Amador County Mental Health Services Act Planning

RDA is currently conducting a county-wide community planning process in Amador County for all five components of MHSA planning: Prevention and Early Intervention; Workforce Development and Education; Capital Facilities and Technology; Housing; and Innovation. Over the course of the coming months, staff will conduct best practice research, feasibility analysis and budget development. We are already beginning to convene strategy roundtables, focus groups and community meetings to hear feedback and gather input from consumers and family members, Behavioral Health Department staff and partners, and other stakeholders across the county.

Butte County First 5 Baby Steps Evaluation

RDA is beginning a 3 year evaluation effort of the First 5 Baby Steps program, which is a special initiative of the Butte County First Five Commission. The program is designed to provide home visiting, education and family building activities to mothers under the age of 25. By examining both the program's outcomes on participants and its fidelity to previously defined program goals, RDA will provide information to stakeholders on process and outcome measures. RDA's experience in combining qualitative analysis through structured interview, discussion and survey protocol with analysis of quantitative data relating to specific outcome indicators will provide a rich body of information to the Commission and program staff.

Cañada College Evaluation

RDA is evaluating Cañada College's efforts to increase the number of Hispanic and low income students attaining science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees. This formative evaluation involves site visits, interviews, focus groups, and data analysis of student demographics, enrollment, transfer rate, pre- and post-tests and student satisfaction and perceptions of STEM programs. RDA will measure the efficacy of the program to achieve its goals, as well as the appropriateness of the program's design in addressing core challenges.

Fresno County Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Evaluation

Fresno County Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Division is working with RDA to conduct an evaluation of its Babies First Program, an initiative serving low income women at risk of having poor birth outcomes due to experiences of violence, history of substance abuse, homelessness or housing instability, linguistic isolation and teen pregnancy. Evaluation activities include comprehensive data collection during the progress of the pregnancy and up to two years following the birth of the child depending on the severity of the intervention. The evaluation is measuring the ability of the intervention to positively shift known health disparities in Fresno County including: an extraordinary high rate of infant mortality amongst African American births, a rising teen pregnancy rate (as opposed to state and national trends) and to generally improve birth outcomes in specific Healthy Start targeted neighborhoods where high rates of poverty, violence and substance use correlate with poorer birth outcomes on average than the rest of the County.

Kings County Mental Health Services Act Planning

The Behavioral Health Administration in Kings County, working with RDA, is developing comprehensive Prevention and Early Intervention and Innovation Plans to be submitted to the State Department of Mental Health. Through community outreach, data collection, needs assessments and other planning activities, RDA will develop strategies specific to the County's particular behavioral health needs.

Marin County Alcohol, Drug and Tobacco Programs Strategic Plan Evaluation

Marin County ADTP has contracted RDA to develop an evaluation plan based on outcomes and evaluation measures that align with key goals identified during their 2010-2015 Strategic Planning Process. RDA will provide ongoing training and technical assistance to County staff and partners, and monitor the County's progress toward improving early access to prevention and treatment programs and providing a more culturally appropriate continuum of services as detailed in the Strategic Plan.

Mt. Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE) Grant Evaluation

The TUPE Initiative is a State-funded school-based tobacco prevention program designed to educate youth on the harmful effects of tobacco use. As part of this initiative, MDUSD provides tobacco education to all 7th and 9th grade students, prevention-focused peer education programs to all high school students, and teaches comprehensive drug prevention curricula at alternative education sites in the district. RDA has been contracted to conduct an evaluation measuring the program's impact on student tobacco use over the four year grant period.

Oakland Measure Y Evaluation Design

RDA is in its second year of evaluating Oakland's Measure Y Initiative, the Violence Prevention and Community Policing Act. By analyzing the impact of 26 community based programs through both quantitative and qualitative measures at three levels including: 1) changes in the community, 2) progress of the programs toward their specific goals, and 3) changes experienced by program participants RDA will help to inform stakeholders about how well the Measure Y programs and community policing activities are working. Building on last year's evaluation findings, RDA will be able to provide a richer, more comprehensive evaluation for the second year.

Reports for the 2008-09 evaluation year can be found on the Measure Y evaluation webpage located at: http://measurey.org/index.php?page=evaluation

Oakland Policing Department (OPD) Community Policing Data Reporting System

RDA is in the process of developing a project management system, SARA, for the Oakland Police Department to serve as a tool for officers and to facilitate greater understanding of policing strategies and impacts in the City of Oakland. The data system will improve the process of OPD assessment and assignment and enrich the analysis and research efforts of participants by providing a framework to summarize data and deliver specific reports. The database will also provide accurate authorization and controlled access to sensitive information. Officers can access the system with any web browser from on-board laptop computers in patrol cars, and their supervising sergeants can monitor project status and details in real time.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Conflict Resolution Training

SFMTA employees face increasingly difficult situations in their daily interactions with the public. RDA has contracted with SFMTA to design and implement conflict training specifically tailored to MTA's unique organizational culture. Conflict resolution training will help to empower staff, increase positive internal communication, and reduce stressful and/or potentially harmful encounters. RDA will begin our trainings by performing an organizational needs assessment of MTA.

State of California Mental Health Services Act

RDA is currently providing planning services to the Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission for the initial evaluation of MHSA programs across the State. We will perform an inventory of current MHSA evaluation efforts and develop a framework of potential evaluation measures. In concurrence with MHSA values, this process will be informed by stakeholder input and will incorporate community, individual and system level outcomes. Our final deliverable will be a fully developed scope of work to guide the upcoming evaluation of all 5 MHSA components throughout California counties.