination of support systems for UIY is critical. This study examined the role of sports-based youth development (SBYD) programs in supporting UIY students using a utilization-focused evaluation. To do this, two groups’ high school graduation rates were compared: (a) UIY participating in an SBYD program and (b) UIY not participating in a SYBD program. In addition to this quantitative analysis, UIY were surveyed and interviewed to contextualize the results of the graduation rate …

Tools For Healthy Living: Lessons Learned About Program Efficacy, Youth Knowledge, And Youth Engagement, Sharon Gray, Jennifer Cushman, Miriah Kelly, Mary Margaret Gaudio, E. Jean Gubbins

Journal of Extension

Youth in grades 4 to 6 were presented with healthy living topics through a two cycle, 11-week 4-H after school curriculum designed for low income, urban populations. Pre- and post-surveys were used to measure knowledge of healthy homes topics such as mold and moisture, lead poisoning, pests, asthma triggers, smoking, and food safety. Daily journaling activities designed to measure youth engagement also added to the mixed data set. Lessons learned about program efficacy, youth knowledge, and youth engagement are presented.

Building Evaluation Capacity In Youth-Serving Organizations Through Evaluation Advisory Boards, Barry Garst, James Pann, Tiffany Berry, Gretchen Biesecker

Journal of Youth Development

Youth-serving organizations seek effective and cost-efficient solutions to build evidence and advance their impact. Some common challenges include choosing data systems or assessments, budgeting and planning for 3rd-party studies, and refining measurement and outcomes when programs expand or change. Evaluation advisory boards (EABs) are a low-cost solution to add evaluation capacity and can be mutually beneficial to both youth-serving organizations and evaluation experts. Previous research suggests that EABs may encourage meaningful use of data, support internal evaluators, and/or facilitate difficult conversations among stakeholders. However, there are very few examples of successful EABs in practice. This paper shares the perspectives of …

Extension’S Response To The Change In Public Value: Considerations For Ensuring Financial Security For The Cooperative Extension System, Jeremy Elliott-Engel, Donna M. Westfall-Rudd, Megan Seibel, Eric Kaufman

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Cooperative Extension is a partnership of county, state, and federal governments to fund the translation and community education of applied research from the land-grant university system. Cooperative Extension’s funding since the 1980s has experienced a few key trends such as federal budget stagnation as well as state and county cyclic funding cycles based on the states’ economic health. Accompanying the state-level budget cuts have been calls for Cooperative Extension to reinvent and improve communication about what it does. As budget stability has become a greater concern, ideas around value and return on investment have become more integrated into the messaging …

Teens In The Somali Diaspora: An Evaluative Program Study, Jennifer Skuza

Journal of Youth Development

Program evaluation is a critical part of program sustainability because evaluation can inform improvements and document impact. Here, 2 Minnesota organizations came together in partnership with the Somali American community to work toward a shared vision, which was to develop a new sustainable program that prepared refugee and immigrant youth for their educational and workforce futures while supporting their cultural way of being. This article shares the evaluative study of this program, which reached teens in the Somali diaspora living in Minnesota. The program team had a long-term interest in developing an evidence-based model to suit this special population; this …

Teens In The Somali Diaspora: An Evaluative Program Study, Jennifer Skuza

Journal of Youth Development

Program evaluation is a critical part of program sustainability because evaluation can inform improvements and document impact. Here, 2 Minnesota organizations came together in partnership with the Somali American community to work toward a shared vision, which was to develop a new sustainable program that prepared refugee and immigrant youth for their educational and workforce futures while supporting their cultural way of being. This article shares the evaluative study of this program, which reached teens in the Somali diaspora living in Minnesota. The program team had a long-term interest in developing an evidence-based model to suit this special population; this …

Teens In The Somali Diaspora: An Evaluative Program Study, Jennifer Skuza

Journal of Youth Development

Program evaluation is a critical part of program sustainability because evaluation can inform improvements and document impact. Here, 2 Minnesota organizations came together in partnership with the Somali American community to work toward a shared vision, which was to develop a new sustainable program that prepared refugee and immigrant youth for their educational and workforce futures while supporting their cultural way of being. This article shares the evaluative study of this program, which reached teens in the Somali diaspora living in Minnesota. The program team had a long-term interest in developing an evidence-based model to suit this special population; this …

Quantitative Or Qualitative: Selecting The Right Methodological Approach For Credible Evidence, Kenneth R. Jones, Eugenia P. Gwynn, Allison Teeter

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

This article provides insight into how an adequate approach to selecting methods can establish credible and actionable evidence. The authors offer strategies to effectively support Extension professionals, including program developers and evaluators, in being more deliberate when selecting appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods. In addition, several examples of commonly used measures are described to help in determining their applicability for evaluating Extension programs. Benefits and challenges of select methods are discussed as well as pitfalls to avoid that can derail the evaluative process. Lastly, a few cases are shared to present how Extension is aiming to establish credible evidence through …

Situational Complexity And The Perception Of Credible Evidence, Scott Chazdon, Samantha Grant

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Situational complexity is the distinction between simple, technically complicated, socially complicated, and complex situations. Programs that operate in simple situations are usually able to follow a prescribed course of action, or recipe, while programs operating in more complicated or complex situations must be flexible and responsive. In this article, the authors present findings from an exploratory, multiple-case study of the credibility of evidence in four distinct program situations ranging from simple to complex. Key informant interviews were conducted with 16 key informants, both internal and external to Extension. The findings were generally that the more complex the situation, the more …

Evaluating For The Bigger Picture: Breaking Through The Learning And Evaluation Barriers To Advancing Community Systems-Change Field Knowledge, Thomas Kelly, Prudence Brown, Hanh Cao Yu, Marie Colombo

The Foundation Review

Foundations investing in community systems change often fail to prioritize field-level and cross-initiative evaluation questions in building initiatives. As a result, many of the documented evaluations of such investments lack translatable lessons specific and influential enough to drive related decisions and actions of others in the field.

This article developed from ongoing, multiyear peer learning across several foundations that collectively compiled recommendations for community systems-change funders and evaluators to implement more powerful evaluations. They are intended to help funders and evaluators engaged in these efforts build sectorwide knowledge capable of informing improved work across initiatives and communities. This article also …

Developing A Common Evaluation Tool For Camps, Kendra Lewis, Marianne Bird, Tamekia Wilkins, John Borba

Journal of Youth Development

Evaluation has become a standard for youth programming, to provide both evidence for improvement recommendations and an assessment of program outcomes. Having a common evaluation tool across programs (in this case, camps) is beneficial in aggregating measurements and understanding similarities and differences between programs. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of working with the California 4-H Camping Advisory Committee to develop a common evaluation tool for all California 4-H camps, and to share initial findings from the instrument. We present results from two years of data collection, and the multiple uses of the findings

Education’S Role In A System Of Care For Children And Youth With Emotional/Behavioral Challenges: A Mixed Methods Evaluation, Lauryn Young

Theses and Dissertations

Students with more severe emotional/behavioral (EB) challenges have many problems in the school environment and subsequently have significant difficulty making adjustments later in adulthood. Coordinated care systems, such as local system of care (SOC) initiatives, were established in response to a call for reform in youth mental health services as research began highlighting the need for improved access and quality of mental and behavioral services for youth. However, even in communities where SOC initiatives are operating well, school involvement is usually marginal. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate education’s role in one SOC for children and youth with EB …

Health Rocks! Program: The Association Of Youth Engagement With Program Outcomes, Sarah Taylor, Yan Xia, Anh Do, Shen Qin, Maria Rosario De Guzman

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Health Rocks! program aims to promote positive knowledge and attitudes towards substance-related risky behaviors among youth. This presentation will highlight findings from a quantitative study assessing the extent to which youths’ program engagement is associated with program outcomes. Implications are valuable to Extension personnel and other youth professionals for the design and implementation of future youth programs.

Evaluating Extension Impact On A Nationwide Level: Focus On Programs Or Concepts?, Dena K. Wise

Journal of Extension

As agencies with minimal national reach and capacity grow more sophisticated in capturing public and private funding for outreach, Extension finds itself competing for national recognition of its scope and capacity. Because of the need for that recognition, it is increasingly important that states look beyond their individual systems of evaluation to cooperate in demonstrating the full extent of the Extension network for national stakeholders and funders. To do that, Extension must implement a nationwide system of evaluation, and that system should be built around the teaching of common concepts, rather than the delivery of common programs.

Envisioning Mechanisms For Success: Evaluation Of Ebcd At Cheo, Kristina Rohde, Mireille Brosseau, Diane Gagnon, Jennifer Schellinck, Christine Kouri

Patient Experience Journal

To advance patient engagement (PE) and more comprehensively involve patients, families, and staff in quality improvement (QI) at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), the Experience Based Co-Design (EBCD) approach was piloted. Set against the backdrop of envisioning factors that would facilitate success, an evaluation was designed to assess five domains: strengthening of mutual understanding, collaboration, and partnerships between patients/families and staff; a greater involvement of patients, families, and staff in QI; satisfaction with the process; the ability of EBCD to generate clear and useful data to ascertain the patient/family and staff experience; and the ability of EBCD to …

Strongwomen® Program Evaluation: Effect Of Strength Training Exercises On Physical Fitness Of Participants, Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Beth Van Horn, Marilyn Corbin

Journal of Extension

The StrongWomen® Program (SWP) is a nationally disseminated group strength-training exercise and nutrition education program delivered by Extension. The study reported here examined the effect of strength training exercises in SWP on improvement in physical fitness of program participants. Senior Fitness Test was used to collect data. Upon analysis of paired t-tests, significant differences were found between pre-test and post-test across all the six fitness measures. Overall, SWP helped participants to improve their body strength and physical fitness and decreased risk of falls and fractures, which indicates the increased independence and quality of life among older adults.

From Farm Results Demonstrations To Multistate Impact Designs: Cooperative Extension Navigates Its Way Through Evaluation Pathways, Allison Nichols, Stephanie M. Blake, Scott Chazdon, Rama Radhakrishna

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

This article explores how evaluation has been developed and expanded within the Cooperative Extension system, from the beginning of agricultural education in America in 1800 to the present day. Important periods across the history of Extension evaluation have been identified and categorized according to major themes and significant contributions of Extension individuals and organizations. Challenges for the future of evaluation within Extension are discussed.

Common Evaluation Tools Across Multi-State Programs: A Study Of Parenting Education And Youth Engagement Programs In Children, Youth, And Families At-Risk, Pamela B. Payne, Daniel A. Mcdonald

Journal of Extension

Community-based education programs must demonstrate effectiveness to various funding sources. The pilot study reported here (funded by CYFAR, NIFA, USDA award #2008-41520-04810) had the goal of determining if state level programs with varied curriculum could use a common evaluation tool to demonstrate efficacy. Results in parenting and youth engagement indicated that with effort to select valid and reliable measures, it is possible to use common measure across curricula. Lessons learned including evaluating goodness of fit are discussed in regards to the process of conducting common measures evaluations.

Process Monitoring Evaluation Of An Online Program For Parents, Yaebin Kim, Jill R. Bowers, Sally Martin, Aaron Ebata

Journal of Extension

We conducted a process monitoring evaluation of the electronic delivery system of Just in Time Parenting (JITP), an age-paced newsletter for parents, to evaluate program implementation. A visitor-tracking website statistics program (Google Analytics) revealed the number of visitors, geographic location in which they accessed newsletters, and how visitors got to the site. A commercial email marking platform (Bronto) revealed the number of confirmed subscribers, the states in which they lived, and the number of subscribers who opened the emails and clicked on the link to read the newsletters. Implications center on areas for improvement for JITP and online program improvement.

Fieldwork Summary Report: Reducing Repeat Teenage Pregnancy Through Program Planning And Evaluation, Winnie Y. Chan

Master's Projects and Capstones

This fieldwork summary report provides a synthesis of both my overall fieldwork experience at TAPP, Felton Institute’s Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Program, and my Master of Public Health knowledge and skill sets. Since researching the huge social and economic impact that teenage pregnancy and parenting has not only on the teens and their children, but also the society at large, I strived to highlight prevention aspects to reduce repeat unwanted teenage pregnancy. So, I chose to intern at TAPP, focused my fieldwork project mainly on program development and evaluation, along with other aspects of improving wellness.

I begin this report …

Buffering Negative Impacts Of Divorce On Children: Evaluating Impact Of Divorce Education, Jennifer K. Crawford, Jane Riffe, Dominic A. Trevisan, Olusola O. Adesope

Journal of Extension

Following the call for more stringent evaluation methodology and recently documented national Extension presence in the field of divorce education for parents and children, the study reported here describes a local multi-level evaluation to capture program impact of a stakeholder-accepted divorce education program. Using a post-then-pre retrospective scale and validated measures of inter-parental conflict and child adjustment, participants showed significant gains in key co-parenting and community resources knowledge and significant decreases in inter-parental conflict. Selected components of the evaluation design are applicable to Extension faculty working in divorce education programs.

The Importance Of Understanding Dosage When Evaluating Parenting Programs: Lessons From A Pilot Study, Pamela B. Payne, Daniel A. Mcdonald

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

As government resources for community programs diminish, it is vital that Cooperative Extension make greater efforts to show program efficacy. Assessing the appropriate amount of an intervention optimal for reaching desired outcomes can help inform program development and provide for a more efficient use of limited resources. The current pilot study (funded by CYFAR, NIFA, USDA award #2008-41520-04810) focuses on dosage and its effect on outcomes in parenting education delivered in four states.

Using Common Evaluation Instruments Across Multi-State Community Programs: A Pilot Study, Pamela B. Payne, Daniel A. Mcdonald

Journal of Extension

In times of diminishing resources to support community programs, it is critical that Extension make every effort to show impact as collectively as possible for the variety of programs being delivered in individual counties and communities. The pilot study reported here (funded by CYFAR, NIFA, USDA award #2008-41520-04810), focused on outcomes in youth citizenship programs in four states. Key factors to consider in the selection of common instruments include length, scope, and validation of instruments. The importance of dosage, specifically intensity and duration, are highlighted in relation to program outcomes.

Extension Professionals' Strengths And Needs Related To Nutrition And Health Programs, Ninfa Pena-Purcell, Elaine Bowen, Virginie Zoumenou, Ellen R. Schuster

Journal of Extension

We report results of a Web-based nationwide survey of nutrition and health Extension specialists representing 42 states. Survey items (n = 36) assessed five areas: curriculum review, nutrition and physical activity, professional training, communication, and evaluation. An internal curriculum review was common, but few states shared their criteria or process on-line. The majority of respondents reported discussing physical activity, and over half lead physical activities. Most favored on-line professional development training and a one-stop website for sharing information and resources. Evaluation data were most commonly collected for food safety, healthy eating and physical activity, and food resource management.

Implementation & Evaluation Of A Peer Mentor Walking Program For Transitionally Housed Women In Missoula, Mt, Emily Jane Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Single women and families with children are rapidly growing segments of the homeless population (NCH, 2009b). Homeless women generally report a lower quality of life, and are at a greater risk for various physical and mental health issues than their housed counterparts (NCH, 2009a). Mental illness, including depression and anxiety, impacts 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States, compared to 6% of the general population (NCH, 2009b). Social support can serve as a mediating factor between undesirable life events and depression (La Gory, Ritchey, Mullis, 1990). Unfortunately, the social support system among homeless individuals is sometimes …

Young Adults With Mental Illness In North San Diego County - Yami, Ellen Frudakis, Jessica Hanson York, Evan Holland, Colleen Kollar Smith, Vi Nguyen

Program Design and Evaluation

Research project on young adults with mental illness in North San Diego County for YAMI. Includes a needs assessment, program design, social marketing plan, evaluation plan and budget.