Evaluation Activities

ORE facilitates large-scope evaluation projects. Often these projects are carried out as contracts funded by HHS Departmental 1% evaluation funds. The evaluation activities cover a wide range of concerns.

There are a number of comprehensive final 1% evaluation reports relevant to Tile X and Title XX projects on a range of specific program issues posted in the Publications section. Practice questions posed in these final reports include: "How to best address the problem of intimate partner violence in a Title X clinic setting?"; "How to identify effective approaches for promoting youth development in the context of Adolescent Family Life (AFL) prevention programs?" and "How effective are parental involvement components in the context of Title XX and Title X programs?"
In 2005 and again in 2006, 1% evaluation awards were made to address the challenge of developing a cross-site evaluation design and accompanying data collection system for the AFL Prevention and Care Demonstration Programs. This extensive, ongoing project builds on “core evaluation instruments” developed earlier.
Among the efforts undertaken to improve the quality of AFL demonstration project evaluations, an evaluation technical assistance contract was awarded to: 1) review all AFL demonstration project year end evaluation reports and recommend technical assistance as appropriate; 2) provide required technical assistance on a project specific basis; and 3) plan and implement evaluation technical assistance workshops for AFL grantees and staff.
In response to requests from the Administration for Children and Families in 2005 and 2007, OPA joined in co-sponsoring an Abstinence Education Evaluation Conference for the entire abstinence education community. For each conference, OPA was asked to assume responsibility for the planning and implementation of the conference and took the lead in soliciting, peer-reviewing and selecting evaluation manuscripts and abstracts from government-funded abstinence education programs for conference presentation.
The Office of Population Affairs (OPA) contracted with The Lewin Group to conduct the “Developing Theoretical Frameworks for Abstinence Education” project, which aims to develop theoretical frameworks that help explain primary and secondary abstinence for adolescents and provides likely mechanisms for behavior change. The key project deliverables include a literature review and the development of two categories of theoretical frameworks: one to address adolescent primary and secondary abstinence and one to address abstinence education interventions.
The Office of Population Affairs (OPA) contracted with Research Triangle Institute to mine and analyze relevant data from Adolescent Family Life (AFL) project findings and lessons learned and to disseminate these findings through various mechanisms. In addition, the contractor will propose other areas of study the AFL program should target through future funding.

Collaborative Activities

OPA is involved in research collaborations with other Federal agencies. OPA is one of the major funding contributors to the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), a long-time national survey on reproductive health topics conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. NSFG has completed six cycles and currently proceeds on a continuous interviewing basis. Additionally, OPA has funded a number of research initiatives at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, most notably providing support for the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which is undertaking a fourth wave of longitudinal data collecting.