The Evaluation Center partnered with Fathers & Families Support Center to conduct an impact evaluation of their New Pathways to Responsible Fatherhood Family Formation project.
As the聽聽approached its 10th year working to strengthen St. Louis families, its leaders were confident it was achieving its aims through its program to improve father-child well-being. But to make sure, and to demonstrate their success to potential funders, it needed the expertise of a fresh set of eyes.
Enter the Brown School鈥檚聽. The Center developed and executed an evaluation plan for FFSC using tools that included periodic surveys of participating fathers, focus groups, and detailed data analysis. When their work was finished, not only had they shown the program鈥檚 success, but also found ways to improve its efficiency and help more dads in the process.
鈥淲orking with the Evaluation Center was a very good experience,鈥� said Cheri D. Tillis, CEO of the Fathers & Families Support Center (FFSC). 鈥淲e have the staff that can administer various tools, but we don鈥檛 have the expertise to produce quantitative analysis. We learned so much from the Evaluation Center鈥檚 report 鈥� it was amazing.鈥�
, the newly named Director of the Evaluation Center, said its work for the FFSC is a good example of the Center鈥檚 aim of accomplishing client-driven evaluation to help organizations within and outside of Washington University determine whether their organizational goals are being met. Now in its seventh year, the Center is expanding and looking ahead. It recently released its first-ever聽聽highlighting its accomplishments, including doubling its staff size and securing over $8 million in grants and contracts to advance the work of partner organizations and strengthen the evaluation capacity of partners and others in the field.
鈥淲e鈥檙e now moving into the intersection of strategy development and evaluation,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e consulting with partners on strategic, policy development so evaluation isn鈥檛 an afterthought, but on the front end to build evaluation capacity from the beginning.鈥�
Lobb Dougherty was formerly the associate director of the Center and was named recently to replace Nancy Mueller, who has been appointed associate provost for institutional effectiveness at Washington University.
鈥淲e are incredibly gratified that Nikole will provide a seamless transition for the Evaluation Center, whose growth over the last five years has been extraordinary,鈥� said聽Gary Parker, the Associate Dean for External Affairs. 鈥淣ancy and Nikole have been a tremendous source of leadership to fulfill the Brown School鈥檚 commitment to making an impact in our community by advancing evidence-based programs to improve the lives of people at the grass-roots level.鈥�
Lobb Dougherty said the Center鈥檚 aim is to build the ability of organizations to do their own evaluation. She noted that the Center helped launch post-master鈥檚 certificate programs in program evaluation and data visualization to do just that with plans to expand to other related topics. 鈥淲e want to foster a culture of learning and increase the capacity of others,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that those individuals who are most impacted have a voice at the table.鈥�
The Center has also played a key role in the Brown School鈥檚 strategic plan, Equity 2030. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really focused on insuring that we are implementing equitable evaluation strategies and approaches,鈥� said聽, the Center鈥檚 assistant director of evaluation services.
The Evaluation Center has worked with a diverse and growing group of partners over the years, including the Cigna Foundation, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and United Way of Greater St. Louis. The Fathers & Families Support Center is a powerful example of the Evaluation Center鈥檚 record for impact.
Before the Evaluation Center鈥檚 analysis, all fathers who signed up for the FFSC鈥檚 program entered a 240-hour, six-week class that included elements such as parenting and employment placement services. Many of the dads didn鈥檛 complete the course. After brainstorming with the Evaluation Center, they set up an alternative, four-week program. Interviews, focus groups and analyses of outcomes for fathers in both groups revealed that positive results 鈥� such as well-being, more quality parenting time, improved family interactions and fathers鈥� financial contributions to the family 鈥� were the same for both groups.
鈥淭he Evaluation Center鈥檚 analysis showed us we could accomplish this in a four-week time frame,鈥� Tillis said. 鈥淢ore people we serve are now making it to the finish line, and we have lower attrition rates.鈥�
Courtney King, MPH/MSW 鈥�16, was a research assistant for the Center鈥檚 FFSC impact evaluation project and became its project coordinator in 2018. 鈥淚 was interested in research and evaluation and using data to help tell the story, problem solve and think through things differently,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his project was special to me because it focused on fathers. And it gave me more insight into what support fathers need.鈥�
Facilitating the focus groups with the fathers was enlightening, she said. 鈥淭he one thing that stood out to me was that a key component was financial well-being fathers having the training and skills for employment and connecting them to jobs. We know that if you have financial well-being, you can care for yourself and your family. That can influence other outcomes like parenting and psychological well-being. From our study, we learned there were no differences between the longer and shorter programs. Their well-being improved regardless,鈥� she said.
King added that her experience gave her confidence in her career choice. 鈥淔rom being part of this project, I had confirmation I was in the right field of work,鈥� she said.
One of the 黑料社s who worked on the FFSC project was Courtney Cantwell, MSW 鈥�19 . Her role was in data collection, calling fathers in the program to complete a survey. 鈥淚t was a really interesting experience,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was sometimes challenging to get ahold of these dads. I asked them about their health and well-being, and how that affected their parenting.鈥�
The experience led to her working on a variety of projects at the Center 鈥淚 love getting to meet all of our partners and find out what they鈥檙e doing in the community. I am so grateful I鈥檓 now getting the chance to continue my learning outside the classroom, which is so important to my career trajectory. I just really like what I鈥檓 doing. This is fostering my love for data, information and how to communicate it to all types of audiences.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity to bridge the gap of data and real-world experience and the impact it can have on the community.鈥�
, evaluation and communications manager, said 黑料社 involvement has been key to the Center鈥檚 work. 鈥淭he Center has consistently been a site of practicum 黑料社s,鈥� Jacobsen said. Allee added that the Center鈥檚 work helps to fulfill the Brown School鈥檚 commitment to the community by being a source of expertise for organizations that聽may not know where to turn. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in a non-profit, you don鈥檛 know who to go to for support but you know our school wants to be a resource to the community. It鈥檚 helpful to have a place to go.鈥�
Tillis, the Director of Fathers & Families Support Center, agreed. She said staff and leadership have shared their Evaluation Center experience, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in technical-assistance sessions with new projects and social-service providers across the U.S. to reinforce the value of evaluation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 dispelled some fears practitioners have about going into evaluation and put people at ease,鈥� she said. 鈥淣o one wants to be told they have an ugly baby. But you鈥檙e going to learn things about your project that you can tweak and change. Practitioners have to be open to change because it can lead to improvements.鈥�
鈥淵ou may think you have a great project, but you have to show it, and the Evaluation Center is a great third party saying it, not just you.鈥�