Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Army Community Services Headquarters and installation staff, and Soldiers, Army Civilian Employees, and their families. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Headquarters staff was briefed on program evaluation methods. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Rear Detachment Commander’s (RDC) Desk Guide and OPREADY Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) job responsibilities and Family Readiness Group (FRG) guidelines are used Army wide. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
14 Needs Assessment Surveys and Reports completed Needs Assessment Roll-up of Surveys with Executive Summary completed Multiple conference calls assisting in the transition of NA surveying to the internal marketing people at IMCOM including provision of all relevant documents, templates, etc. Outcomes wrap-up: Transition meeting 31 July and 1 August, two days of meeting were conducted at G9 Family Programs, IMCOM Headquarters to finalize the evaluation models and begin developing evaluation plans for SFAC, Employment Readiness, Relocation Readiness, Financial Readiness, the Victim Advocacy Program, the Exceptional Family Member Program, Community Information Services, Mobilization and Deployment, AFTB, AFAP, and AVCC. We met with the Division Chiefs and Program Managers in each area and developed a general outline of how various aspects of each program could be evaluated going forward. This information was incorporated in a formal evaluation plan for each of these program areas that was submitted on 20 August 2013. Updated and finalized OPREADY Rear Detachment Commander’s (RDC) Desk Guide to incorporate changes in redeployment and reintegration programs and resources. Updated and finalized OPREADY Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) to change job responsibilities and Family Readiness Group (FRG) guidelines.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: IMCOM G9 Morale, Recreation and Welfare, ACS Headquarters and Installation level ACS directors and Program managers are the primary target audience. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The process of developing and analyzing the surveys provide an opportunity for professional development among the various ACS program managers and are used as tools for managing their respective programs. The collaborative work on logic model development, process and outcome metrics piloting, and application of the findings to improve data management systems build the evaluation capacity of the core ACS staff. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? All needs assessment reports, data and outcome metrics are internal Army documents for their use. There is no public dissemination. Within the Army Family Program area, however, the results of these projects are briefed up the chain of command to demonstrate evidence of outreach and effectiveness and are used extensively for strategic planning, quality improvement and funding appropriations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? As this is the last year for this project, there will be no further Needs Assessment surveys, reports or outcome related activities. The next reporting period will be a final summarized report on the Needs Assessments for the 15 installations and a closing report.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goals of this project which has been operating for over 20 years, was: 1) To create and deploy a standardized needs assessment survey and then analyze that needs assessment data for each Army installation undergoing their triennial accreditation review. The needs assessment data (electronic as well as scanned paper) is collected from Soldiers, Family Members and DA Civilians and assists the ACS program staff with quality improvement and strategic planning as well as providing them with evidence of effectiveness. The needs assessment reports are also a requirement of their current accreditation standards. 2) To develop outcome metrics for each ACS program in collaboration with the HQ program managers for major programs such as Financial Readiness, Spouse Employment, Family Advocacy, Relocation, Volunteer Management, Deployment and Mobilization, etc. Logic models and an evaluation strategy were created (for new programs) or revised and adapted for all ACS programs. Several of the programs successfully completed pilots at selected installations and were able to fold the metrics required into some existing data collection tools. The outcome of these pilots provided information on feasibility of the data collection and recommendations for improvements in either existing MIS (such as the client tracking system (CTS)). In some programs where it was not possible to collect ongoing data due to the sensitive nature of the data or because the program manager did not “own” all the data, alternative strategies were developed for other ways to demonstrate the reach and effectiveness of the program. One of the most important outcomes of the work was to develop evaluation capacity in the ACS program staff so that continuous data collection could occur.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project supported the mission of the Army Community Service (ACS) Family Programs IMCOM 9 with three main deliverables: 1. Conducting Needs Assessment surveys for ACS installation programs going through a triennial accreditation process. A standardized survey was provided to each installation with appropriate custom questions in both scannable paper and electronic format. Survey data was then analyzed and a comprehensive report was provided to each installation ACS director. In addition a yearly roll-up analysis and report is provided to HQ Army IMCOM G9, Army Community Service director and associated Headquarter program managers. 2. Create and deliver a three day specialized workshop for Army Family Team Building Instructors on how to transform classroom based modules and lessons to a synchronously distributed electronic training environment. 3. Provide program evaluation of Army Family Programs (i.e., designing logic models, conducting feasibility studies for data collection; piloting at selected locations, providing training as requested for senior program staff and providing technical assistance for integration of validated evaluation models and tested metrics into existing MIS databases). This deliverable was put on hold in January of 2012 due to lack of funding for continuation. Progress up to that date is noted below. PARTICIPANTS: Cornell University, Military Project staff at the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) completed the ACS work, which required ongoing coordination and collaboration with the Army IMCOM G9, Family Programs and Army Community Service installation personnel at the 15 surveyed installations as well as with Army regional staff. Cornell University staff included: Brian Leidy PhD, Marney Thomas PhD, Cynthia Enroth MSW, Marylu McPheron MS, Lisa Sanfilippo MA, Donna Dempster-McClain PhD, Dorothy Forbes MS, Tom Hanna BA, Charlie Isso PhD, Karen Snyder MA, and Kristie Lockwood BA. An additional consultant for the AFTB training was Mr. Robert Drake, an instructional technology expert who was one of the main trainers for the AFTB training. TARGET AUDIENCES: The IMCOM G9, Army Community Family Program Headquarters and installation staff are the primary users for our program evaluation, training and technical support activities. In this project we also worked closely with Army Family Team Building master. This evaluation and training supports their work with the Soldiers, DA Civilians, and Family members primarily in the Active Duty Army worldwide but is also used by National Guard and Reserve Family Programs staff as needed. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
1. Installation Accreditation Needs Assessment Surveying: a total of 15 Needs Assessment reports were completed and provided to the respective Army Community Service installation directors to assist them in completing their accreditation as well as developing their strategic plan for program resource allocation and program improvement. 2. The Army Family Team Building Training event was held on July 25-27th. There were 19 participants. A request from the Army POC to extend the training for an additional half day to provide an overview for eight other ACS headquarters program staff was also fulfilled. 3. Program evaluation projects were limited due to fund constraints but additional work was started on scaling up the Relocation Readiness pilot from paper to electronic format; pilot demonstration scheduled for the spring of 2012 was cancelled. We also worked with Army One Source, Soldier and Family Assistance Center, and Spouse Employment on outcome measures, but this work was suspended in January.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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