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Session Title: Building Capacity to Strengthen the Evaluation of Safe Start Promising Approaches: An Evidence-based Approach
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Panel Session 107 to be held in Pratt Room, Section B on Wednesday, November 7, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
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Sponsored by the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Yvette Lamb,
Association for the Study and Development of Community,
ylamb@capablecommunity.com
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| Discussant(s):
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| Kristen Kracke,
United States Department of Justice,
kristen.kracke@usdoj.gov
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| Abstract:
While 45 states are implementing evidence-based practices for mental health and substance abuse disorders, little is known about how to effectively implement and evaluate these practices in community settings. The proposed panel will discuss the unique role of the Safe Start Promising Approaches evaluation in building the capacity of sites implementing evidence-based practices to improve the implementation and evaluation of these practices. Safe Start Promising Approaches is the second of a multi-phase initiative funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice to identify the best program strategies to reduce the impact of children's exposure to violence. The processes and strategies used to launch the national evaluation, collect the needed data, and ensure successful implementation of interventions will be discussed. The learnings from this panel are likely to inform other cross-site evaluation efforts and thus improve our ability to monitor and evaluate new approaches to helping at-risk children and their families.
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Launching a National Evaluation of the Safe Start Promising Approaches Initiative: Getting to Green Light
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| Lisa Jaycox,
RAND Corporation,
jaycox@rand.org
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| Kristen Kracke,
United States Department of Justice,
kristen.kracke@usdoj.gov
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| Yvette Lamb,
Association for the Study and Development of Community,
ylamb@capablecommunity.com
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| Dana Schultz,
RAND Corporation,
dana_schultz@rand.org
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| Laura Hickman,
RAND Corporation,
hickman@rand.org
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| Lauren Honess-Morreale,
RAND Corporation,
laurenhm@rand.org
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| Dionne Barnes,
RAND Corporation,
dbarnes@rand.org
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| Joie Acosta,
Association for the Study and Development of Community,
jacosta@capablecommunity.com
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Safe Start Promising Approaches is the second of a multi-phase Safe Start Initiative funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention focusing on preventing and reducing the negative impacts of children's exposure to violence. The presentation will describe the year-long process of launching the Safe Start Promising Approaches phase of the Initiative including the selection of measures, development of data collection processes, and development and use of 'green light' criteria for evaluation and implementation. The 'Green Light' criteria included demonstration of specific capabilities and plans and were developed to insure that the sites had all the components in place for successful implementation of their program and for data collection. The learnings from this process are likely to inform other cross-site evaluation efforts and thus improve our ability to monitor and evaluate new approaches to helping at-risk children and their families.
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Training in Data Collection for a National Evaluation
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| Lauren Honess-Morreale,
RAND Corporation,
laurenhm@rand.org
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| Lisa Jaycox,
RAND Corporation,
jaycox@rand.org
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| Suzanne Perry,
RAND Corporation,
suzanne_perry@rand.org
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| Dana Schultz,
RAND Corporation,
dana_schultz@rand.org
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| Laura Hickman,
RAND Corporation,
hickman@rand.org
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| Dionne Barnes,
RAND Corporation,
dbarnes@rand.org
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In preparation for the Safe Start Promising Approaches national evaluation, we worked with 15 sites to develop mandatory and optional procedures that matched their program and evaluation designs, providing sample protocols for sites to modify for their own purposes. An intensive 2-day training for data collection supervisors and staff covered tracking of potential participants, enrolling participants, randomization (if applicable) and discussion of how to operationalize site-specific inclusion/exclusion criteria, consent forms and assent protocols, and field operations. In addition, data collectors were trained on the assessment instruments in English and Spanish. Follow-up to data collection training included telephone training of new staff, dissemination of frequently asked questions, review and feedback on assessments as they were sent to the national evaluator, and site-specific technical assistance on an as-needed basis. This presentation will demonstrate the flexibility that allows site-specific tailoring of methods, while still adhering to the requirements of the national evaluation.
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Improving Quality Assurance When Implementing and Evaluating an Evidence-Based Intervention in a Community Setting
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| Joie Acosta,
Association for the Study and Development of Community,
jacosta@capablecommunity.com
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| Yvette Lamb,
Association for the Study and Development of Community,
ylamb@capablecommunity.com
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| Dana Schultz,
RAND Corporation,
dana_schultz@rand.org
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A continuum of quality assurance was developed to provide a range of strategies to improve the implementation of 15 intervention programs based on the level of their resources and degree of rigor. Examples of how they improved their quality of implementation at each stage of the continuum are organized around four components of quality assurance:
(1) Standardized intervention training and materials;
(2) Ongoing supervision and feedback;
(3) Quality assurance monitoring; and
(4) Agency/organizational support.
The presentation will also apply the continuum of quality assurance to a multiple-component (therapeutic intervention, case management, and hospital support) evidence-based intervention in a community setting. The lessons learned are likely to inform the implementation and evaluation of other evidence-based interventions in community settings and thus improve our ability to implement, monitor, and evaluate interventions to reduce the harmful effects of exposure to violence on young children.
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Planning and Communication Strategies to Engage Children, Families, and Practitioners
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| Elena Cohen,
Safe Start Center,
ecohen@jbsinternational.com
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| Yvette Lamb,
Association for the Study and Development of Community,
ylamb@capablecommunity.com
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| Joie Acosta,
Association for the Study and Development of Community,
jacosta@capablecommunity.com
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The purpose of Safe Start Promising Approaches is to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of multi-component evidence-based interventions in community settings. Although evidence-based practices are being implemented in at least 45 states, there is a lack of strategies for implementation. Safe Start Promising Approaches sites have the unique challenge of implementing evidence-based practices with a population of children and families exposed to violence, as well as engaging this population and their mental health practitioners in a rigorous evaluation that requires the use of a control or comparison group. To facilitate the implementation and evaluation of these evidence-based interventions a multi-faceted process was developed. This process, which was focused on helping grantees develop messages and strategies to engage children, families, and practitioners, included peer-support, technical assistance, and tools. This presentation will discuss the development and application of the tools, as well as strategies and lessons learned from this process.
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