National evaluation of safe start promising approaches: Assessing program implementation

Predictors of Study Retention From a Multisite Study of Interventions for Children and Families Exposed to Violence

“…The SSPA initiative began data collection for most programs in 2005 (some in 2006) and continued until 2010. Over this study period, recruitment at most sites fell far below r Journal of Community Psychology, August 2013 expectations, as detailed thoroughly in earlier reports (Jaycox et al, 2011;Schultz et al, 2010). While retention of participants was also low overall, it was typical for studies of this type (Attride-Stirling, Davis, Farrell, Groark, & Day, 2004;Gross et al, 2001).…”

The Relationship Between Protective Factors and Outcomes for Children Exposed to Violence

“…Data for this study were drawn from the national SSPA evaluation (Jaycox et al, 2011;Kracke & Hahn, 2008;Schultz et al, 2010). The SSPA outcome evaluation was designed to examine whether specific interventions are associated with individual-level changes in child outcomes in 15 different sites.…”

“…Based on these concepts, interventions have been developed for children exposed to violence that target the development or strengthening of protective factors as a primary or secondary goal (Hyde, Lamb, Arteaga, & Chavis, 2008;Jaycox et al, 2011;Kracke & Hahn, 2008;Schultz et al, 2010). Interventions focused on building protective factors could result in better outcomes for these children by ameliorating existing harms or shielding children from further harm in the event of violence re-exposure.…”

Improving Outcomes for Children Exposed to Violence: Safe Start Promising Approaches

“…For the second (implementation) phase, called Safe Start Promising Approaches (SSPA), OJJDP selected 15 sites in 2005 to implement promising interventions designed to reduce and prevent the harmful effects of children's exposure to violence. RAND served as the national evaluator in this effort and produced reports on both process (Schultz et al, 2010) and outcomes (Jaycox et al, 2011a). The second phase continued in 2010 when OJJDP selected an additional ten sites and funded RAND to conduct a national evaluation on outcomes.…”

“…Our experience working with sites to implement interventions in real-world settings emphasized the importance of aligning the intervention approach and setting with the families' needs or priorities, conducting needs assessments at the outset of services, providing for families' immediate and basic needs, offering an array of therapy options, having flexibility components in the therapy model, and monitoring adherence to the therapy model (Schultz et al, 2010). For most sites, these implementation challenges led to low enrollment and retention and meant that the studies were not fully powered to detect intervention effects.…”