Growing Pains: Lessons from WAIT Training in Florida, Implementation Report

Nonprofit social service organizations sometimes face a dilemma when they consider whether to embrace opportunities to extend programming to new locations. Organizations often rely on the support of outside funders to broaden or alter their programs. Grants that enable programs to implement and test programs on a wider scale can be attractive for several reasons. First, they can help organizations to scale up their mission and reach a broader population. Second, they can strengthen organizations by giving them the resources to recruit and retain new staff. However, increasing the breadth of a program brings challenges. It is often hard for organizations to gauge whether there is real demand that warrants an extension of program services. They can find it challenging to manage growth, whether that means adding staff, expanding geographic reach, or both. As organizations add staff, they encounter more complicated personnel issues regarding administration and supervision. Expanding the geographic scope of a program might entail changing program logistics to serve new populations. Furthermore, it can be difficult for organizations to identify new partners and build the broader stakeholder network needed to support broader program implementation.

This report examines these common challenges through the case of Live the Life Ministries (LtL). LtL is a faith-based organization that provides social services to youth and families in the Florida Panhandle. In 2010, LtL received a grant from the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement and test an adapted version of the WAIT (Why Am I Tempted) Training abstinence education program in Florida middle and high schools. The grant also provided resources to evaluate the program’s implementation and impacts, through a partnership with an ongoing federal evaluation. Because of factors ranging from staffing constraints to organizational inexperience, LtL’s project did not go as planned. This report examines these issues in the context of the WAIT Training program to highlight implications for funders and organizations looking to deliver similar programs in other contexts.