Impact Evaluation of the LIFE Program

This research on the impacts of the LIFE program is guided by a program logic model (PLM), which provides a conceptual framework for evaluating impacts. The PLM was developed jointly by program staff, participants, community stakeholders, and the program evaluators. It lists the inputs, activities, and outputs of the program, and illustrates how the program is expected to lead to program impacts.

Several research methods have been used to evaluate the impacts of the LIFE Program. First, basic information on program participation is maintained in the output tracking system. This on-going data collection effort provides reliable information on the number of program participants, their demographic characteristics, and alerts program staff to any changes in program participation that might be occurring over time.

The evaluation also includes focus group research in which the LIFE fathers were interviewed about the perceived impacts of the program on their children. The results of that research, described in the focus group report, indicate that the program has intermediate effects on the parent-child relationship that translate into long-term benefits for the child. These research findings are illustrated in selected video footage from two documentaries that focus on the LIFE program and incarcerated fathers.

A third component of the program evaluation focuses on changes in the life skills of the children and youth that participate. This component relies on a survey, which is administered twice a year and covers seven categories of life skills: academics and learning, goal setting and goal achievement, decision making, problem solving, communication, social competencies, and self-esteem. The results indicate both the areas of greatest positive impacts as well as potential areas for improving the LIFE Program.

This research was conducted under the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Project at the University of Missouri. The project evaluator is Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, who can be reached at the following e-mail address: DunnE@missouri.edu.

Tammy Gillespie, director of the 4-H LIFE Program, can be reached at 573-882-3316 or gillespiet@missouri.edu.

The project evaluators provided the research and design for this web display.
Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, dunne@missouri.edu and J. Gordon Arbuckle.

Video footage by William Helvey, Ag. & Extension Information Center, Lincoln University, and
Bob Nash, Mineral Area TCRC Coordinator. Photography by Tammy Gillespie, Lynna Lawson,
Rick Secoy, and Rob Wilkerson. Graphics and web development by Jeanne Bintzer.

This program is supported by the University of Missouri Extension and the
 Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Initiative.