ACE Logic Model — Inputs

The first column of the conceptual framework, inputs, refers to the assumptions underlying a program and the infrastructure that must be in place before a program can be implemented. The five inputs the framework captures are described below:

Youth Prevention Priorities

The ACE program focuses its research activities on the violence prevention issues of high priority to the defined community and that address state or national youth violence prevention priorities.  Research activities are also focused on such gaps identified in the CDC Research Agenda and those stated in Healthy People 2010.

ACE Community Committee

CDC requires each ACE to form or work with an existing ACE Community Committee. This group comprises members of the ACE’s defined community and adult and youth representatives of agencies and organizations that serve the center’s designated community.  The community committee participates in the center’s organization, research, or other activities.  Committee members typically represent an identified group or population and participate in the committee to provide this population’s perspective and knowledge to the activities of the center. The inputs provided by an ACE Community Committee to the ACE include guidance, advice on ACE agendas and plans, expertise, contacts, essential information about the designated community, as well as intangible benefits.

ACE Infrastructure

Before conducting specific youth violence prevention research, projects, and health promotion activities, an ACE must have the necessary internal infrastructure. This infrastructure includes the human resources capacity to recruit faculty with the necessary core expertise, diversity, and sensitivity.  The infrastructure also includes evaluation expertise, faculty and staff who have multidisciplinary expertise to implement ACE projects and activities and who have experience working with the community, and expertise for evaluating the implementation of the ACE’s activities and assessing the ACE’s outcomes and accomplishments. The centers are mandated to create an infrastructure that facilitates initiatives involving researchers and practitioners from varied disciplines and collaboration across university centers. Finally, ACE capacity requires communication and data systems that enable and facilitate work and administrative capacity (e.g., financial resources). 

Relationships with Partners

Each ACE is also expected to establish and maintain center partnerships with institutions such as state and local health departments, educational institutions, justice departments, other university partners, other ACEs, injury control research centers, prevention research centers, national youth violence prevention organizations, and CDC.  Partnerships are intended to strengthen the ACE’s surveillance, research, training, mentoring, community mobilizing, and dissemination activities in its identified community. Partners can collaborate with the ACE in designing and conducting research and other ACE projects and in disseminating research findings. These findings should help facilitate the translation of public health research and related activities to practice and policy.

Motivating Conditions for Developing and Maintaining Relationships

The conceptual framework also recognizes the conditions motivating development and maintenance of relationships with community partners and others. These conditions may include trust, tangible or intangible benefits (such as access to expertise or acceptance by a community), and sharing of resources gained from the partnership. These conditions may influence a partner’s willingness to form a relationship with the ACE, the nature and strength of the relationship, and an ACE’s ability to sustain the relationship over time.

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