National Cross-Site Evaluation
The CSE will synthesize evaluation findings across all Project LAUNCH grantees to assess how the initiative is performing overall. Abt Associates Inc., a national evaluation contractor, will conduct this effort.
The evaluation, which is funded by SAMHSA in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), will assess both Project LAUNCH implementation at the state, community, and tribal levels, and the outcomes for children, families, and systems.
The CSE will address three over-arching evaluation questions that link to the strategies and goals of Project LAUNCH:
- How has the child-serving system at the state/tribal/community levels been enhanced as a result of Project LAUNCH?
This question calls for longitudinal, descriptive data on the strategies and activities being undertaken by each Project LAUNCH grantee to enhance systems and services at the state, tribal, and community levels. It is designed to assess the following program goals:- Improved coordination and collaboration across agencies serving young children and families
- Sustained implementation of a coordinated, family-centered, culturally competent child-serving system
- Improved infrastructure, legislation, and other policies
- Increased public education outreach and awareness
- Sustained funding and maintenance of child-serving systems
- How have services for children and families in the target community been enhanced as a result of Project LAUNCH?
This question calls for longitudinal, descriptive data on the outcomes of strategies and activities to expand and enhance systems and services at the community level. It is designed to assess the following program goals:- Increased use of developmental screening and assessment in a range of primary care and early childhood settings
- Integration of mental health into primary care
- Mental health consultation for providers in a variety of settings
- Expanded use of evidence-based prevention and wellness-promotion practices, including home visiting, family strengthening, and parent training programs
- Expanded use of culturally relevant, family-centered practices in a range of primary care and early childhood settings
- Increased knowledge of child development and behavioral health among the community’s workforce
- What is the effect of Project LAUNCH on the overall development and wellness of young children in the community?
This question calls for estimates of the community-wide impact of Project LAUNCH on child health and development at the community level. It is designed to assess the following program goals:- Increased number of children reaching physical, social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive developmental milestones
- Increased number of children entering school ready to learn (including physical, social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive readiness)
Data for the CSE will be available from three sources:
- Site visits to all Project LAUNCH grantees. During the site visits, CSE staff will conduct interviews to gather contextual information about the grantees and their communities. The staff will also collect information about Project LAUNCH implementation at the state, tribal, and community levels. (Note: In Fall 2009, the CSE team conducted telephone interviews with FY 2008 grantees instead of site visits.)
- Semi-annual electronic data reporting. Grantees submit data electronically through a Web portal in the Members Only section of this Web site. The local-level evaluator, the state child wellness expert, and/or the community child wellness coordinator enter CSE data once every six months. Taken as a whole, the Web portal captures data on the following:
- Systems and system changes at the state/tribal/community levels for the previous 12 months
- Service delivery activities and outcomes at the community level for the previous six months
- Changes in provider practices for the previous 12 months
- Demographics for families who receive home visits or participate in the family strengthening programs supported under Project LAUNCH
- Review of grantee documents. The CSE team will review and include applicable data from grantee environmental scans, strategic plans, and End of Year Reports, as well as findings from any rigorous studies that the grantee-specific evaluation has mounted of the impacts of local evidence-based practices on children and families.
The CSE team developed its data collection instruments with guidance from the FY 2008 local-level evaluators, a national panel of evaluation experts, and the OPRE and SAMHSA Federal Project Officers.
CSE staff are available to provide technical assistance on research and evaluation to local evaluators through the CSE liaison assigned to the grantee.
