Program Evaluation

Background

The Second Chance Program is a public-private initiative with the RBC School District. The Second Change Program RBC provides an alternative to the criminal justice system for students with school offenses. Students are referred to this program by guidance counselors, school social workers, truant officers, principals, security officers and School Resource officers. While the Second Chance Program can receive referrals from all of these entities, the referrals tend to come from the principals, guidance counselors and school social workers. It is unknown why truant officers, security officers and School Resource officers do not refer or delay referring to the Second Chance Program.

Method

This process evaluation is to assess this issue to inform program improvements. The information gathered will include qualitative and quantitative data to answer these research questions:

· How is the referral process being implemented by these officers?

· How is the overall Second Chance Program RBC being received by these officers?

· What barriers to making referrals to the Second Chance Program RBC do these officers identify?

The data was collected through an online survey of officers, focus groups of officers and ethnographic interviews of other referrals sources and Second Chance Program RBC Intake workers. In addition, a document review was done of intake records for one quarter. The thematic analysis was interpreted with constructs of Implementation Theory. Implementation Theory recognizes that implementation is a process with characteristics of Capability, Capacity, Potential, and Contribution; each can impact the success of implementation and its outcomes (May, 2013).

Findings

While all officers were invited to participate in this evaluation, all but two security officers participated. All Second Chance Program RBC Intake workers did participate in this evaluation.

From the online survey, the officers indicated that they completed paperwork for a referral at the same time that they completed paperwork documenting the incident. Their referrals were attached to the report that was sent to the principal. They indicated that they made referrals for 80% of the incidents that they report. To facilitate making referrals and getting students in the program faster, the 100% of the officers wanted to make referrals online.

From the focus groups, the officers indicated that they thought the Second Chance Program RBC was a significant resource for these students, the school district, and the community at large. They emphasized that this youth development program redirects students at-risk and curbs their entry or recidivism into the criminal justice system. While they were adamant that they complete paper referrals in a timely fashion, the officers complained about not being able to make online referrals. Several officers explained that they attached the referral to the report and forwarded it to the principal because there was no Second Chance Program RBC office on their campus and did not know where to send it. Lastly, a handful of officers indicated that they would like to call in to make a referral because they were not sure which program would best serve the student.

The interviews with the Second Chance Program RBC intake workers gave a different perspective, but corroborated a fair amount of information that the officers had provided. Intake workers confirmed that the officer referrals were received as hard copies through the school district mail. One worker noted that they often come in the same envelope as those from the principal. They noted that the guidance counselors and social workers tended to submit their referrals online, and occasionally called in referrals by phone.

Through the document review, this confirmed that the officers complete hard copy referrals. The referrals are dated the day of the incident. There can be a delay of 10-14 days from the date of the incident and the date that referral was received and processed at the Second Chance Program Intake. The referrals from the guidance counselors and social workers were primarily done online (85% of the time). As for the principals, the ones with a program on their campus used online referrals and the ones without used hardcopy referrals through the school district mail. The officer referrals were primarily for the Second Chance program while the referrals from the guidance counselors and school social workers were for the Second Chance Program and the First Chance Program.

Discussion

The findings provide many insights into the referral process and how it is currently being implemented. Overall, the information from the various data sources converged further corroborating the findings.

On a positive note, the officers were supportive of the Second Chance Program and recognized it as a resource for the students, the School District and the community. They were interested in getting their referrals completed and these students into supportive services and keeping them out of the criminal justice system. This is significant in supporting the contribution of the program and the referral process.

The referral implementation process of the officers demonstrated their capability to complete paper referrals in a timely fashion. The capability of the Second Chance Program is to receive referrals by paper, by phone, and online. Since the officers requested to do online referrals, this demonstrates their capacity to adopt this change in their referral processing. By changing to online referrals, the potential would be to eliminate the confusion regarding where to send paper referrals, provide explanation about different types of services on the online form, and decrease the delay in students receiving services.

Recommendations & Plan of Action

To improve the referral process for more timely start of programing for eligible students, the recommendation is to provide access, information and training to the truant officers, the security officers and the school resource officers regarding online referrals. Although these officers are not Second Chance RBC employees, they will be given direct, but limited access to the online referral page. This is the same access that is afforded the guidance counselors, social workers and principals. While relatively intuitive, a workshop will be provided for them to learn a bit more about the programs as well as the online referral process. Individual training will be offered to those who are unable to attend the initial workshop. The timing of this change and the training is dependent upon the IT support along with the school schedule. Nevertheless, the goal is to have this complete within the quarter. As this quality assurance process continues, there will be ongoing process evaluations on how the change is being implemented, including: an outcome evaluation of the training, and a follow-up process evaluation in one year.

References:

May, C. (2013). Towards a general theory of implementation. Implementation Science. 8:18.