An Assessment of Organizational Capacity for Primary Prevention

Background: The national DELTA PREP Project aims to build the capacity of state domestic violence (IPV) coalitions to support IPV prevention efforts. Since many of these organizations are new to prevention, there was a need to develop a measure of organizational capacity for prevention. This presentation will describe the development and results of the Coalition Prevention Capacity Assessment (CPCA), a new measure of organizational capacity to support primary prevention. Methods: The CPCA was administered to the 19 DELTA PREP coalitions/organizations in August 2009. Respondents included Coalition Executive Directors (n=17), (up to 3) Coalition Staff (n=55), the Coalition Board Chairperson (n=18), and Coalition Board Members (n=188). The online survey was tailored for each type of respondent. Results: Within one week after the completion of their assessment, each Coalition was given a summary of their assessment, which was used for action planning at the upcoming regional meetings. In this presentation, findings from the national summary of the CPCA will be presented, and will highlight areas interest within each of the six pre-determined constructs of organizational capacity for prevention: staffing, leadership, structures and processes, and partner, resource and member agency development. Conclusions: The Coalition Prevention Capacity Assessment (CPCA) is the first instrument to assess the multiple constructs that make up an organization's capacity to support primary prevention activities. The successful online administration of this instrument with domestic violence coalitions is an excellent example of the utility of this kind of assessment for assessing and planning for changes in organizational capacity to support prevention.