Program Planning & Program Evaluation; PEACE Domestic Violence Agency HSM 270 Abstract The overall purpose of this paper is to compare program planning with program evaluation in a human service organization by describing how the two components are related. There will be examples of how program planning and evaluation interrelate with the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency scenario from Appendix B. We will also look at the technical and political aspects of program planning and evaluation that might encounter in the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency scenario, and how these aspects could affect the planning and evaluation process.
Program Planning & Program Evaluation; PEACE Domestic Violence Agency According to Michael Quinn Patton, program evaluation is carefully collecting information about a program or some aspects of a program in order to make necessary decisions about the program. This evaluation process can include various activities, which are vital for deciding the critical success factors of a program, some of them are – needs assessments, accreditation, cost/benefit analysis, effectiveness study, goal-based analysis, process outcome analysis etc.
All these analyses are aimed how accurately we can collect and understand the data related to our program. There are a number of parties who will use program evaluation report – core team, grant organization, other social groups for case study etc. There are also a number of benefits of a program evaluation, such as verification of impact of products and services on customers, improve the delivery mechanism, analyze by comparing what we are doing and what needs to be done, and facilitate management thought process and decision making ability.
Program evaluation is also connected to the need of the type of information, which is needed to be collected to aid managerial decision-making. Often the management is faced with some troublesome issues like decreased funding, ongoing customer complaints, slow product or service delivery etc. therefore the evaluation process needs to be thorough so that the reaction time of management can be minimized and cost effectiveness can be increased. There re a number of methods of collecting data, some of them are – questionnaire, surveys, checklists, interviews, observations, focus group etc (Cordray, 1986; Einhorn and Hogarth, 1986). Once the data has been collected, it needs to be used effectively for efficient results. This is where program planning comes in. According to Trochim and Linton (1986), there is a need for concept mapping for planning and evaluation processes. A number of steps are involved in concept planning, such as – * Identifying the most critical need of the clientele Accessing our ability to satisfy that need * Planning and delivering program to address that need * Evaluating the outcome of the process Program planning is the implementation of evaluation process. It is the groundwork where priorities are decided and the results are analyzed on a measurable scale. In the present scenario, PEACE will use findings from the government data collection project (Secondary data collection technique) to inform the development of family and domestic violence strategic planning, and to benchmark the impact of initiatives to violence and trauma in Portland.
This will also include data by conducting comprehensive surveys across the community, and studying police reports on the related cases (Primary data collection technique) to know the reasons and impact of violence. This data will be used by a number of clientele (core team, grant organization, other NGO etc) for their individual purposes. The documentation of program evaluation will aimed to provide both qualitative and quantitative descriptions of the interventions. Various steps involved for this purpose are as follows – Step I -Types of interventions, which will be recorded: ) Number of cases of domestic violence and sexual assault among the targeted population 2) Number of police cases filed under domestic violence and sexual assaults Step II – Intake and application forms will be used to collect information about project participants. Step III – Documentation of quantity and utilization of project services, as well as the time and locations of these services, through encounter forms, activity logs, and attendance sheets. Step IV – Both staff and project participants will complete satisfaction survey scales to provide feedback and assessment regarding the project.
Step V – Some ethnographic observations of project activities will be used to collect qualitative information for the project. These process evaluation procedures provide a basis for the understanding of the operation and effectiveness of the project. Technical and Political aspects of program planning and evaluation Client complaint systems and satisfaction surveys are used by more businesses since the Amendments of 1975 and require centers to assess acceptability of service, but clients are rarely involved with administering or designing these appraisals.
Better control by clients is warranted on political and technical grounds, which would amplify the likelihood that program improvements would affect from assessments of acceptability (Charles Windle, 2004). Political aspect is largely governed by the technical aspect of the PEACE program. Clients are known to frequently change their requirements; therefore an agreement should be submitted along with the program evaluation process containing all the conditions which are met by the law.
These conditions will include the following things – 1) Rough budget estimate (PEACE will submit a Budget Status Report (form to be provided by The National Foundation’s funding program) 2) Work break-down structure (The detailed work structure of PEACE workers and staff members) 3) Program success Check-Points (These are measurable goals which are critical for measuring the success of the project) 4) Limitations of the Project (PEACE Agency program is aimed towards a particular section of society, and any deviations from that will be considered as project limitation) Along with these, all the legal and technical documents should be submitted so as to clarify the project needs, requirements, and plan to the concerned parties. Later on if any of the parties deviates from its undertakings, legal actions can be taken against it. Conclusion
Program planning and evaluations are the first step for the success of any project. They are critical steps in a grant-writing proposal. Considerable amount of time and efforts is needed for a thorough investigation, the success or failure of PEACE program will depend upon the analysis of these processed. References (Yuen, F. 2003). Practical Grant Writing and Program Evaluation. Retrieved July 24, 2010 Retrieved from http://axiaecampus. phoenis. edu (Kiritz, N. J. ,1980). Program Planning & Proposal Writing. Retrieved July 24, 2010 Retrieved from www. tgci. com Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. (2009). Seven Steps to Being Awarded a Grant. Retrieved July 24, 2010, from www. justice. utah. gov
