HFL INITIATIVES
Partners in Prevention (PiP)
In 2019, Healthcare Foundation of La Porte (HFL) launched a three-year grant initiative to help La Porte County schools identify, implement, and sustain proven substance use prevention programs. All schools in La Porte County (accredited,
K-12 public, parochial, and private schools) were invited to apply for grant dollars to help them plan and implement evidence-based programs.
HFL’s Board of Directors has committed over $2.8 million for planning, implementation, technical assistance to the schools, and a full evaluation of outcomes. HFL has contracted Education Development Center (EDC) as the Technical Assistance (TA) provider that assisted schools during the planning and the implementations phase of the initiative. The TA providers were chosen due to their expertise in assisting schools implement evidence-based programs as intended (with fidelity) by the curriculum developers. The professional evaluation firm, RTI International (RTI) was contracted to annually, over the course of three years, evaluate programming effectiveness and delivery of programming as intended, which is critical to successful translation of evidence-based interventions into practice.
HFL was interested in learning about the overall impact of Partners in Prevention, and the effects on related youth risk and protective factors. These factors determine how drug use begins and how it progresses. Through the three years, Partners in Prevention was projected to serve 13,000 students, across 11 school systems, and 37 individual school buildings in La Porte County.
Our Model
In 2018, Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation committed more than $10.2 million to 151 Indianapolis schools delivering proven prevention programs to 71,112 students by the 2020-2021 school year. This funding is helping to implement evidence-based prevention programs in public and accredited private K-12 schools in Marion County. Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation has kindly permitted HFL to adopt the main components of their initiative, and we thank them for their support.
Planning & Implementation Grants
HFL awarded planning grants of up to $10,000 to all La Porte County school systems and private and parochial schools to investigate and learn about evidence-based prevention programs. Planning grants were awarded on a non-competitive basis, meaning that all schools that met eligibility criteria and applied received a planning grant.
Twelve schools received planning grants in March 2019 and were provided access to expert technical assistance from EDC who provided step-by-step technical assistance to help: 1) identify the proven, age-appropriate prevention program(s) that best meet(s) the needs of each applicant’s students, staff, and school environment and 2) help ensure planning grant recipients carefully think through the steps required for successful program implementation and continued sustainability.
Schools participating in Partners in Prevention applied for implementation grants in late spring of 2019 to begin implementing their chosen evidence-based substance use prevention program. Schools began their selected programs in fall 2019 and continued over the course of three years (August 2019-June 2022). Schools awarded implementation grants continued to receive support from EDC and RTI throughout the three-year grant period to support program delivery, data collection, and evaluate the impact of their programs on their individual schools.
Year 3 Final Infographic and Evaluation Report
We are delighted to share the impact, lessons learned, and sustainability of Partners in Prevention now that the three-year implementation period has finished.
Year 3 Technical Supplement PDF
Year 2 Infographic and Evaluation Report
Year 2 of PiP implementation continued in either virtual, in-person or hybrid learning environments, changing from week to week depending upon the county’s COVID-19 status. Despite heavy challenges for implementers and grant directors in schools during COVID-19, grantees delivered considerably more program lessons than in Year 1.
Intentionally embedding SEL curriculum and activities in the classroom to enable students and teachers to heal is critical. These evidence-based programs will help to instill a growth mindset in students and give them multiple opportunities to practice skills that will prepare them for success beyond COVID-19.
Year 1 Infographic and Evaluation Report
This infographic presents an overview of Partners in Prevention's impact after the first year.
At the time of their survey, which happened over March and April 2020, only 11% of implementers had completed implementation with all or some of their students. However, an additional 56% of implementers were on track to complete implementation by the end of the school year. In total, we expected about 2/3 of implementers to complete program delivery by the end of the school year. Implementers had positive attitudes about programming.
In terms of program impact, it’s early in the initiative (1st year) for us to have hard numbers about whether Partners in Prevention is having positive impact in schools. We will gather data about that as the initiative moves along into years 2 and 3. However, in Year 1, schools at Pre-K through grade 12 levels reported positive changes in how students interacted and behaved, both with their peers and with their teachers.
