انجام ارزیابی های موثر : یک مطالعه موردی توانمندسازی خانواده با توجه به اصلاحات رفاهی

Effective evaluation of human service programs is rapidly becoming more critical as more and more stakeholders demand dependable documentation of a program’s impact. Comprehensive evaluation, done purposefully, improves services to our clientele and, ultimately, increases the chances a program will be sustained long-term. To meet this requirement for more rigorous program assessment, program planners and evaluators can benefit from theoretically sound tools that help them evaluate the impact of social service programming has for clients, organizations, states, and federally based programs. This manuscript presents an evaluation framework and applies it to a family empowerment program in Montana called Educating Families to Achieve Independence in Montana (EDUFAIM), developed in response to welfare reform. The framework is sufficiently broad in that it has applications within a variety of activities and settings.

Effective evaluation for human service programs is rapidly becoming more critical as a greater number of stakeholders demand documentation of a program’s effectiveness. As a result, program evaluation needs to be relevant to a wide variety of constituents. Program evaluations must meet the needs of funding sources, policy makers, program staff, other critical audiences, and the program participants. For example, evaluation for many government human service programs is now becoming mandatory or increasing in sophistication. Also, evaluation needs to be conducted in a manner that can assist funding sources and policy makers in demonstrating accountability of scarce public funds and in determining if the program continues to meet the agency’s overall objectives. Evaluators and program planners can benefit from tools that help them thoroughly address these needs and concerns. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation process that has been developed for Montana Extension’s Educating Families to Achieve Independence in Montana (EDUFAIM) program. The authors will present a comprehensive approach for evaluating a program developed in response to welfare reform, designed to help participants make the transition from public assistance to self-sufficiency. This evaluation framework will be helpful to program planners and evaluators in designing and assessing the impact of their programs. We begin with a brief discussion of EDUFAIM and its conceptual roots. We then follow with a discussion of the theory behind the evaluation framework that encompasses seven areas which includes developing objectives, identifying what information needs to be collected, utilizing appropriate collection techniques, relevant data collection methods, effective analysis procedures, understandable reporting techniques, and developing a sound conceptual framework.

Professionals who deliver educational programs are increasingly being held accountable for results. Program planners and evaluators need theoretically based tools to help them effectively and comprehensively identify and evaluate program impacts. The linear evaluation framework presented in this paper is theoretically based and provides a number of important activities and lessons for the practitioner to follow. As demonstrated by the results of the EDUFAIM evaluation process after one year, the framework requires attention and modifications by the evaluator over time. However, the process is sufficiently broad that it can be applied to a wide variety of program settings. For example, one of the evaluators on this project is currently applying this process to the evaluation of a wellness program within a large worksite setting. In short, this process can facilitate comprehensive evaluation that can improve services to clientele and ultimately, increases the chances a program will be sustained long-term.