EVALUATION PLANNING FOR CHILD AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM

This project is designed to develop a rigorous, flexible, replicable, and executable plan to systematically and rigorously evaluate the Department of Defense (DoD) Child and Youth Development System: Evaluation Planning (CYEP). At the macro level, through a thorough review of scientific literature, we will identify relevant theory and research to develop an overarching logic model for CYEP (i.e., How does the System work to enhance the health and well-being of military children and youth?). Evaluation plans will then be created for the overall System and for its individual programmatic areas (e.g., child development centers, school-aged child care, youth recreation and sports, teen centers). At the micro or local level, each of the individual programmatic areas will be provided a choice of clearly delineated evaluation approaches for their specific programs. The level of evaluation rigor will fall along a continuum from acceptable to robust, with increasing resources required to move from an acceptable evaluation to a robust evaluation. Evaluation approaches will include design, data collection, measurement, and data analytic options. The Clearinghouse will also develop pre-plans for a System wide monitoring and evaluation program (i.e., the ability to collect system wide and local data that can be used for program management at the national and local level). This evaluation plan will promote continuous quality improvement at the System, programmatic area, and specific program levels to improve both family and military readiness.