Evaluation of the Close to Home Program in California

Investigators propose to rigorously evaluate the Close to Home (C2H) model via a cluster-matched control trial across 18 diverse communities (9 C2H, 9 control) in California via collection and analyses of social network, school-based and social media data. Close to Home is a primary prevention community mobilization model implemented in 10 communities across California that engages community members across multiple sectors and social networks to strengthen community connections and shift social norms regarding sexual violence (SV), but has never been rigorously evaluated. C2H moves beyond criminal justice, lobbying, or school-based curricular approaches, taking a true community-level and community-led approach. This is a five-year project, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 3 years with competitive awards for years 4 and 5, and is conducted in partnership with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and ValorUs (formerly CALCASA). The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and CDPH partnership is uniquely poised to conduct the first rigorous evaluation of C2H in California at this time.

Investigators propose to rigorously evaluate the Close to Home (C2H) model via a cluster-matched control trial across 18 diverse communities (9 C2H, 9 control) in California via collection and analyses of social network, school-based and social media data. Analyses of these data will provide evidence at the individual, interpersonal and community levels of the effectiveness of this community mobilization approach to reduce sexual violence (SV) incidence. California is uniquely poised to conduct this research, given a) the multiple, diverse of communities implementing C2H; b) California Department of Public Health (CDPH)'s 10-year commitment to building capacity to support local implementation of this model, and c) CDPH's ongoing partnership on RPE evaluation with University of California San Diego's Center on Gender Equity and Health, a center with the highest levels of expertise in evaluation of SV prevention programs, and the science of social norms, social networks and social media. A Research Advisory Board will be engaged and inform and guide these efforts throughout the project period. Investigators will accomplish this highly innovative effort via the following aims:

AIM 1. Develop and implement a cluster-matched control design in partnership with the RAB, including collecting baseline social network, school-based and social media data across 14 diverse California communities.

Hypothesis 1.1: Analyses of baseline social network data will demonstrate pathways of influence regarding SV social norms and behaviors among male and female youth ages 14-24 years.

Hypothesis 1.2: Analyses of triangulated YouGov and Twitter data will yield a valid, feasible social media-based assessment of SV social norms at the community-level for evaluation of SV prevention efforts.

AIM 2: Evaluate effects of the C2H model on SV social norms and incidence, as well as patterns of diffusion of these effects, via longitudinal analyses of social network data.

Hypothesis 2.1: Social norms rejecting SV will increase, and 12-month incidence of SV will decrease at 24-month follow-up among C2H participants relative to those in control programs, and these effects will diffuse via paths of influence across social networks assessed via Aim 1.

AIM 3: Extend Aim 2 findings via analyses of multiple waves of school-based data and geocoded social media data to yield multiple tests of community-level effects of C2H on SV social norms and incidence.

Hypotheses 3.1: Analyses of data from the California Healthy Kids Survey (ages 14-19 yrs) and Twitter (>13 yrs) collected from C2H and control communities (coincident with baseline and 24-month follow-up social network data) will yield evidence of community-level effects of C2H on SV social norms and incidence consistent with individual and network-level effects observed via Aim 2 analyses.