Colorado Social Research Associates
Colorado Social Research Associates (CSRA), the program evaluation arm of Arapahoe House, oversees all program evaluation and quality assurance activities for the agency.
In addition, CSRA works with other human and behavioral health service providers, government agencies, and nonprofits, seeking an experienced research team to design and implement research and evaluation. Our primary goal is to support effective human services. Our focus is to provide research and evaluation to improve programs and practice.
The mission of Colorado Social Research Associates is to research, evaluate, and contribute findings in the fields of social and behavioral sciences.
Services Offered by CSRA
CSRA offers free initial consultations to individuals and agencies seeking to determine what their research and program evaluation needs are or those who are exploring evaluation designs for grant funding. Please contact us for a brochure or for more information regarding how we might work with you.
Research and Evaluation Design:
We can help you develop:
• Outcome and process design plans that capture the information you need about the effectiveness of your program as well as information about the services that individuals and families receive.
• Instruments and sampling plans that are culturally sensitive and demographically appropriate for your clientele and practical to implement are key to measuring the strengths and weaknesses of programs.
• Project logic or causal models that can be used to communicate to funders, referral agencies, and employees your expectations about the clients, services, context, theories, and outcomes of individual projects or programs.
• Evaluation plans written for federal, state and local grant applications are based on your program, the outcomes you hope to achieve, and the level of rigor required by the funding entity.
• Quality assurance program design and monitoring to help you meet regulatory and other standards related to monitoring program effectiveness in an ongoing manner. Institutional Review Board protocol applications, when necessary for the protection of people participating in research.
Data Collection, Management, and Analysis:
We can provide:
• Oversight structures that CSRA can direct through Steering Committees including your key staff, program recipients, and other stakeholders to ensure that the study stays on target with your expectations and goals.
• Structured and semi-structured interviews and and tracking participants. Longitudinal studies require expertise, sensitivity and persistence to collect the valid data and achieve the adequate study retention rates needed to provide a clear picture of the long-term strengths of your programs. With 20 years of experience in this area, we have developed numerous techniques that have helped us to contact as many participants as possible for each study. We have an excellent record of gathering follow-up data from populations who are difficult to track, such as those with co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders, adolescents, and homeless individuals.
• Database design, data entry, and database cleaning conducted regularly by trained staff and monitored by experienced supervisors to ensure that we record information on your program recipients in an efficient, accurate manner.
• Statistical analysis and interpretation provided by our staff and associates presented professionally, yet with a sensitivity to the interests and needs of administrators and clinicians.
Dissemination:
We can provide:
• Interim and final reports to all stakeholders .
• Oral presentations which allow for more informal interaction with administrators and clinicians regarding the study findings and offer more alternatives for visual displays of the results.
• Feedback for your clinical staff which can help you enhance the effectiveness of programs and services by understanding what works and what needs improvement.
