Funders and social service providers increasingly recognize that equitable and accessible programs are defined by being culturally and linguistically appropriate, community-based, and convenient. But despite adoption of these best practices, some people who enroll in and start services then quickly disengage from program participation. What are the factors that contribute to program attrition? And how can evaluators shed light on the internal and external barriers that prevent people from continuing their engagement and benefiting from services available to them? This demonstration will share lessons from a program attrition evaluation carried out in Monterey County, California. It will describe insights into how to collect primary data from hard-to-reach populations who don’t participate in services. In addition, the session will explore how emergent information from this kind of study can inform changes to the evaluation design, as well as ways to share results with program providers in order to improve service retention. #2014Conference #Attrition #EarlyChildhood #2014 Conference #eval14