September 2019

Defining Your Community Progress with Data A Focus on Sustainability Planning

As the Making Connections Initiative transitions into the final year of implementation, sustaining core program components and best practices is a focus for all grantees. Part of working towards sustainability includes efforts to communicate the impact of your initiative to policymakers, community influencers, funders, and other key groups with decision-making power. What information are you collecting or can collect in the next year to support your story? In what ways will you communicate your MC story? Who needs to be involved in shaping the story? Who needs to hear the story? Check out the resources below to help your MC community learn strategies for working towards sustainability and how the use of data can be a powerful tool in your efforts.

Prevention Institute Sustainability Webinar Series Access the archived recording of part 1 in the series, " Strategies for Long-Term Sustainability ." Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 in the series: Webinar #2: Making an Effective Pitch  Webinar #3: Understanding the National Landscape for Funding  Using Evaluation Data to Promote Program Sustainability For an overview of the important relationship between evaluation and sustainability and how sustainability planning can be data-informed, c lick on the image above to view the webinar from minute 7:45 to minute 14:27. This webinar hosted by James Bell Associates on July 18, 2017, provided an overview of strategies used by Children’s Bureau child welfare discretionary grantees to sustain program and evaluation activities following the end of federal funding.

Tampa Conference 2020 Call for Proposals New Specialty Track! Submit to the Innovative Initiatives on Improving Men and Boys Mental Health and Wellbeing . Submission portal is now open and closes October 11, 2019. Please share with colleagues! Call for Proposals

Data to Support Your Partnership Social Network Analysis/Coalition Effectiveness Inventory Thank you for taking the time to complete the SNA/CEI online surveys! This data is very important to help understand both partnership structure and functioning. Reports will be sent to grantees and posted to the website in the near future. You can also view your site's past SNA and CEI Reports at https://www.mcievaluation.com/grantee-resources.html

A Brief Message from the National Evaluation In this final implementation year, the national evaluation would like to reiterate its purpose to work in partnership with grantees to provide a cross-site, overall program understanding of the collective MC Initiative. This broader level focus aims to complement local evaluation efforts which work to capture locally focused activities specific to each community. Together, we can demonstrate the undeniable value of our efforts to improve the mental health and wellbeing of men and boys across the nation.

PLEASE READ! Important MWBI Reminders Check your site's web page to ensure you are using the correct versions of the paper MWBI.  Remember to clear your cache/cookies when accessing the online version. Visit your page and take a look at your number of survey completions, get helpful instructions on how to complete the survey, access the surveys using different platforms and upload your hard-copies. Need your MWBI data? You can request your MWBI data at any time! Simply contact your MC USF Site Liaison with the request. For more information about MWBI data collection procedures, visit our FAQ page at https://www.mcievaluation.com/mental-well-being-inventory-mwbi.html. To learn more about the development and evolution of the MWBI and how it can benefit your work and the community, check out the archived recording of our recent TA Calls/Office Hours at https://www.mcievaluation.com/trainings.html. The overview and discussion about the MWBI starts at minute 32:40.

 The Making Connections Evaluation emphasizes   theory-driven evaluation , which promotes development of shared vision, clear linking of strategies to intended outcomes, and a commitment to using data to inform decision making at all stages and levels of implementation.

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