September 9, 2024 by coloradolab

Spotlight on External Research Partner: Paul Collier

Welcome to Paul Collier, an external partner to the Colorado Lab in support of government partners creating Theories of Change (TOCs). A Director at Corona Insights, Paul excels at helping teams build internal evaluation capacity and grow their ability to use data for learning purposes. Paul is an experienced trainer, facilitator, and coach who has […]

09 September 2024
September 9, 2024 by coloradolab

Plans of Safe Care: National Presentation & Local Kick-Off

POSC Pilot Kick-off, Alamosa, July 19, 2024 We were excited for the opportunity to share insights on Colorado’s Plans of Safe Care (POSC) pilot program at the national level. Dr. Courtney Everson, Senior Project Director at the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab (Colorado Lab) gave an invited presentation to more than 500 registrants through the […]

09 September 2024
August 16, 2024 by coloradolab

New Report: Child Abuse Prevention Investment Strategy

The Colorado Lab partnered with the Colorado Child Abuse Prevention (COCAP) Trust Fund to develop a data-informed prevention investment strategy to help align and accelerate child maltreatment and family strengthening across Colorado. The investment strategy will be used by the COCAP Board to advance evidence-based decision making and smart state investments in child maltreatment prevention. […]

16 August 2024
August 16, 2024 by coloradolab

New Report: Lived Experience of Prenatal Substance Use

Pictured above: The Colorado Lab’s evaluation team on lived experience of prenatal substance use (L to R): Dr. Courtney Everson, Sr. Project Director, Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab; Ashley Miller, Peer Researcher; Sarah Brown, Peer Researcher. Not pictured: Jo Beletic, Staff Researcher, Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab; Alena Clark, External Research Partner. A new findings […]

16 August 2024
June 12, 2024 by coloradolab

2024 Legislative Session Highlights

We celebrate the passage of two pieces of legislation this session that exemplify our commitment to evidence use and evidence building in Colorado. The first, House Bill (HB) 24-1428, advances the state’s vision of evidence-based decision making in policymaking to drive state investments and outcomes during budget requests. The second, State Bill (SB) 24-047, strengthens […]

12 June 2024
June 12, 2024 by coloradolab

Spotlight on External Research Partner: Dr. Phil Pendergast

“In academia, we often get stuck in an intellectual trap of doing evaluation for the sake of doing it even when it’s not making an impact in the world. I feel really motivated to seek out opportunities like this to work with government partners that care about doing rigorous research on programs they’re investing in,” […]

12 June 2024
May 15, 2024 by coloradolab

Spotlight on External Research Partner: Yumiko Dougherty

As the former Director of Strategy for the Colorado Department of Human Services and then the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, Yumiko Dougherty often turned to the Colorado Lab for support. As a result, Dougherty, who now leads the consulting firm Ignite the Change Advisors, leapt at the chance to partner with the Colorado Lab in […]

15 May 2024
May 15, 2024 by coloradolab

Growing Capacity to Achieve the Governor’s Wildly Important Goals

The Colorado Lab is working with Governor Polis’s Office of Operations to build agency capacity to achieve the administration’s Wildly Important Goals (WIGs). The WIGs, identified through an annual strategic planning process, help state leaders focus on and track progress toward selected priority efforts. Drs. Kristin Klopfenstein and Courtney Everson are partnering with state agencies […]

15 May 2024
May 15, 2024 by coloradolab

Colorado Lab Presents at CHoSEN Forum

We were pleased to present at the spring forum for the Colorado Hospitals Substance Exposed Newborn (CHoSEN) Quality Improvement Collaborative. The forum focused on evidence-based practices in caring for families affected by prenatal substance use and opportunities for innovation in collaborative care.  Dr. Courtney Everson, Senior Project Director for the Colorado Lab, co-presented a plenary session entitled Piloting […]

15 May 2024
May 15, 2024 by coloradolab

Family First Evidence-Building Hub Updates

Colorado’s Five-Year Family First Prevention Services Plan (Colorado’s Plan) promotes use of evidence-based programs and services in child welfare to help keep children safe and more families together. The Colorado Lab leads the Family First Evidence-Building Hub on behalf of the Colorado Department of Human Services.  We recently released the State Fiscal Year 2024 Family First […]

15 May 2024