Jackson County Program Evaluation Project Year 3, Report 1.pdf

Process InterviewsKey informant process interviews were conducted December 3 rd through 14 th , 2010.Interviews were conducted with eight of the nine of the eligible stakeholders. Eligiblepeople included school district superintendents, the project coordinator, the projectassistant, the counselor, and program implementation staff. Interview participants wereprovided with the list of questions prior to the scheduled interview and were given asmuch time as they thought they needed to prepare for them. Interviews were conductedby telephone and lasted between 10 and 40 minutes. Participation was voluntary andthere were no anticipated risks associated with interview completion. Interviewparticipants were cooperative and provided constructive feedback regarding the project.Responses were kept confidential using the following methods: 1) data collected fromthe interviews is reported in aggregate form without any identifying information; 2) notesare kept in a locked file cabinet in a locked office until this report is finalized, then allwritten notes are destroyed; and 3) electronic reports are maintained on a securedatabase and all individual responses are destroyed once this report is finalized.Responses to each question were synthesized and are provided below. Summaries ofprevious interviews may be found in Appendix 5, pages 50 through 62.1. What successes have you observed or experienced during the first half of theJackson County Alcohol Abuse Prevention/Reduction Project?• The success most frequently cited during this round of interviews was that ofthe school-based prevention programs. The LifeSkills Training program wasmost frequently cited as a success. Respondents also indicated that thestudents seem to be taking the programs and the surveys more seriously,and that the Leadership and Resiliency Program students greatly enjoy theservice projects.• The second most frequently cited success was that community awarenessand parental involvement in the project has increased. Parents are becomingactively involved in the coalition and are making positive contributions to thecommunity education/outreach efforts.• A few respondents cited the increased success of the counseling servicesthis year: Use of the services has increased, and all of the schools have nowreferred students for services. School personnel also indicated that it is ahelpful resource and should be continued.2. What problems have you encountered so far in the project? How did you dealwith these problems, or what solutions did you come up with to overcome theseproblems?• Several respondents indicated that the main problems continue to be denialthat underage alcohol use is a problem and the lack of involvement on thepart of community members, in spite of project staff’s best efforts. However,respondents also indicated that community involvement in project activities isstarting to increase.• Other problems reported include: 1) few counseling referrals, which wasaddressed through meetings with personnel at each school at the beginningJackson County GRAA Evaluation Report 26