Getting To Outcomes (GTO): A Pathway to Results and Accountability

Getting To Outcomes® (GTO®) is a 10-step approach for being strategic, results-based, and accountable. GTO includes the following steps that can help you strategically plan, implement, evaluate, and sustain interventions:

• Step 1: NEEDS AND RESOURCES: Choose which problem(s) to focus on
• Step 2: GOALS: Identify goals, target population, and desired outcomes
• Step 3: BEST PRACTICES: Find promising practices or best practices worth implementing
• Step 4: FIT: Assess the extent to which the practices fit with your local context and make appropriate customizations
• Step 5: CAPACITY: Assess capacity (staffing, financing, etc.) to implement the practices
• Step 6: PLAN: Make a plan for implementing the practices: who, what, when, where, and how
• Step 7: IMPLEMENTATION/PROCESS EVALUATION: Put the plan into action and evaluate implementation
• Step 8: OUTCOME EVALUATION: Evaluate success in achieving desired outcomes
• Step 9: CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT: Engage in continuous quality improvement
• Step 10: SUSTAIN: Consider how to keep the practices going if they are successful
• “HOW TO” manuals are available through the Getting To Outcomes link

Selecting Effective Interventions

Selecting effective interventions involves two tasks: identifying interventions and ensuring a good fit between interventions and your school or community. This chapter indicates a variety of ways to access information about effective interventions that were identified by an expert panel convened for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Some guidelines for selecting interventions are included, including considerations around cost, staffing, adaptability, and external support.

FindYouthInfo.gov: Evidence and Innovation

This site provides guidance about selecting, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based and innovative strategies and programs to support youth.
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Investing in Evidence: Outlines six major Federal evidence-based policy initiatives: Investing in Innovation Fund, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), Social Innovation Fund, Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT), Workforce Innovation Fund, and Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII).
‍Pathways for Youth: Offers a framework for strategic planning, including developing a vision for the work, setting goals and objectives, and planning cross-cutting initiatives that was identified by the Interagency Working Group on Youth, which includes representatives from 14 Federal Departments and Four Agencies.
‍Experiences from the Field: Highlights local efforts around using evidence-based practices (science to service) as well as generating practice-based evidence (service to science).

ASPE Issue Briefs

The following three briefs were produced by the American Institutes for Research for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation’s (HHS/ASPE) Investing in What Works (IWW) Project. These producers were created to develop and deepen knowledge regarding effective implementation and evaluation of prevention and intervention programs.

Willing, Able -> Ready: Basics and Policy Implications of Readiness as a Key Component for Implementation of Evidence-Based Interventions
It is critical to know whether you or a school, district organization is ready—willing and able—to implement a particular program or practice. Drivers of readiness include motivation of staff to adopt new programs/practices; general organizational capacity; and intervention specific capacities. This brief establishes key components of readiness and describes what readiness looks like during different phases of implementation.

The Importance of Contextual Fit when Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions
The match between an intervention or innovation and the local context it is being implemented in affects the quality of implementation and whether or not the intervention produces the desired outcomes. Contextual fit must be considered in selecting, implementing, adapting, and scaling-up EBIs.This brief proposes a set of core elements drawn from the existing literature that can be used to define contextual fit and guide practice, policy, and research.

Using Evidence-Based Constructs to Assess Extent of Implementation of Evidence-Based Interventions
An intervention involves three major phases of change—the creating phase, implementing phase, and the sustaining phase. Effective implementation  requires monitoring progress and establishing milestones. Several constructs can be used to monitor progress including fidelity of implementation, competence in use, feelings and perception, organizational and community context, and support for the intervention. This brief introduces several constructs that can be used to describe, monitor, and facilitate implementation. It then describes how to apply these constructs in several ways, including collecting data to monitor progress and developing an implementation monitoring plan. The brief concludes with implications for policy and for supporting practice.