Skip to Main Content
Psychiatry
Make a Gift
YSM Home

INFORMATION FOR

Examples of Our Work

Evaluation of the Connecticut Comprehensive Cancer Program

The Connecticut Breast and Cervical Early Detection Program evaluation provide strategic evaluation planning and evaluation technical assistance across all Comprehensive Cancer Control Programs. The goal of this work is to create a five-year strategic evaluation plan that will include linkages across programs as well as unique contributions of each program. The program evaluation plans focus on measuring the effects of the work at the population and organizational level.

Connecticut LGBTQ+ Statewide Needs Assessment

The Connecticut Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Needs Assessment is the first statewide needs assessment of its kind. The Needs Assessment is designed to enhance our understanding of the number of people that identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community in Connecticut and to identify the needs of the LGBTQ+ Community by asking questions related to their service needs, service access, and experiences of discrimination. Recommendations from the Assessment will be provided to support a safer and healthier environment for the LGBTQ+ community.

2021 Connecticut LGBTQ+ Community Survey: Needs Assessment Report

Connecticut Mental Health Center Continuous Quality Improvement

In partnership with the Connecticut Mental Health Center we engage in work to examine needs, assess how services are perceived by consumers, monitor the delivery of care and assess outcomes of targeted interventions. We utilize a CQI process in this work so that data are analyzed and presented to program staff and leadership on an ongoing basis to inform decision making and allow for continued development of the services and supports offered by the Center.

Evaluation of the Connecticut Network of Care for Children (CONNECT)

The CONNECT evaluation examines Connecticut’s implementation of an integrated network of care for children with behavioral difficulties and their families. The evaluation tracks processes and outcomes related to the increased coordination of service provision at the state-level. This includes training family members and youth to collect data from their peers to examine consumer perceptions of the service delivery system. In addition, the evaluation is building the capacity of state-level and community agencies to sustain and continue the evaluation strategies established.

Evaluation of the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative (DVHPDI)

DVHPDI is a multi-site evaluation that employs implementation science techniques to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of two promising practices to prevent domestic violence related homicides. Utilizing administrative data; longitudinal interviews with victims; and qualitative interviews with law enforcement, domestic violence service providers, and victims, the evaluation seeks to inform the field on the successes and areas for enhancement at the individual and systems level for these services. The evaluation also builds the capacity of community agencies to sustain and continue the evaluation strategies established.

Homeless Advocacy Project

The Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) is a Philadelphia legal services non-profit organization founded in 1990 to meet the needs of homeless individuals and families in Philadelphia. HAP participates in SOAR (SSI/SSD Outreach, Access, and Recovery), a national initiative originally supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), to assist individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness with access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. In collaboration with The Scattergood Foundation, Center faculty and staff evaluate homelessness and recidivism outcomes for individuals served through various Philadelphia courts through HAP.

New Haven Adult Education Evaluation

This needs assessment was designed to describe the students who attend New Haven Adult Education and identify what are their unique needs. It also identifies the current resources offered to meet these needs. The information collected will be used to identify service gaps for the diverse population of students served and build capacity within the structure of this adult learning environment.

New Haven Prevention Council/OneStep Program

This is a longitudinal evaluation of a school-based health promotion and substance use prevention initiative for New Haven high school students. The initiative is supported through the New Haven Prevention Council, a coalition of community and school stakeholders funded through the Connecticut Department of Mental Health Addiction Services to prevent substance use and related risk behaviors in greater New Haven. The coalition supports implementation of the OneStep program with New Haven high school students. OneStep uses social marketing strategies in the school setting for health promotion and substance use prevention, and incorporates social media and positive youth development activities to influence social norms to promote healthy youth decision-making.

Perspectives on Community Reentry in New Haven

Every community across the U.S. faces the challenge of reintegrating community members removed because of incarceration. Funded by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, this evaluation seeks to identify community participants who benefit from prisoner reentry initiatives across the region.

Porch Light Evaluation / Philadelphia Community Health Project

The Porch Light Evaluation/Philadelphia Community Health Project is a comprehensive, multi- level, evaluation of the impact of public murals on distressed neighborhoods and on the individuals who create them. The project is a collaboration with Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, artists, behavioral health consumers, service providers, family members, neighborhood residents, and community-based researchers from Yale University. The project embeds community-based participatory research within a comparative outcome trials across agencies and neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Pottstown School District Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Evaluation

This is a longitudinal mixed methods evaluation of a K-12 social and emotional learning (SEL) program implemented in the Pottstown School District. SEL implementation is part of the multi- year initiative known as PEAK (Pottstown Early Action for Kindergarten Readiness), funded by the Kellogg Foundation, that builds on PEAK to promote child and youth development and enhance school success. This evaluation is also aligned with the objectives of the Pottstown Trauma-Informed Community Connection (PTICC), a regional coalition of early childhood educators, parents, school administrators and teachers, social and community service providers, healthcare organizations, law enforcement, and civic and religious organizations to build a trauma-informed community that promotes resilience.

Pottstown Trauma Informed Community Connection

The evaluation is a mixed methods, multi-level evaluation of a community-wide intervention to build a trauma-informed community in greater Pottstown, PA. The evaluation uses a community- based participatory research approach to evaluate the processes and outcomes of a community coalition, the Pottstown Trauma-Informed Community Connection (PTICC), that seeks to increase the use of trauma-informed practices in schools, early childhood settings, families, law enforcement, and various service systems. With funding from various foundations, PTICC conducts community-based training in trauma awareness and trauma-informed practices, builds trauma-responsive service networks, develops community-wide messaging about trauma, and infuses trauma-informed practices in the school district.

Rape Prevention and Education Evaluation

Credit: Shutterstock
Balqis Amran
Our evaluation team, in collaboration with the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, has designed an evaluation to measure the effectiveness of two sexual violence prevention programs. One program is being implemented on college campuses and the other is being offered at select middle and high schools throughout the State. Both evaluations include a mixed methods design where we collect key quantitative data from surveys and state surveillance records as well as qualitative data via focus groups and interviews to measure program effects. Information from the evaluation will be used to modify each campaign before it is implemented again in other school settings/campuses.

Rhode Island Data Analytic Center

Credit: Shutterstock
Najwa 2018

The Rhode Island Data Analytic Center was a 15-year public-academic partnership between the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and Yale University that included needs assessments and monitoring of services for children, adolescents, and families; examining processes and outcomes of services; using data to inform best practices, service enhancement, and policy development; and conducting field research and administrative studies to answer questions that can lead to improvements in the lives of children and families. Aspects of this work included identifying risk and protective factors for resilience and substance use, transitioning of children and youth from congregate to family and community care or to independent living, and examining the effectiveness of community-based interventions.

Village for Families and Children VCTC

The VCTC evaluation examined the expansion of trauma-informed practice in the Hartford area through the implementation of two evidence-based practices to reduce the impact of exposure to violence for children and youth from low resource communities. The evaluation included an assessment of the process to train clinicians to implement these practices, how these practices were delivered within the context of clinical care and the outcomes of receiving one of the evidenced-based practices.


Program Evaluation

Our evaluations combine scientific rigor with the practical realities of implementing evaluations that are responsive to local needs. We know that programs and services take place in diverse local contexts that need to be considered to conduct useful evaluations. We work collaboratively to design and conduct evaluations using a participatory process. We provide coaching and training to enhance capacity to participate in the evaluation process. Our evaluations align with our values to inform practice, program planning and management, and policy development.

Needs assessments

A systematic process to assess the needs of a group or community in order to increase understanding about that group or community and develop programs, services, or policies to address identified needs.

Examples of Our Work:

Process evaluations

The systematic collection of data about how a program or service operates or is implemented.

Examples of Our Work:

Outcome evaluations

A systematic assessment of whether a program is achieving intended outcomes; an outcome evaluation may also assess how and to what extent intended outcomes are achieved.

Examples of Our Work:

Impact evaluations

A systematic assessment of longer-term and larger-scale effects of a program, service, or policy in relation to specific societal priorities.

Examples of Our Work:

Service system evaluation

A systematic assessment of the processes and outcomes of services and their relationship to one another that is usually conducted in collaboration with multiple service system stakeholders, such as consumers, family members, and service recipients; program and service providers; funders; and policy makers.

Examples of Our Work:

2023 HUSKY Health Dental Plan Benefit Member Assessment

The Connecticut Dental Health Partnership partnered with Yale EVAL to refine and administer a survey to Connecticut HUSKY Health Dental Plan Benefit Members. Recommendations and findings were incorporated into the work of the Connecticut Dental Health Partnership.

2023 HUSKY Health Dental Plan Benefit Member Assessment