Sometimes, by taking a couple steps backward, it is possible to take a leap forward. This is what Boys to Men Program Coordinator Jeff Morrill discovered while working with the Assets-Getting To Outcomes (A-GTO) for Maine project. Boys to Men, a program with a mission to reduce interpersonal violence through the healthy development of boys, along with Ripple Effect, an outdoor experiential leadership training program, created A Boys Leadership Expedition, a powerful high school course that brings together the best parts of the two programs for a group of 15 students. The program ran in a local high school last year with moderate success, but, as Morrill reports, Boys to Men had trouble with the school doing their part, including getting student leaders in the program and providing basic support.
With technical assistance from Mike Clifford and support from the Assets-Getting To Outcomes model this fall, Boys to Men made the difficult decision to take a step back from the school that wasn’t following through with the program. Through several conversations with Clifford, Morrill and the Boys to Men staff figured out what the impact of A-GTO could be and how they could turn this rough patch into long-term success. Thanks to these conversations, another high school will run the program in the spring semester and several other high schools are interested in taking part in the program in the future. This short break and the movement of the program to other sites has proved to be a huge benefit, even for the original school, where they plan to launch a different Boys to Men program this January.
This is just one example of the positive effects the A-GTO for Maine project has had on Boys to Men. “Using the Assets-Getting To Outcomes process has helped us create a stronger program that is much more specific in targeting what we want to accomplish and when,” explains Morrill. As a part of the A-GTO for Maine project, Boys to Men has had the opportunity to develop a logic model, use the 10-step GTO process, map out the assets they are targeting with specific activities in the program, and look at how to measure the outcomes they are looking for. Furthermore, the technical assistance provided by Clifford has helped them refine exactly what it is they are doing by informing them about which program activities they want to keep or alter and new activities they need to create to target goals. “The results of this process will make the program much more powerful for the students who will be involved in it,” said Morrill.
Morrill hopes that, as the project progresses, Boys to Men will continue to benefit from A-GTO for Maine, particularly the evaluation component. “Everything is evidence-based and data-driven and it is so nice to have data to back up what you’re seeing on the ground in programs,” said Morrill. He also believes that the two models, Developmental Assets and Getting To Outcomes, compliment each other well. “The Getting To Outcomes piece really drives the action piece of it. It takes it from the concept that all kids in the community need to have assets to the evaluation of what we’re doing well, what we are not doing well, and how we can continue to assess that over time and move forward.”
Thanks to the Assets-Getting To Outcomes model and assistance from the A-GTO team, Boys to Men is several steps closer to achieving better outcomes for youth in Maine.
