Change in Mind: Applying Neurosciences to Revitalize CommunitiesJennifer JonesDirector, Change in Mind [email protected]; 414.335.0621Kirsten OlsonChief Strategy Officer, Children and Families [email protected]; 302.777.9764
April 12, 2018
Change in Mind Initiative
Alliance for Strong Families and
Communities, The Palix Foundation & The Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation.
Two country cohort involved 5
non-governmental organizations
based in Alberta and 10 U.S. based
social service organizations.
Contracted with FrameWorksInstitute on framing and
strategic communications.
Contracted with Community
Science on the developmental
evaluation.
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Change in Mind Cohort Sites
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LaSalle School Albany, NY
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WIChildren & Families First
Wilmington, DE
Children’s Home Society of Washington
Seattle, WA
East End House Cambridge, MA
Family Service Association of San AntonioSan Antonio, TX
Martha O’Bryan CenterNashville, TN
The Family Partnership Minneapolis, MN
Wellspring Family Services
Seattle, WA
KVC Health SystemsOlathe, KS
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Boyle McCauley Health CentreEdmonton
CASA Child, Adolescent, & Family Mental Health
Edmonton
Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Calgary
Calgary
CUPS Health, Education, HousingCalgary
Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre
Calgary
Change in Mind Cohort Sites
Change in Mind InitiativeTheory of Change
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Nongovernmental human serving organizations
The Alliance & larger member network &
Palix Foundation
Local, national & international
fields and service systems
10 Alliance member agencies & 5 Alberta organizations already
working to infuse brain science research into their organizations.
These streams are distinct, but mutually reinforcing. Additional causal pathways or links will be uncovered as the initiativeevolves and we will learn more about those pathways through developmental methods and system change approaches.
D. Built cohort leadership & capacity to move from organization- to systems-and policy-level change
A. Engaged CIM cohort interested in
understanding and inventing how to integrate
science into practice, policy, and systems
change
F. Expanded knowledge of the sciences & its
implications for key impact areas
B. Cohort access to leading experts in communication,
evaluation, policy & the sciences
C. Accelerated learning and translation of science through CIM cohort and communities of practice
E. Access to & relationships with content experts in communication,
evaluation, policy & the sciences
G. Sustained translation of research into policy and
practice within the Alliance, member network, & Palix
Foundation
H. Demonstrated leadership through shared knowledge & policy action
K. A field-level policy agenda focused on
advancing science-aligned policies
I. Increased field-level awareness of the sciences and implications for policy
L. Deeper field-level understanding of how
policy contexts influence change
J. Shifts in field-level perceptions of the human serving sector & its role in
the translation of brain science
450+ human serving organizations across
the United States and Canada providing a
diverse array of services.
Child welfare, juvenile justice, health, education,
corrections, mental health, housing systems
Change in Mind Evaluation Questions
1. How is brain science best translated into organizational culture, policy and practice?
2. How do organizations influence and accelerate systems change within their communities?
3. How can systems change work be accelerated within a larger policy context?
4. How can we effectively accelerate peer learning using a cohort model?
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Change in Mind Evaluation Approach
The evaluation is informed by five principles:
1. Developmental focus: the evaluation was designed to inform brain science-related development, adaptation, expansion of organizational, systems, and policy change.
2. Scientific rigor: the evaluation used rigorous evaluative thinking and situationally appropriate data collection and analysis methods.
3. Systems and complexity thinking: the evaluation asked how contextual dynamics influenced the change process.
4. Participatory process: The evaluation team collaborated with sites and funders through all stages of the evaluation process.
5. Rapid feedback for strategic learning: the evaluation used convening feedback for quality improvement.
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Lesson 1: Substantive Changes in All Sites
All Change in Mind sites made important changes inside and outside their organizations, using strategies appropriate to their context, resources, and client needs.
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Lesson 2: Politics of Changing Paradigms
The sites were clear about what brain science they incorporated into their work, but less clear about how to integrate new research findings into pre-existing trauma-informed and resilience-focused paradigms.
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Lesson 3: Technical and adaptive solutions
Sites used a mix of technical (top-down) leadership, adaptive (bottom-up) innovation, and inside-out (motivated by a common vision) collaboration strategies.
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Lesson 4: Mirrored Transformation Strategies
1. Strategic leadership
2. Ally networks
3. Reframed communications
4. Workforce development
5. Resource alignment
6. Learning and evaluation focus
7. Scaling the prevention continuum
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Lesson 5: Intertwined Pathways of Change
Through experience, sites learned that their internal and external efforts were mutually reinforcing. Small internal experiments increased site capacity to do external work, which resulted in more internal change.
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Lesson 6: Data-Informed Learning Cycles
Sites used analyses of clients’ adverse childhood experiences, community conditions, and resilience to determine where to focus their change efforts. They also used rapid cycle and developmental evaluation methods to assess their efforts’ effectiveness and accelerate their progress.
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CiM Site-Level Reflections of Progress
1. CiM site project designs
2. Site progress in program and practice changes
3. Site progress in organizational culture changes
4. Site progress in community systems change
5. Site program level specific policy change
6. Site program sector specific policy change
7. Contextual factors that influenced progress
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Site Progress – Programs and Practices
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Site Progress – Organizational Culture
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Site Progress – Community Systems Change
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Change in Mind
“As our work has evolved, the Change in Mind project’s mindset has shifted from being an add-on to being an integrated approach and a change in agency philosophy." - Cynthia Wild, director of service delivery, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Calgary
“Using neuroscience brings us back to the fundamentals of human growth and achievement. Change in Mind changes how we conceptualize mental health and align our services to impact overall health and well-being." - Jason Hooper, president & CEO, KVC Health Systems
The Change in Mind Institute
• A center for innovative and practical applications, focused on infusing and aligning the core story of brain development into organizations, systems and sectors.
• Serve as a hub for cross-sector learning and research on the transformation of organizations, sectors and systems as they adapt to the new applications of the science.
• Our desire is to continue to innovate, learn, and build on prior CiM lessons, in ways that will advance a culture of health and well-being for all.
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Change in Mind Institute
Change in Mind ModelFoundational PrinciplesTheory of ChangeProof of ConceptResearch And Evaluation
Knowledge Dissemination
OperationalTools
Brain Story Certification CourseCiM Lessons Learned Case StudiesWhite Papers/Thought Leadership
Consultation CiM Cohort ModelCiM Learning Guides
Research & Evaluation
CFF ACEs Snapshot
Next Steps with Data• Looking at Segmentation
• Mapping ACEs to program outcomes. Do ACEs impact whether or not clients benefit from programming? What about resiliency?
• Exploring Resilience• Using Devereux as a pre- and post-measure.
Do our programs measurably impact resilience? Are there specific resiliency factors that are impacted?
Training Initiatives
Next Steps with Training• Developing a Brain Science Training Institute
• Partnering with a local university to develop customized training series in partnership with various stakeholder groups
• Working with State government to develop statewide messaging platform and campaign• Using science and Frameworks-tested
metaphors to reach a broad audience of citizens
Nest Steps with Strategy
Thank you!
