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REACH Ashland Youth Center Evaluation

Description

REACH Ashland Youth Center operates as a collaborative of County and non-profit agencies that support five core program areas (recreation, education, arts & creativity, career & employment, and health & wellness) that serve Alameda County residents ages 11 to 24 with a focus on the Ashland unincorporated area where there are high levels of poverty, crime, and chronic health conditions. REACH’s mission is to honor youth power and build community resilience. Programming and services are designed to help youth members overcome immediate and longer-term obstacles, to cultivate their own strengths, and to develop the skills they need to take positive action and thrive, even amidst ongoing personal trauma and social disadvantage. Since 2016, R+A has provided evaluation consulting services and technical assistance for the Alameda County Center for Healthy Schools and Communities (CHSC)/Alameda County Health Care Services Agency (HCSA) to understand and document the effects of REACH’s programs and services on youth members and to identify opportunities to strengthen the multi-agency partnership, services, and programming. We have worked closely with REACH and CHSC/HCSA staff to 1) develop and update an evaluation framework that aligns with Results-Based Accountability; 2) implement an evaluation that is responsive to REACH staff, CHSC/HCSA, youth members, and other stakeholders; and 3) analyze and present quantitative and qualitative data. As part of the ongoing evaluation, the R+A team collects, analyzes, and presents data (e.g., summary statistics and trend data for quantitative attendance and participation data, utilization of health and wellness services, youth survey responses related to satisfaction and outcomes).

Timeframe: 2016 - present

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Highlights Since 2016

  • Providing ongoing technical assistance to improve data collection efforts and data quality.

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  • Engaging youth leaders and REACH staff in developing the foci of annual evaluation questions as well as reviewing and interpreting evaluation data.

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  • Developing case studies, tracking county-wide data trends, administering and analyzing the annual REACH youth member survey, and preparing annual data summary slide decks.

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