The Vision set forth in the Kansas Comprehensive Plan to Prevent Sexual and Domestic Violence is that: “All people in Kansas will have safe and healthy lives and communities free of sexual and domestic violence.” And the mission is, “To prevent and end sexual and domestic violence through education, collaboration, and action for all people and communities throughout Kansas.” The Kansas Department of Health and Environment Sexual Violence Prevention and Education (SVPE) program in Kansas administrates Rape Prevention and Education funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and provides technical supports for the state’s efforts. The SVPE program uses a participatory approach to monitor and evaluate the progress of state and local efforts to fulfill this vision.
Epidemiologists at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, along with external evaluators at the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas, use multiple data sources to track outcome indicators and to conduct ongoing process evaluations of multi-level efforts of the state health department and partners in Kansas communities and schools.
Process measures track program implementation and help program staff identify areas for improvement. Outcome measures assess longer-term effectiveness and impact of the KDHE SVPE initiative. The evaluation uses Information from existing and developed data sources to address key evaluation questions (e.g., what hinders or facilitates violence prevention efforts).
The University of Kansas provides tools to support participatory evaluation including for: a) online documentation of activities and indicators of success through the Community Check Box Evaluation System; b) graphing of key measures (e.g., development activities, services provided, community/systems change); c) shared sense-making, or, using questions to jointly reflect on the data, such as, what are we seeing? (e.g., in patterns of activity over time, distribution of activities by goal area) and what are the implications for improvement?; and d) sharing successes and reporting to stakeholders (e.g., reflecting on patterns of activities and outcomes, factors affecting success, and lessons learned). Information collected is used for ongoing quality improvement.
As part of a participatory approach, bi-annual meetings of the Kansas Sexual and Domestic Violence Primary Prevention Advisory Committee use evaluation data and reports to continually improve efforts to assure safe and healthy lives and communities for all those living in Kansas.
[SOURCE: (2020). Evaluation Plan. Rape Prevention and Education Grant. Kansas Department of Health and Environment.]