Making Good Work

Good Causes > Great Results

Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.

Sir Cecil Barton

Health and Human Services Departments, Fairfax County, VA

Good Cause:

For Fairfax County, Virginia’s Health and Human Services Departments we provide grant writing and evaluation services. Projects include:

  • An evaluation of county-wide prevention programs for children and families. We have been supporting evaluation of the Partners in Prevention Fund (PIPF) programs since 2012. There are currently 16 community-based organizations implementing 11 different prevention programs.
    • An evaluation of the county's specialty dockets, including the Drug Court, Mental Health Docket, and Veterans Treatment Docket.
    • An assessment, using the Wraparound Fidelity Assessment System, of the quality of individualized care planning and management received by children with complex needs and their families.
    • Development of a manual and related tools for implementation of STAR (Striving to Achieve Recovery), a structured, jail-based addiction recovery program led by certified peer recovery specialists with support from medical and behavioral health professionals. Participants with histories of drug-involved arrests and chronic substance use live together in a housing unit that serves as a therapeutic community. The voluntary program is designed for individuals committed to living a recovery lifestyle upon release from the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (ADC).
    • An evaluation of the county's 26 after-school programs for middle school students.
    • Development of an evaluation framework and processes to define, record, analyze and report performance measures for the Community Services Board, the public agency that plans, organizes and provides services for people in Fairfax County who have mental illness, substance use disorders and/or intellectual disability.
    • An evaluation of the Portage Project, a program designed to help child care providers promote the healthy development of young children.
    • An evaluation of BeWell, Fairfax County's primary and behavioral health care integration program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and intended to improve the coordination and integration of primary care services in community-based behavioral health settings.
    • Grant writing for the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board.

Great Results:

  • Findings from the evaluation of county-wide prevention programs for children and families have been used to improve and better integrate programming. We are currently supporting implementation of the Outcomes Rate Card, an innovative procurement tool that identifies a set of outcomes and prices to be paid based on achievement.
  • Findings from Wraparound fidelity assessments identified the need for more training for providers around engaging natural supports to help children with complex needs.
  • Findings from the after-school program evaluation were used to clarify and refine the goals of the program and improve strategies to achieve them, helping more students succeed.
  • Wrote a winning proposal to SAMHSA for the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board. The $1.6M award will be used to improve the coordination and integration of primary care services in community-based behavioral health settings.
  • Wrote a winning proposal to the Department of Justice for a three-year $500,000 grant. The award will support the launch of a new Drug Court in Fairfax County, a critical strategy in the county’s coordinated efforts to  improve outcomes and offer alternatives to incarceration for people with mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders who come into contact with the justice system.
  • Wrote a winning proposal to the Department of Justice for a three-year $500,000 grant to enhance and continue implementation of the Fairfax County, VA, Veterans Treatment Docket, a court-supervised treatment program for veterans who have substance use issues and/or mental health conditions.
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