The PROSPER Delivery System is Based on a Multi-Phased Developmental Process Oriented Toward Sustainability

Many community prevention programming initiatives are funded with time-limited grants, which means that programs are often not available to new groups of youth and families on a continual basis. Finding support for ongoing delivery of evidence-based programs is challenging, but necessary for producing positive community-level results for youth and their families. This is why the PROSPER approach includes a multi-phased developmental process that focuses on strategies for sustaining the programming efforts and operations of Community Teams from the outset.      

What makes the PROSPER approach different from many community programming efforts is the emphasis it places on teams moving through a series of developmental phases. These four distinct phases include organizational, initial operations, ongoing operations, and long-term sustainability. A State Management Team monitors each Community Team’s progress with standardized benchmarks to ensure that the two primary sustainability goals are being met year after year.

Goal 1: Sustain Growth and Quality of Evidence-based Programs

Indicators of success for this goal include long-term funding (as opposed to one-time donations or short-term grants); high quality program implementation; and delivery of the family program to an increasing proportion of youth and families.

Goal 2: Sustain Well-Functioning Teams

Indicators of success include regular, effective team meetings; high team member engagement and commitment to quality programming; effective relationships among the PROSPER Community Team members, the school, and community groups; and effective communication, both among team members and between team members and other community stakeholders.