Evaluation of Santa Clara County’s Getting to Zero Initiative

JSI has been engaged by the Santa Clara Public Health Department (PHD) to conduct action research and evaluation to inform the ongoing progress and assess the effectiveness of PHD's Getting to Zero (SCCGTZ) initiative in addressing its goals. Specifically, the purpose of this project is to conduct process and outcome evaluation of the SCCGTZ initiative, and to inform strategy refinement through action research. Over a 4-year horizon, JSI will employ a developmental evaluation (DE) framework to assess the on-going progress and impact of the collaborative, challenges in getting up and running, and emerging findings. Key tasks include process and performance measurement, data compiling, in-depth interviews, secondary data analysis, and actively participating in the collective to embed evaluative thinking through all aspects of project implementation.

Using mixed-methods, varied data sources, and a responsive, adaptive and flexible evaluation approach, the initiative is beginning to demonstrate the incremental impact and value from the perspective of varied stakeholders. Early findings indicate that in a span of 18 months, the SCCGTZ initiative has made noteworthy progress in diversifying and engaging new stakeholders, establishing the building blocks of trust, and identifying opportunities for mutually beneficial activities including advocacy and collective action. Capacity building and outreach activities have successfully reached new organization and individuals at risk of/with HIV/AIDS, and access to PrEP/PEP and STD testing has increased twofold.