MISRGO Evaluation: 2nd Quarter Progress Report Issued (mid-year report on progress)

MISRGO Evaluation: 2nd Quarter Progress Report 2012.  The mid-year assessment is available here on the web.

MISRGO grantees have a solid track record of accomplishments.  They have contributed to the creation and enactment of smoke free legislation, including Act 811[i].  They educate the public about tobacco prevention legislation, including Acts 8[ii] & 13[iii].  In addition, they are working across the state to establish smoke free parks and extend perimeter laws.  They have made extensive use of social media to positively influence youth concerning tobacco consumption.  They have broad-based support across the State for their tobacco prevention work.  (See MISRGO Empowerment Evaluation[iv]: June 2011 Annual Report, Fetterman, Tremain, and Delaney, 2011.  See also Appendix A for a glossary of grantee names and abbreviations.)

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to highlight grantee progress at mid-point in the year. MISRGO grantees use the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s approved and recommended intervention areas as follows:

Area 1:  Eliminate Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

Area 2:  Preventing Initiation Among Youth and Young Adults

Area 3:  Promoting Quitting Among Youth and Adults

Area 4:  Addressing Disparities

MISRGO grantees are making steady progress toward annual goals and in many cases are significantly exceeding anticipated mid-year goals (or 2^nd quarter benchmarks).  In brief:


                ·       21 Exceeded Year-End Goals
                ·       5 Met Year-End Goals
                ·       7 Exceeded 2^nd Quarter Benchmarks
                ·       10 Approximated 2^nd Quarter Benchmarks
                ·       5 Progress But Below Benchmarks
                ·       21 Planning Complete – Implementation Later in the Year

Highlights.  Grantee achievements made to date (Quarter 2 of 4) are highlighted below.  They are organized by intervention area.

Area 1:  Eliminate Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

3196 Educated.  3196 parents and law enforcement officials educated about the benefits of smoke free environments, particularly in cars, e.g. Act 811

608 Pledged.  608 young adults pledged to make their homes smoke free environments.

317 Informed.  317 youth and young adults were informed about the laws governing smoking in cars, Act 811.

239 Reported.  239 youth reported that smoking was no longer allowed inside their homes.

In addition, grantees are working to implement smoke free policies in parks and churches, convince businesses and landlords to support bans on smoking, recruit bars and schools to adopt smoke free policies, and recruit Youth Extinguishing Smoking (YES) team members.

Area 2:  Preventing Initiation Among Youth and Young Adults

296 Pledged.  296 minority youth pledged to remain tobacco free

235 Educated.  235 youth educated about the dangers of tobacco

99 Trained.  99 youth trained to educate youth about dangers of tobacco

72 Quitline.  72 youth and young adults helped to access Quitline

In addition, grantees worked to increase awareness about smoking and pregnancy, conduct storefront surveys, sponsor smoke-free events, and organize YES teams.

Area 3:  Promoting Quitting Among Youth and Young Adults

114 Educated.  114 African American and Latino youth and young adults educated about the dangers of smoking

70 Quitline.  70 enrolled in SOS Quitline fax referral program

In addition, grantees worked to enroll youth in the 40 Days to Freedom curriculum, organize YES rallies, train merchants to deny minors from purchasing tobacco, increase compliance rate concerning sales to minors, enroll students in school-based cessation programs, and educate retailers about point of purchase.

Area 4:  Addressing Disparities

4005 Educated.  4005 underserved youth educated about the dangers of tobacco

235 Informed.  235 youth participated in workshops to increase tobacco awareness

In addition, grantees are working to increase the number of minority organizations promoting tobacco control, educating about the hazards of second hand smoke, implementing no smoking programs in churches, convincing youth to pledge not to smoke in their homes, removing tobacco advertising from stores, and implementing the 40 Days to Freedom and Keeping It Real curriculum.

Conclusion

MISRGO grantees mid-year performance is substantial.  Many have exceeded their annual goals in the 2^nd quarter.  Many others are on target, meeting their benchmarks.  There are grantee activities scheduled later in the year.  These activities should enable them to more closely approximate their annual goals later in the year.  A few have completed their planning work and have initiated implementation but may need to reassess how realistic their goals are given their funding capacity. 

The evaluation findings only scratch the surface of MISRGO grantees’ commitment and dedication to tobacco prevention.  The details of their efforts are explored further in the remainder of this report.  (See Appendix B for cumulative grantee activity logs as well.)

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[i] Act 811 builds on Act 13 by protecting “children under age 14 from secondhand smoke while in vehicles.” See: http://arkansased.org/about/legislation/funding_archive.html.  See also: http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2011/apr/23/smoking-ban-set-protect-kids-under-14-20110423/

[ii] Act 8 is Arkansas’ Clean Indoor Air Act.  It is designed to “protect workers in Arkansas from secondhand smoke in the workplace and to protect the citizens of Arkansas from secondhand smoke in public places”.  For more information see: http://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programsServices/environmentalHealth/arcleanair/Pages/default.aspx

[iii] Act 13 Arkansas Protection from Secondhand Smoke for Children Act of 2006 (Act 13) “prohibits smoking in all motor vehicles in which a child, who is less than 6 years of age and who weighs less than 60 pounds, is restrained in a child passenger safety seat as required by Arkansas law.” See: http://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programsServices/tobaccoprevent/Documents/reports/HowSecondhandSmokeAffectsKidsSurvey.pdf

[iv]  See Fetterman and Wandersman, 2005 concerning more detail about empowerment evaluation.

Additional Note

Please review the entire report for additional details concerning overall progress and individual efforts at mid-year.  Grantee progress as a group is presented below.  It is organized by intervention area.