Purpose: NPC Research is providing comprehensive evaluation support for The Lucas County Pathways to Success Initiative (Ohio). The initiative fosters strategic coordination and communication between Lucas County Children Services, Toledo Public Schools, Lucas County Juvenile Court and other community organizations and serves foster youth ages 10-17 who are at risk of academic failure as a result of educational mobility, delinquent and unruly behavior, placement instability, and other challenges associated with foster care experiences. Key process evaluation questions focus on the practices, policies, and procedures of the Pathways to Success Initiative and the “goodness of fit” between the intervention and the systems and settings into which they are introduced.
Project Design: The project involves a process evaluation of the Pathways to Success Initiative. Process evaluation activities include program material review, site visits, participant observations, key stakeholder interviews, and focus groups with students participating in the program. To set the stage for an outcome evaluation, NPC will work with program staff to review and refine the program logic model, develop pre- and post- teacher, student, parent, and staff assessments, ensure that high-quality systems and procedures are in place to collect both short- and long-term outcome data, and analyze available outcome data.
Funding Source: United States Department of Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
Start Date: October 2012
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