Juvenile Justice Reform and the Stages of Systems Change

In the interviews we’ve conducted for our evaluation of six Reclaiming Futures sites in North Carolina, we often hear the initiative characterized as “exciting” and “promising,” but also as complex, challenging and messy. Those of you who are living Reclaiming Futures on a day-to-day basis recognize that changing systems is a process full of ups and downs, wins and setbacks. It’s easy to lose track of the larger progress that your initiative is making in improving the lives of youth who come through the justice system.
 
Collectively, the two of us have close to 25 years of experience evaluating programs and initiatives. Through this experience, we’ve learned that one of the most important benefits that evaluation can bring is a clearer, broader picture of what’s happening on the ground. Toward that end, we have developed a model of the “stages of development” that occur for systems-change initiatives like Reclaiming Futures. 
 
The premise of the model is that a coalition carrying out systems-change work passes through five distinct stages at predictable points in its life course. We’ve named these stages:

1. initiation
2. team development
3. initial impact
4. extending the impact
5. sustaining the process of innovation and reform

 
The nature of a coalition’s work shifts considerably from one stage to the next. Moreover, each stage has a unique set of “developmental tasks” that must be mastered if the initiative is to succeed in moving on to later stages.

Stage

Defining Task

1. Initiation
 

Obtain funding

2. Team Development

Establish an effective infrastructure to carry out systems-change work
 

3. Initial Impact

Accomplish a concrete, meaningful act of systems change
 

4. Extending the Impact

Move from a narrow win to accomplishing broader scale changes in the system
 

5. Sustaining the process of innovation and reform

Become a permanent venue and force for stimulating whatever changes in the system need to occur as times and conditions change

 
 
Our experience in evaluating a variety of systems-change initiatives over the years is that local coalitions and projects fail to reach their full potential because they get stuck in one stage or another. And if coalition members fail to successfully resolve the key developmental challenge for the stage they are in, it’s a pretty sure bet that the effort will lose steam and fall apart within 6-12 months. 
 
On the other hand, if a coalition understands and addresses the key defining challenge for each successive stage of development, the group can move more efficiently toward becoming an effective, long-term force for systems change.
 
More details on the model are included in the attached two files: 

1. a list of the specific tasks that need to be accomplished in each stage; and
2. a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the developmental stages of systems change initiatives, which we presented at the national RF meeting in Miami. (The PowerPoint file is slightly different from what we presented in Miami, taking into account various ideas that come up during the very thoughtful discussion that occurred in the session.)

 
We are interested in hearing more from those of you who are directly involved in the process of systems reform. 

• Does the model seem to describe your experience to date?
• What changes would you propose?
• How long has it taken your coalition to move through the different stages?
• Which of the developmental challenges have proven most daunting to your local initiative?
• Have you learned any useful lessons on how to navigate those challenges?

 
Thanks for your contributions, as well as for your hard work in your own communities.
 

 
Doug Easterling, Ph.D., is the Chair of the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine. His research focuses on community-based approaches to improving health and quality of life, with a special emphasis on initiatives that build social capital or change community culture.   As Director of Research and Evaluation at The Colorado Trust (1992-1999), he oversaw the evaluation of the Colorado Healthy Communities Initiative and 10 other multi-site initiatives. His education includes a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management from the University of Pennsylvania and a M.A. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of North Carolina.    
 
 
Dr. Liz Arnold is currently Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC. She is also a faculty affiliate with the Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health. Dr. Arnold has an MSW from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in social work from Florida State University. Her career has focused on intervention development and community based research with vulnerable and high-risk groups. In addition to her research, Dr. Arnold is involved in patient care and teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and students from other disciplines. She is the co-author of Substance Abuse Treatment for Criminal Offenders: An Evidenced-Based Guide for Practitioners published by the American Psychological Association.
 
 
 
Photo at top: odalaigh, under Creative Commons license.