For Evaluators

In February of 2018, the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) was enacted, allowing states to receive federal matching funds for the provision of prevention services implemented by a federally approved kinship navigator program.

In response to the increased demand for kinship and post-adoption services and to the new legislation, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) set out to develop a statewide kinship and adoption navigation program. ODJFS partnered with Kinnect to design and administer this new program. In partnership with 90 stakeholders, ODJFS and Kinnect led the development of what is now known as OhioKAN. ODJFS and Kinnect partnered with Kaye Implementation and Evaluation (KI&E) to complete a rigorous outcome evaluation that meets FFPSA standards, further articulated in the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse.

KI&E led a cluster randomized control trial to test the effectiveness of OhioKAN. The program documents in this manual, individuals and families with lived experience, and the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse informed the evaluation design and approach. KI&E developed and invited all OhioKAN families to participate in a series of surveys outside of the service delivery model to test the program.

The list below includes key sections of the manual to consider for an evaluation of the OhioKAN program model.