Children, Youth, and Families

Families today require comprehensive resources to raise their children to be healthy, educated, and productive members of their communities. Having the economic means to provide good nutrition, healthcare, and a high-quality education is essential. OMG understands the challenges families and communities face in promoting their children’s well-being. To improve the lives of the most vulnerable children and youth, responsibility must be shared with parents, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government.

Much of OMG’s work in children, youth, and families focuses on helping partners create lasting, systemic change. Our experience includes numerous evaluations and strategy supports for our clients, such as leading national and local initiatives aimed at creating actionable solutions for lasting community impact in improved health and healthcare, education, and workforce participation for families and their children.

Program Development and Learning Strategy for Ascend
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OMG is advising Ascend (a program of the Aspen Institute) on the development of three core strategies to move parents, especially women, and their children beyond poverty toward educational success and economic security. OMG is conducting a developmental evaluation which includes social network analysis, observation, and stakeholder interviews to help shape the Ascend strategy, fine-tune implementation, and help the Ascend team embed learning and evaluation systems throughout all aspects of its work.
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Hartford Community Schools Initiative
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OMG conducted a three-year evaluation of the Hartford Community Schools Initiative, a partnership of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Hartford Office for Youth Services, Hartford Public Schools, and United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut.  The Hartford Community Schools provide activities and services for students and their families beyond regular school hours.  These resources include:  After school programs for academic and cultural enrichment; services for adults, such as GED and ESL classes, job readiness, and financial literacy training; social skills, life skills, and character development classes; and physical and mental health services.  OMG helped the Hartford Community Schools partnership refine its Theory of Change and improve its ability to collect, use, and interpret data for improved program performance.
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William Penn Foundation's Early Learning Network
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OMG’s evaluation for the Early Learning Network – a comprehensive data system that links data on child and family services in Pennsylvania – focused on issues such as: how buy-in was gained from key stakeholders and providers; training and technical assistance provided to users of the system; reporting capacity; and the likelihood for sustainability. The evaluation provided useful feedback to the Office for Child Development and Early Learning, prompting system upgrades and other supports to improve implementation.
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Children's Literacy Initiative
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With support from the William Penn Foundation, OMG evaluated the Children’s Literacy Initiative’s (CLI) program to increase early literacy development among children in Philadelphia schools. An Innovation Fund award recipient, CLI needed evidenced-based research to demonstrate its effectiveness in improving reading scores in the early grades. OMG conducted a randomized trial of its model classroom program. Findings helped CLI win $22 million in federal funds to replicate its program in four cities.
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Pennsylvania Early Childhood Mental Health Consultancy Project
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OMG conducted a formative evaluation of the Pennsylvania Early Childhood Mental Health Consultancy Project, with funding from the William Penn Foundation. The Pennsylvania Key, the state’s arm for professional development and childcare investments, launched the program to provide support to childcare providers in assessing and supporting children’s mental health needs. OMG assessed the effectiveness of service delivery and identified potential gaps across the state. OMG also made recommendations to standardize and improve services across the six regional Keys, and provided training on the new standards to the 13 mental health consultants.
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