Program Evaluation - Case Study Example

Background Program evaluation is a scientific approach to assess the value of core managed programs. Formal evaluation programs are applied to the healthcare, social welfare and deferral government programs. Such evaluation programs involve measuring costs and outcomes. It includes a scientific research design and statistical analysis to identify and measure program effects (Grannemann, n.d.). As program evaluation focuses on measuring program effects, it goes beyond measuring simple outcome measurement. Juvenile violence is prevalent in the American society and has continued to increase in violence due to drugs and guns. The violence that has slowly increased since the 1990s is not over, and the public in this nation are not safe from becoming a victim of a violent juvenile crime concerning drugs, and gunfire. Studies have shown that child neglect and abuse has been proven to be directly correlated to violence in a youth’s future. The “Safe Home’ Youth program aims to prevent violence prevalent among the youth in the United States. This requires minimizing the effects of drugs and guns on the youth. It has been decided that an outcomes-based evaluation will be performed by government officials along with school administrators, at the end of the probation period. The outcomes of this program will show the participants, who are the parents and children, that the program has benefits and prevents youth violence dramatically. The outcomes will enhance knowledge, perception, and economic conditions in public school system communities. With this in mind, the following program evaluation has been designed to determine the effectiveness, efficiency and the cost-benefit. Program evaluation philosophy Evaluation approach Many approaches to evaluation are possible depending upon the program to be evaluated and the purpose of evaluation. Irrespective of the approach, evaluation must be purposive, empirical and analytical (Maxfield, 2001). Purposive implies to have a specific purpose for conducting the evaluation. The purpose of the program must be known to all and the purpose must be clearly stated. The purpose of the Safe Home program has been clearly explained. The outcome of the evaluation has also been stated. The logic of the program and the logic of the evaluation constitute the analytical element. This implies that all evaluation activities must be logically connected. The program goals have to be clear and they are pursued through a logical model. The data collection activities have to be consistent with the activities and goals. Sample selection should reflect the intended target. In this program it has already been ascertained that juveniles with behavioral disorders do not normally become violent adolescents. The responsibility lies with the parents as child neglect has been found to be the main reason of youth violence. As such, educating the parents is considered important. Empirical implies that analytical results are based on actual data, on experience. Empirical data can be collected from structured interviews, open-ended questionnaires or observation of programs or activities. Experience can come in various forms, some of which can be quantified while others cannot be. Professional psychologists would be involved in the program and it is expected that collecting empirical data would not be difficult. Types of program evaluation After taking into account the key considerations of the program. The type of evaluation is decided. The key considerations include the purpose, the audience for the information, the kind of information needed, the sources of information, the data collection method and the resources available to collect the information. Based on these considerations, programs can be goal-based, process-based or outcome-based. Goal-based evaluation programs have pre-determined goals and objectives. Process-based evaluations are useful if the programs are long-standing and have changed over the years. They examine program delivery and program outputs. Outcome-based evaluations on the other hand focus on the ultimate result of the program or activity. This is especially important for non-profit making organization. Safe Home is an outcome-based evaluation program and a test run of various aspects of the program will be performed at the end of the probation period using a small group of children or school, with instructional materials about the implementation process. Whatever is the approach, evaluation boils down to two specific questions – whether the expectations have been met and compared to what? These two questions form the base of all other evaluation activities. It is expected that by running the Safe Home program, by educating the parents and taking the help of professional psychologists, youth violence would reduce. Evaluation can test this expectation. An evaluation can assess to what extent the parents will cooperate for the welfare of the society and the nation. Benefits of program evaluation An evaluation program provides tangible evidence that the resources that would be used for the program would benefit the society (BJA, 1997). It also helps to determine what would not work and how best to use the scare resources. Evaluation helps to provide information on the impact of the violence prevention program to a variety of audiences who are in the position to support such programs. This could attract funders in future also. Findings help to evaluate and further improve the program. If the evaluation has been effective the valuable information can be shared for future benefit of the society. State administrators and planners also need a feedback on how effective their strategies have been. This helps them to revise their strategies for better results in future. Design of the Safe Home Program The Safe Home program has been envisaged based on other programs developed to address violent behaviors in juveniles and that have met with success. The design for Safe Home program would include the following: Inputs include the resources that are used in the program. In the Safe Home program the inputs would include the government officials and the school administrators. It would also include psychologists and educational professionals to educate the parents. Activities would include implementation of a mandatory drug test program for parents who enroll their students into a public school system, seminars, professional psychologists and educational professional who would be required to spend time with parents to discuss about the behavioral issues of their children and a monthly program discussing one particular program each month, which would be posted on the website for the benefit of all. Outputs The number of parents that would be counseled would be (………………..). the number of incidences of violence that would reduce thereby reducing the number of arrests, and the number of court cases that would reduce. Outcomes It is expected that this program would minimize the effects that guns and drugs can pose upon young people. It would ensure that children live in a healthy and safe home while attending a public school system. Parents would be made responsible rather than children. The outcomes will enhance knowledge, perception, and economic conditions in public school system communities. Cost-benefit analysis Both private and public funders are concerned with the costs and the benefits of the program they fund. Cost-benefit analysis is an effective quantitative analysis tool to address this concern. Cost-benefit analysis is a branch of applied economics and aims to assess the service program by determining whether total societal welfare has increased as a result of running a particular program. This assessment consists of three steps – determine the benefits of a proposed program and place a dollar value on those benefits, calculate the total costs of the program, then finally compare the costs and the benefits (Kee, 1999). Youth violence cost the economy of the United States more than $158 billion a year, not including juvenile justice programs. As of now it costs the governmental budget 15% of the gross domestic product. Three million persons are arrested annually and violent youth acts cost annually a minimum of 13.5 billon dollars in medical bills. The costs would include school’s investment in sensor or detector equipments that can be installed at each point of entry of the school compound in order to detect possible deadly weapon among the students or anyone who wishes to enter the school premises. Yearly drug tests would be held prior to enrolment each semester. In this Safe Home program the benefits will be calculated in terms of decrease in youth violence as a result of the intervention. The costs would be measured in terms of the professional charges of the psychologists, the interview questionnaires that would need to be sent and then compiled, the seminar costs. The difference would bring out the net benefit of the program and the cost-benefit ratio can be calculated by dividing the dollar value of benefits by the costs. The higher the ration the more efficient the program is in economic terms. Costs expected to be incurred Investment in equipments $ Drug test program before enrolment $ Seminars $ Remuneration for psychologists $ Maintenance of website $ Benefits Even if the program can reduce 2 million arrests annually, the reduction in the US economy would amount to 9 billion dollars. It would reduce to 4.5 billion dollars. Cost-benefit ratio This tool poses certain challenges both in calculating the costs as well as the benefits. Quantifying and placing a dollar value on the costs is the biggest challenge. Direct costs like personnel, equipments and material are relatively easy to account for. Indirect costs like apportioning of capital costs and overheads are not so easy to calculate. The intangible costs and benefits are also difficult to measure. Benefits can also be direct, indirect and intangible and all have to be calculated to get the right result or the right ratio. Care would be taken to ensure the costs and benefits taken for consideration of evaluation are as practical as possible. Constraints of evaluation programs Time is always a constraint and forces an evaluator to calculate what can be done versus what might be desirable. The time for study and the scope of the question has to be directly related. In the case of Safe Home time is definitely an important factor because the earlier the violence can be controlled, the better for the youth and the society. Costs is another constraint as funding would not be a problem as the government is going to bear part of the expenses and hence the different interventions envisaged can be successfully conducted. As far as staff is concerned it has been decided to engage professional psychologists. They are expensive but then expertise has to be considered. Conclusion and limitations No evaluation method is perfect and has limitations. While all effort will be made to ensure the validity of the evaluation program, chances are that parents may not cooperate after their students have been enrolled. Even if they do answer the questionnaire, the answers may not always be correct. Hence certain allowances may have to be made once the outcome is compared to the expected results. References: BJA (1997), Benefits of evaluation, 15 Aug 1997 Grannemann, T., (n.d.), When to Invest in Health Care Program Evaluation, 15 Aug 2007 Kee. J. E., (1999), Promising Practices, The Evaluation Exchange, Volume V, No. 2/3, 1999, 15 Aug 2007 Maxfield, M. G., (2001). Guide to Frugal Evaluation for Criminal Justice, 15 Aug 2007 Read More