FOR DR. KIBEK

Running Head: DRAFTING A PROCESS EVALUATION 1

DRAFTING A PROCESS EVALUATION 7

Drafting a Process Evaluation

Introduction

The Service Coordinator program is a housing program that was created to deal with housing for the aged and those with disabilities in the United States of America. It has established many policies to ensure that elderly and physically challenged individuals who face low levels of income or no income are well cared for in the locations where they reside (US Department of Housing and Urban Development, n.d.).

The Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) grant was used initially for programs such as the ROSS-Family & Homeownership and ROSS-Elderly/Persons with Disabilities (US Department of Housing and Urban Development, n.d.). The program involves funding the housing program and also with hiring and maintaining service coordinators. The Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) were responsible for providing funds to run the program; the grant funds could then be used to pay the service coordinators salaries and other administrative expenses (US Department of Housing and Urban Development, n.d.).

Key Program Elements

The service coordinator program aims at improving the lifestyles of elder adults and those with disabilities. It provides supportive services to residents to keep them living independently as long as possible.

HUD focuses on improving public housing options for its residents to have comfortable places in which they can live safely and independently. Partnerships have been put in place between government agencies and property owners to ensure proper housing is available for residents regardless of their social and economic status (US Department of Housing and Urban Development, n.d.).

Strategies to produce change

The strategies used by the Housing Urban Development are to find quality residences for the physically challenged and the aged, which are strategically located, safe, accessible and affordable (US Department of Housing and Urban Development, n.d.). This is to ensure a comfortable home environment that makes them feel at home.

Since housing is a basic need, the program had a strategy of having quality places that showed improvement in the quality of life for those who reside there. They had to ensure that they were located in a friendly environment that could not discriminate against their odds.

There are strategies in place to reduce the number of people in society who are rendered homeless or have faced discrimination due to their disabilities and, therefore, have a home for them where they could be catered for and housed. These strategies implemented to assist in keeping individuals out of long-term care facilities while they age.

Need of the target population

The aged may encounter issues finding housing simply because they may have limited income or no income at all and cannot afford to house themselves. Physically challenged individuals may also face issues finding housing due to accessibility issues or lack of support and services.

The service coordinator program helps these individuals with their housing needs and provides them with support services to live independently as long as possible. The housing department takes into consideration the various needs that these people require to give them the option to live a quality life.

Importance of evaluation to the program

Evaluation of this program is vital in the following ways:

· It enables a continuous process in which housing is provided to the aged and physically challenged

· It enables quality assurance for the program, residents, coordinators, managers and staff

· Process evaluations are imperative in managing the costs used in running the program, ensuring that the funds provided for the project are budgeted and distributed appropriately.

· A process evaluation helps to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of the housing service provided by the program

Plan to enhance staff and management relationships

When the Staff and management relationship is maintained then the program runs smoothly due to the coordination between the two groups, the relationship between the two can be enhanced by doing the following.

The communication channel for the program should be improved between the two. The staff should communicate freely with their managers, give suggestions on what they feel should be done to improve the programs performance. Regular meetings should be held by managers and staff to communicate on the challenges of the program, introduction of new ideas, and any other subjects that should be discussed for the programs welfare.

Employees should be challenged to ensure that an interesting environment is provided for them. Employees will feel secure and have an interest in the performance of duties; motivation also helps them to improve their performance in the job.

Effective interactions should be brought into place between the staff and employees in regards to the service coordinating program to ensure the residents are receiving the best services possible.

Questions to be addressed in the evaluation process

The questions in an evaluation process help in providing structure for evaluation. Evaluation questions must first be identified by taking consideration of their importance and purpose (Bliss & Emshoff, 2002). The questions should be designed to answer What, Who, When, Where, and Why (Bliss & Emshoff, 2002).

Evaluation questioning can be done by gathering information from stakeholders, reviewing the collected information, in any supporting document, brainstorming, sorting the evaluated questions, and deciding the best questions to be responded to, verification, finding the correct methods of data collection and those involved in the same.

Some of the broad questions include:

1. Is the service coordinator being implemented in all HUD buildings?

2. What strengths are gained by having a service coordinator on staff?

3. Were appropriate resources available for the service coordinator to perform daily activities?

4. How does the other staff feel about having a service coordinator on location?

5. Do the residents understand what a service coordinator can do for them?

Some of the specific questions include:

Who:

1. How many residents have taken action by utilizing the service coordinator?

2. How many residents have declined the services?

3. What are the demographics of the residents living at the location

a. Race

b. Ethnicity

c. Age

d. Gender

e. Education

f. Income Source

4. How satisfied are the residents with the services?

5. What risk factors does the resident have?

What:

1. How is confidentiality maintained?

2. How are services delivered to the resident?

3. What types of outside assistance are available?

4. How long has the serviced coordinator program been implemented at the location?

When:

1. How often is the service coordinator available?

2. What is the average length of service?

3. When does follow up with the resident occur?

Where:

1. Where does the intervention take place (in apartment or office)?

2. Where is the residence located?

3. Are there other services available on site?

4. Is the residence located near a bus line?

Why:

1. Why are residents not utilizing the program?

2. Why are some programs being brought in compared to others?

3. Why are some residents followed up with more than others?

Information Gathering and Analysis

Information can be gathered by a variety of methods. Case studies, client tracking logs, observation, questionnaires, structured interview by telephone or in person are a few various techniques that are effective (Bliss & Emshoff, 2002). When deciding on what type of method will be used it is important to consider the mental and physical abilities of the participants. In this case, many are elderly and disabled so conducting the evaluations on the site would be beneficial. Also, it is important to consider some may not cognitively be able to read questionnaires so they may need to be personally interviewed to ask the questions.

This process evaluation is conducted during the implementation stage of the program. During this process the intent is to determine whether the program works, how well, and what changes need to be made if any (Dudley, 2014). Making sure that the correct questions are addressed during the analysis will assist in determining the effectiveness of the program.

References

Bliss, M. J., & Emshoff, J. G. (2002).  Workbook for designing a process evaluation . Retrieved from http://beta.roadsafetyevaluation.com/evaluationguides/info/workbook-for-designing-a-process-evaluation.pdf 

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development (n.d.) - Service Coordinator Program - HUD. Retrieved October 31, 2015, from http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/mfh/scp/scphome