PLAN ELEMENTS: THEORY OF CHANGE

Defining a Theory of Change is critical for defining the long-term goals of prevention in a county, and then working back to identify the conditions that must be in place to achieve the goals. Breaking down the vision for prevention and examining specific data trends that tell the story of the current situation help to define the changes that a county team will invest in. The Strategies TA consultant facilitates this process by introducing evidence-based frameworks that are useful in analyzing the data, and suggesting activities that help explore the primary drivers of the change that the county team envisions.

Theory of Change Resources

Click the links below for some resources to help define your Theory of Change.

The Community Opportunity Map

The Community Opportunity Map from Casey Family Programs is an interactive tool that highlights the aspects of communities that are associated with safe children and strong families.

Building a Systems Change Initiative Theory of Change

Provides an adaptable theory of change for initiatives focused on systems change. Theories of change are graphical illustrations of what your initiative is intended to accomplish and how. Developing a theory of change can be useful in determining what your initiative should focus on. From the Nemours Children’s Health System.

Unpacking the Theory of Change

This article presents the properties of a good Theory of Change with a simple model. By Maoz Brown from the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Creating With, Not For People: Theory of Change and Logic Models for Culturally Responsive Community-Based Intervention

When community members’ voices aren’t included, and the systemic influences on program outcomes are not emphasized, participants may not experience intended positive outcomes. This often leads to interventions that are irrelevant at best and harmful at worst. Theory of change and logic models are two forms of theory-driven evaluation that can be used in tandem to incorporate community voices into program design and implementation while attending to systemic influences on the program.

Theory of Change Form

A form to fill out to help document your Theory of Change.