New & Noteworthy
System-Wide Evaluation Support for Behavioral Health Services
Currently, EVALCORP is partnering with eight counties across the state of California on behavioral health initiatives. In this post, we offer a snapshot of our work in one of those counties to illustrate how our program evaluation and needs assessment services work in the behavioral health sector, and touch on the future of mental health…
From Social Host Ordinances to Opioid Settlement Funds: Celebrating our Long-Term Partnership with Ventura County Behavioral Health, Substance Use Services
EVALCORP has had the opportunity to work with the Substance Use Services division of Ventura County Behavioral Health (VCBH) since 2006, and that long view has allowed our team to generate insights that shape how we approach the work. We have led program evaluation and strategic planning projects for several VCBH substance use and prevention…
Pinellas County First Responders Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Initiatives: Real-Time Feedback through Program Evaluation
Currently, EVALCORP is partnering with Pinellas County, Florida to conduct a program evaluation for initiatives funded through the First Responders-Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act Grants (FR-CARA) program. This project addresses the County’s goals of reducing opioid-related deaths and connecting individuals to effective treatment. Evaluating Overdose Response Programming In our work for this project, we are…
California’s Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Prevention Program: Lessons Learned from Year One of Evaluations
What is the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Program? Organized retail theft has become a growing challenge for communities across California. In 2022, the state launched the Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Prevention Grant Program to help respond to the issue. Funded by the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC), this initiative provides funding to…
Building Evaluation Capacity with the Pretend City Children’s Museum
EVALCORP recently completed an evaluation capacity building project with Pretend City Children’s Museum. Pretend City is an innovative museum that features a child-size city with interactive exhibits that help children learn about how the world works by engaging their curiosities and imaginations through play. The museum fosters learning in a fun, welcoming, and creative environment.…
Project Spotlight—Developing an Abductive Coding and Analysis Toolkit (DACAT): An International Project to Bring an Emerging Research Methodology to the Private Sector
EVALCORP is excited to announce a new international research collaboration. This summer we began partnering with professors at UCLouvain, a Belgian University, on a project funded by a grant through the European Research Council (ERC)—the scientific funding body of the European Union. This particular grant awards funding to researchers to explore ways that academic research…
Project Spotlight: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Assessment in Ventura County
Last year, EVALCORP was contracted by the Ventura County Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) to design and implement a countywide assessment of services available to victims of crimes perpetrated by adults. The goal of this initiative was to examine which services successfully addressed the dynamic needs of victims/survivors of crime in the County. After reviewing the…
Spotlight on Evaluation Findings of Informal Caregiver Support Programs
EVALCORP has had the opportunity to conduct a program evaluation for two amazing Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregiver support programs in Los Angeles and San Jose, California. We conducted a comprehensive mixed-methods evaluation of Visión y Compromiso’s (VyC) Family Caregivers Project (FCP) in 2021 and San Jose Public Library’s (SJPL) FFN Caregiver Support Network…
What Role Do Evaluators Play in Raising Awareness About Mental Health? Spotlight on Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
Since 1949, the month of May has been designated as Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States. It marks May as a month dedicated to bringing attention to and eliminating the shame associated with mental health challenges. This month at EVALCORP, we are asking: What role do evaluators play in raising awareness about mental…