Cross-site evaluation of young adults in the workplace

The Young Adults in the Workplace (YIW) initiative is a study of the effectiveness of workplace-based substance abuse prevention and early intervention programs for young adults aged 16 to 24. The cross-site evaluation of this multisite, multiprotocol initiative will broaden SAMHSA's workplace prevention initiatives by generating empirically-based knowledge about a diverse set of interventions and their functionality within a variety of workplace populations and contexts. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention initially funded 13 nationwide grantees in Phase I of the YIW initiative and continued with 6 grantees after a competitive reapplication to Phase II. The YIW cross-site evaluation plan for Phase II is designed to supply a comprehensive understanding of how the YIW interventions were implemented, the effects they had on employees, and the value they provided to employers. To accomplish this, the cross-site infrastructure supports three interrelated evaluation efforts: a process evaluation, an outcome evaluation, and an economic evaluation. This presentation will discuss the specific methodologies for each of these types of evaluations as they are applied to the multisite, multiprotocol YIW program. The process evaluation will be described with particular focus on the methodology of analyzing common and unique components of interventions in the cross-site framework. It will describe how a dismantling design approach is appropriate for and is being tailored to the YIW program within the outcome evaluation. Finally, it will explain the activity-based costing approach for the economic evaluation, why it is appropriate and the relevant cost metrics that can be obtained from it.