First 5 Commission of San Diego County
With the overarching goal of promoting school readiness in young children, the First 5 Commission of San Diego County has made substantial investments to expand and enhance direct services to children ages 0-5 and their families, as well as to achieve system-level improvements. The Commission also supports community involvement strategies and mechanisms for community decision-making and participation.
Services
Need
First 5 San Diego sought program, initiative, and systems level evaluation services, in order to assess the outcomes of First 5 investments and to measure the overall impact of its strategies on children ages 0-5 and their families.
What We Did
In order to ensure the appropriateness and responsiveness of the evaluation design and methods, our work with First 5 San Diego is highly collaborative. The Harder+Company evaluation team works closely with First 5 San Diego Commission staff and advisors to implement a multi-level evaluation, a process that began with the development of an evaluation framework that further operationalized the Commission's strategic plan. Included in the design are initiative-level evaluations and methods to assess changes to the larger system of care for young children and their families.
Our evaluation team develops evaluation components for inclusion in the Commission's RFPs, facilitates the Commission's evaluation advisory group, and works closely with contractors to implement a rigorous yet feasible evaluation. Harder+Company also facilitates learning communities of the Commission's contractors to utilize findings for program improvement. Primary data collection methods have ranged from focus groups and stakeholder interviews to a county-wide random digit dial survey of families with children ages 0-5. We have also conceptualized and implemented an annual participatory research project to incorporate the perspective of consumers of First 5-funded services into the findings.
Results
Our evaluation and research deliverables for this Commission have included annual reports and evaluation briefs to share with the community and stakeholders. In addition, the annual participatory research project results in photo montages for Commission exhibits and community engagement activities.
In December 2005, Harder+Company completed a county-wide random digit dial telephone survey of 1,200 families with young children ages 0-5. This survey represented the first of its kind in the county to focus on the ages 0-5 population, thus providing a unique opportunity to collect and present baseline data about child well-being that can be tracked and assessed over time.
In January 2007, we completed our three-and-a-half year evaluation engagement with First 5 San Diego. The Commission awarded us a second evaluation services contract for a five-year term, effective February 2007.
Staff
For more information on Harder + Company, please contact us at 415-522-5400.
School readiness programs for preschool aged children help youngsters gain critical social, emotional, and developmental skills.
