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Promoting Healthy Relationships in Schools with Focus: DELTA FOCUS project Year 1

Blog post

During the first 6 months of the DELTA FOCUS project (March 2, 2013 – August 31, 2013), a strong foundation was laid for successful community and societal level intimate partner violence primary prevention work in California. We were successful in engaging the Leadership Team, Implementation Support Team, Local Pilot Projects, Evaluation Team, and other partners and allies in understanding the basic structure of the project and in contributing their knowledge and expertise to help develop the project’s theory of change, project design and logic model.  

During the second 6 months of the project (September 1, 2013-March 1, 2014) we accomplished the following: 

Evaluation

  • Completed an Evaluability Assessment and Evaluation Plan.
  • Developed and implemented tools for process and outcome evaluation and data-to-action/continuous quality improvement.

Informing policy 

  • Conducted an education policy environmental scan to identify the greatest immediate opportunities for informing school policy at the state level.
  • Significantly strengthened partnerships with the California Department of Education and the California School Boards Association in order to reach education decision-makers and inform policy at the state level.
  • Developed and posted research and best practice content on thewww.safeatschools.org website and the Partnership’s prevention blog.
  • Compiled and disseminated a policy resource, New Prevention Laws in Effect January 2014.

Communications 

  • Identified and promoted new narratives, frames and messages that encourage:
    • Community responsibility for preventing dating abuse, especially through youth-adult partnerships; and,
    • Proactive primary prevention efforts that emphasize supporting healthy adolescent relationships, rather than reactive after-the-fact responses.
  • Designed and implemented the Partnership’s first-ever coordinated Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month campaign and first-ever social media campaign.

Coalition-building 

  • Cultivated a Leadership Team with a strong multi-disciplinary foundation from which to promote primary prevention solutions at the community and societal levels.
  • Expanded the number and diversity of education-focused coalitions in which we participate, including the Legislative Women’s Caucus Cyberbullying Task Force and the Support All Students Coalition.
  • Continued to engage our members and partners in our prevention work through multiple channels of communications, engagement and support.
  • Strengthened the integration of the Partnership’s prevention work and adolescent dating abuse work into the organization’s structure and processes.

Capacity-building 

  • Provided technical assistance and coaching to local pilot sites, Peace Over Violence/Coalition for Healthy Teen Relationships and Alliance for Community Transformations/Mariposa Abuse Prevention Council.
  • Provided technical assistance on best practices for dating abuse prevention to members, partners, Legislators and other stakeholders throughout the state.

 National dialogue 

  • Contributed to the national dialogue on intimate partner violence primary prevention through a multi-state training on public narratives, aPreventConnect pod cast, and participation in the National IPV Prevention Council Steering Committee.