The Devolution Initiative Evaluation: Innovation and Learning at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation

This case study describes the evaluation of a foundation initiative designed to foster learning about government investments to devolve major responsibilities for welfare reform and health care policy from the federal government to the states. The initiative's goal was also to mobilize advocates to respond to information as implications of the studies unfolded. The evaluation had multiple components, which included providing timely, continuous feedback to the foundation about how the initiative was -- or was not -- working. As a case, it illustrates the difficulties of crafting a theory of change for an ever evolving program across multiple stakeholders within and external to a foundation