Looking Back to Move Forward: A Mid-Point Process Evaluation of California's Master Plan for Aging

Under the California Health & Human Services Agency (CalHHS), the California Department of Aging (CDA), California’s State Unit on Aging, serves as the backbone for MPA implementation, coordinating efforts across state government and engaging local, community, philanthropic, and other partners. When the MPA was established, a group of philanthropic organizations partnered to create an MPA Fund to support and sustain momentum around the plan. Current partners include Archstone Foundation, May and Stanley Smith Charitable Fund, Metta Fund, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation. Since the launch of the MPA, philanthropic partners have invested over $5 million collectively to support the plan’s goals. This funding has facilitated policy development, programs, research, and various engagement efforts.

Recognizing the value of taking stock at this point in the MPA’s lifecycle, CDA and the MPA’s philanthropic partners collaborated to design and oversee the plan’s midpoint evaluation. The evaluation provided a unique opportunity to assess progress to date, identify what is working and where challenges remain, and generate insights to inform necessary adjustments to resources, focus, and strategies for the MPA’s future.

The midpoint evaluation of California’s MPA aimed to:

• Identify strengths, accomplishments, and infrastructure that could be built upon.
• Identify challenges and areas for improvement that may be limiting implementation and progress.
• Identify strategies to strengthen implementation that would maximize the MPA’s impact over its remaining five years.

Collaborative Consulting combined stakeholder perspectives, existing evidence, and MPA documentation to assess how the MPA was functioning at the midpoint of its implementation lifecycle.

• Applied an implementation-focused evaluation framework. We adapted a framework from the Center for Health Care Strategies that identifies elements associated with successful multisector initiatives. The framework provided a structure for assessing the MPA’s implementation while allowing the evaluation to reflect California’s unique context and the MPA’s evolution from planning to implementation.
• Engaged stakeholders. We heard from 201 stakeholders through interviews and a survey, including representatives from state agencies and departments, advocacy organizations, MPA advisory committees, philanthropic organizations, and other implementation partners. Their perspectives provided insight into the MPA’s progress, strengths, challenges, and opportunities for the next phase.
• Reviewed existing evidence and documentation. We analyzed around 50 documents, including publicly available data, MPA reports, progress updates, initiative materials, stakeholder engagement documents, and other relevant resources, to assess implementation progress and the infrastructure supporting the MPA.
• Built on prior learning. We reviewed previous assessments, evaluations, and recommendations related to the MPA to identify what had already been learned and how to build on this knowledge rather than duplicate prior work.
• Synthesized findings and developed recommendations. We triangulated findings across stakeholder interviews, the survey, and document and data review to identify themes, areas of strength, and opportunities for improvement. We then translated these findings into five interconnected recommendations for the MPA’s next phase.

The evaluation results showcased the progress in building the MPA implementation infrastructure and relationships needed to support a complex, cross-sector initiative. At the same time, reaching the midpoint of a 10-year effort surfaced persistent challenges as initiatives move from establishing a vision and building momentum to sustaining implementation and demonstrating results. The evaluation found that:

• The MPA implementation infrastructure created the conditions for change. The first five years established a backbone function within CDA, stronger coordination across state government, mechanisms for stakeholder engagement, philanthropic and public investment, and data and performance tools. These elements created a foundation for continued cross-sector action.
• The MPA implementation infrastructure helped produce early wins with lasting effects. The plan has raised visibility around aging-related priorities, strengthened relationships across government and community sectors, and helped mobilize partners around a shared statewide vision. These relationships and shared priorities represent assets as the MPA enters its next phase.
• The MPA faces persistent challenges. The breadth of the MPA makes it difficult to focus limited resources and capacity. At the same time, evolving roles, questions about ownership and accountability, and limitations in outcome measurement make it harder to sustain momentum, demonstrate progress, and understand the MPA’s contribution to longer-term outcomes.

Taken together, the findings illustrate an important transition in the lifecycle of a multi-year, multi-stakeholder initiative: the structures and relationships needed to launch and build momentum are not necessarily the same as those needed to sustain implementation, focus resources, and demonstrate impact over time.