Drafting a Process Evaluation 6311

Tolulope I. Moses

Master of Social Work, Walden University

SOCW 6311

Dr. Ashley Nazon

April 10, 2022

Program Evaluation

Conducting program evaluation is critical to ensuring programs success. Program evaluation helps to establish what is working and what is not working and hence informs the program to direct resources where it is needed the most. Program evaluation also enables the organization to showcase program effectiveness. Program evaluation should be designed to address the question and concerns of eh stakeholders. Concerns of stakeholders may relate to issues of accountability, ethics, and effectiveness of the program.

Basic Center Program is the proposed program chosen. The role of the stakeholders in the agency and concern they may have would be critically analysed below.

Key Words; Program Evaluation, effectiveness, stakeholders, and Basic Centre Program

The roles of the of Stakeholders in the agency and any concerns that they might have about the proposed program evaluation

Stakeholders in the Basic centre program are runaway youths, Parents, the community and entities addressing teen homeless, such as foster care. Runaway youths play a significant role in defining the goals of the BCP program (Norman-Major, 2018). For instance, runaway teens could have unhealthy relationships with their parents, which prompt them to run away from home without their parent's knowledge. Some of them may be abusing drugs, and others are experiencing segregation due to their sexual orientation. Studies show that LGBTQ teens experience more segregation than their heterosexual peers, increasing their chances of running away from home (Norman-Major, 2018). Homeless teens may be concerned about whether the proposed program evaluation will address their challenges such as unemployment, provision of shelter, educational needs and their sexual orientation. The LBGQT may want to know if the proposed program evaluation will ensure they are accepted regardless of their sexual orientation.

Foster parents can work with BCP to rebuild the relationships of the affected youths with their families. The role of foster parents in the agency is invaluable since they aid in fostering BCP goals of reuniting homeless youths with their loved ones (Samuels, et al., 2019). Foster families may be concerned if the proposed goal-based program evaluation is achieving the stated program goals and the possibility of the program evaluation deviating from initial program goals (Dudley, 2020). The community supports the BCP goals by donating clothing and foodstuffs, providing accommodation facilities and volunteering their time to assist the affected teens. The community also plays a vital role in creating a healthy environment that facilitates the reconciliation of teens and their parents. The community can be concerned about the program's approach to solving homelessness and how effectively the program utilizes the donated resources.

Draft of the program evaluation plan to submit to the stakeholders

Goal-based program evaluation is utilized when the program has made contact with at least an individual or groups in the target group. The goal-based evaluation program is used to determine how the program has attained its goals. The purpose of the evaluation program is to systematically gather data about the program activities and goals, monitor progress, and report and communicate outcomes to stakeholders and partners (Dudley, 2020). The proposed goals-based evaluation program will gather data on teen homelessness, causes, and efforts to address the problem.

Conducting a program evaluation can help establish what works and what doesn't work. Outcome evaluation or goal-based program evaluations helps the implementing entity to answer the basic question regarding the program's efficacy, which helps the program focus its resource on important components of the program model that profit participants and volunteers (Dudley, 2020). Knowing what doesn't work enables the program to improve and reinforce service delivery models, and not knowing what is working can result in time and resource wastage. For instance, if the Basic Center Program establishes that its efforts in reuniting homeless victims with their families are not working, it will redirect resources towards reuniting efforts.

Conducting program evaluation enables the implementing agency to showcase the program's effectiveness to stakeholders, particularly funders and the community. Evaluation outcomes can demonstrate to sunders and the community that the program is valuable. Sharing program evaluation findings within the community can be used as an excellent campaign tool for enticing collaborative cohorts, recruiting members and volunteers, and bolstering trust with the community and families (Dudley, 2020). Similarly, funders usually require a program appraisal to be conducted when they decide to finance the program. Some may not fund or refund until program evaluation has been outcomes and results ensued.

Program evaluation can enhance personnel frontline practice for the program participants. Enhancing how frontline personnel delivers service to homeless teens will increase the possibility that BCP will realize desirable outcomes with the program participant. Conducting program evaluation will enable systematic assessment of the personnel performance and identify areas that need more support and training. Program evaluation also allows the personnel staff to discuss the hurdles they face and provide potential solutions.

Questions that will be addressed and the type of information that will be collected

Question to Participants

Questions that will be addressed relate to the concerns of the participants and staff. The program evaluation will seek to know whether participants are benefiting from the program and whether they are experiencing challenges that require additional interventions (Dudley, 2020). For instance, participants may feel uncomfortable around foster parents prompting the program to address the issue. The program will also address questions related efficacy of staff, recruitment strategies, and whether the staff has the required skills and training to deliver services. The program will also address the questions such as

· Are some sub-groups profiting while others are not?

· Do participants feel comfortable or are there things that need to be improved?

· Are staffs overwhelmed? If so, do they need volunteers?

· What will volunteers do?

· Do the staff have the necessary skills to perform their role, or do they need additional training?

The program will collect data that informs the effectiveness of the program. Data to be collected includes demographics of the participants, training needs for staff, cause of teen homelessness, potential impact of the program, and areas that require improvements.

Concerns of the stakeholders

Staff work overload will be lessened by recruiting volunteers in the program who can help with basic activities. The staff will also receive additional training to equip them with the necessary skills and expertise to perform their duties. Participants' concerns relating to discrimination will be addressed by establishing policies that ensure that everybody is accommodated within the program. Staff in collaboration with volunteers will be sensitized on sensitive issues such as acknowledging and respecting participants' needs, cultures, and sexual orientation. Concerns of the community will be addressed through appropriate interventions such as enrolling homeless youth struggling with addiction in rehabilitation centers (Winiarski et al., 2021) . The program will also develop succession plans to assure shareholders, particularly funders and the community of program continuity. The program will also ensure timely disclosure of all financial and other relevant material that addresses stakeholders' concerns that they may not be obtaining pertinent data for making decisions.

Donors will only fund or refund the program if there is transparency in program accounting processes. Therefore, the program will ensure transparency in its accounting process to reinforce donors' confidence in the program. The program team will also demonstrate the impact and relevance of the program to the community. Bagheri et al. (2019) notes that donors are willing to fund a program whose outcomes are identifiable as well as measurable.

Conclusion

Program evaluation also enables the implementing entity to conduct a critical self-assessment and plan effectively for the future. Conducting a program evaluation within the entity or with an external evaluator is essential in building the entity’s capacity to perform a critical self-evaluation, including conducting personnel and program needs assessments, gauging implementing team performance, and evaluating whether program goals are being met (Dudley, 2020). This is important because it fortifies program processes and improves results for those aided.

References

Bagheri, A., Chitsazan, H., & Ebrahimi, A. (2019). Crowdfunding motivations: A focus on donors' perspectives. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 146, 218-232.

Dudley, J. R. (2020). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do (3rd ed.) Oxford University Press.

Norman-Major, K. (2018). Thinking outside the box: Using multisector approaches to address the wicked problem of homelessness among LGBTQ youth. Public Integrity, 20(6), 546-557.

Samuels, G. M., Cerven, C., Curry, S., Robinson, S. R., & Patel, S. (2019). Missed Opportunities in Youth Pathways through Homelessness. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.

Winiarski, D. A., Glover, A. C., Bounds, D. T., & Karnik, N. S. (2021). Addressing Intersecting Social and Mental Health Needs Among Transition-Age Homeless Youths: A Review of the Literature. Psychiatric Services, 72(3), 317-324.