Overall, the Weed and Seed program model’s strength is its ability to adapt to an individual community’s needs and resources. With appropriate input, planning and monitoring, the program is able to provide services in may divergent areas, which ideally creates a healthier and safer community. As noted throughout this report, such a variety of services and implementation strategies were put into practice in each Virginia Weed and Seed site.

The Weed and Seed program does, however, present numerous challenges to effective program evaluation. Program variation, while valuable to address local needs, also makes cross-site evaluation problematic. Although the program is generally popular within the communities in which it operates, the lack of clear outcome objectives and appropriate outcome data inhibits the ability to effectively assess the program’s impact.

The recommendations made in this report are offered to guide on-going local efforts in Weed and Seed and in similar collaborative community-based programs. These recommendations may also provide guidance in planning and evaluation of such programs in the future.

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