Training Institutes 2012 - National Technical Assistance Center for ...

TARGETED INSTITUTES
TARGETED INSTITUTE #23 9:30 AM SUNDAY • SARASOTA 2-3
Theory-Driven Evaluation: Quality Improvement and System Sustainability
OBJECTIVES—Participants will learn:
1. To explain how theory-driven evaluation can be used to identify outcomes, develop an evaluation plan, and collect
data that can be used to support systems change
2. How to overcome common challenges related to developing theories of change and logic models
3. How to engage stakeholders and partners in theory-driven change
4. How to use theory-driven evaluation for continuous quality improvement (CQI), sustainability of services, and
systems change
This Targeted Institute will explore how communities successfully incorporate theory-driven evaluation into their system
of care implementation efforts and how to translate ideas about systems change into tangible action-oriented strategies
for achieving these goals. Faculty will present strategies for theory-driven evaluation that focus on bringing evaluation
and program planning staff closer together; engaging stakeholders in order to develop a shared model for change; and
using data as a tool to refine thinking, change strategies, and understand why change happens over time.
Specific topics to be covered include:
• Best practices for working with system of care staff, youth, family members, family organizations, and other
community partners to develop a theory-driven logic model including how child and family outcomes can be woven
into a logic model
• Barriers and challenges communities face throughout phases of system of care development and the benefits of using
a theory-driven logic model as a tool to address those challenges
• How logic models can be designed to support national and local evaluations of outcomes and how the logic model
process can be used to identify gaps and inform local evaluation activities
• Various cultural approaches that can be used to engage communities in the development of theory-driven logic models
• How the process of developing a theory-based evaluation can be made easier by making logic modeling language and
concepts more accessible to everyone in the community
• The importance of forming a cohesive and committed workgroup charged with developing a community logic model
• The connection between theories of change, strategic planning, and CQI efforts and how logic models can be used for
CQI and sustainability of services
Participants will be encouraged to draw from their own experiences and will engage in small group activities to practice
developing key components of a theory of change evaluation, address challenges to developing the logic model based on
their experience, and discuss various strategies for how theory-driven evaluation can be used locally for evaluation
planning, CQI, and sustainability of change plans. The faculty team will include the perspectives of lead evaluators from
systems of care and members of the national evaluation team of the federal Children’s Mental Health Initiative.
MODERATOR/PRESENTER: Sharon Hodges, Ph.D., M.B.A., Research Associate Professor and Division Director,
Department of Child and Family Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Bonnie Brandt, M.A., Training Associate, Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research,
and Service, University of Guam CEDDERS, Mangilao, Guam
Sheryl Schrepf, Senior Evaluator/Trainer, System of Care Expansion Coach, The National Federation of Families for
Children’s Mental Health, Bradenton, FL
Heather Wallace, Ph.D., Program Evaluator, Centerstone Research Institute, Knoxville, TN
114 Training Institutes 2012