Measuring Engagement in TA and Support Activities Among 101 Healthy Start Grantees

Full Description: The Supporting Healthy Start Performance Project (SHSPP) assists 101 Healthy Start (HS) grant recipients (grantees) across the nation. The HS Program provides grants to high-risk communities with infant mortality rates at least 1.5 times the U.S. national average and high rates of other adverse perinatal outcomes (e.g., low birthweight, preterm birth, maternal morbidity/mortality). HS works to reduce the disparity in health status between the general population and individuals who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups. To support all 101 HS programs and communities, SHSPP’s Technical Assistance (TA) and Support Center (TASC) provides capacity building assistance (CBA), including ongoing TA, training and education to HS grant recipients in accordance with the program’s approaches to reduce disparities in infant mortality and adverse perinatal outcomes.
The TASC offers CBA to the 101 HS programs in varying levels, which include:
• Widespread TA offered to all 101 grantees (through webinars, in-person meetings, etc.)
• More intensive TA offered to a subset of grantees, through topic-specific cohorts and learning academies
• Individualized TA provided 1:1 or in small groups
These different approaches help HS staff develop the skills and receive and understand important knowledge to be successful throughout and beyond the project period. By providing various opportunities for training and TA, the TASC ensures more personalization so that attention is being given to smaller groups within a large national program. Additionally, trainings are delivered by subject matter experts using vetted curricula, where available. Dissemination and sharing efforts also help guarantee that applicable information is accessible to all stakeholders, and it empowers the grantees to share their own successes with their peers.
The TASC’s program evaluation continually assesses and provides valuable data and insight regarding how the CBA helps the HS programs, which allows for continuous quality improvement throughout the project period and enables the TASC to assess impact. The TASC conducts both process and outcomes evaluation and both incorporate elements of grantee engagement as key metrics. This presentation will look at the varying levels of TA and support offered and innovative ways to categorize and analyze across a continuum to ascertain the influence of those activities on the individual programs’ successes and their sustainability beyond this five-year program. As a national leader in the provision of TA and support, the TASC has developed approaches to assessing grantee engagement, synergy and participation in its CBA offerings, as well as overall satisfaction with the TA provided, and seeks to share its evaluation learnings with other organizations, and technical assistance centers and evaluators.

Abbreviated Description: The Supporting Healthy Start Performance Project (SHSPP) assists 101 Healthy Start (HS) grantees across the US. SHSPP’s Technical Assistance (TA) and Support Center (TASC) provides capacity building assistance, including ongoing TA/training/education in accordance with the program’s approaches to reduce disparities in infant mortality and adverse perinatal outcomes. This presentation will look at the varying levels of TA/support offered to ascertain the influence of those activities on the individual programs. The TASC has developed approaches to assessing grantee engagement, synergy and participation in its CBA offerings, as well as overall satisfaction with the TA provided, and seeks to share its evaluation learnings with other organizations, technical assistance centers and evaluators.