A Family Support Approach to Family Support Evaluation Enhancing Practice Through Reflection: International Family Support Conference June 9-10, 2005 Galway, Ireland A Family Support Approach to Family Support Evaluation Dr. Charles Bruner, USA

Family Support America’s Various Definitions of Family Support A set of beliefs and an approach A type of grassroots, community-based program A shift in human services delivery A moment for social change

Principles of Family Support Practice (Guidelines for Family Support - 1996) Staff and families work together in relationships based on equality and trust Staff enhance families’ capacity to support the growth and development of all family members Families are resources to their own members, other families, and community Programs affirm and strengthen families’ cultural, racial, and linguistic identities more 

continued . . . Programs are embedded in their communities and contribute to community-building Programs advocate with families for services and systems that are fair and responsive Practitioners work with families to mobilize formal and informal resources Programs are flexible and culturally responsive to emerging family and community issues Principles of family support are modeled in all program activities, including planning, governance, and administration

Contrast Between Family Support and Traditional Services Diadic, professional-client intervention Focus upon presenting issue in professional’s domain Family Support Services Emphasis upon peer learning and support Focus upon reciprocity Community building as well as individual goals

General Programmatic Practice of Family Support - Through Family Centers and/or Home Visiting Services Identifying and enlisting marginalized and socially isolated families Working in poor neighborhoods with limited economic, social, and physical capital

Goal of Family Support from the Family Perspective AFTER community goals and work family and friends school ties formal services community goals and work family and friends school ties formal services BEFORE

Goal of Family Support from the Community Perspective BEFORE AFTER Community Hubs Leaders

Evaluating Human Service Interventions: Current Political and Scientific Approach Policy emphasis is upon results-accountability based on programs showing success in achieving funder-determined, discrete results Gold standard of proof considered the randomized control trial (client – specific treatment – client impact)

Need for a Different Evaluation Strategy for Family Support Families and communities define results to be achieved, on a highly individualized level Families and practitioners define processes to reach goals, beyond discrete intervention/curriculum Family support success defined in terms of inclusion, not separation into treatment and control group Family support builds community and goes beyond client impact

Purposes of Evaluation: Learning, continuous improvement, and knowledge building Marketing, funding, and diffusion of effective practice

A Family Support Approach to Family Support Evaluation Flexible and individualized, to capture all gains Holistic and strength-based, recognizing the capacity of practitioners and families to collect and analyze data Based upon principles of family support

De-mystifying Evaluation: Three Basic Questions 1. Were you able to do what you said you were going to do? (process/formative evaluation) 2. Did it result in what you wanted to see happen? (outcome/summative evaluation) 3. How confident are you that your information and evidence support your answers to the first two questions? (rigor of evaluation, not to be confused with RCTs or empiricism)

1. Were you able to do what you said you were going to do? Engage and sustain relationships with families and communities Take a strength-based, ecological approach Work in partnership in identifying goals and objectives, including support for self-help and mutual assistance

2. Did it result in what you wanted to see happen? Parent impacts Child impacts Program impacts

Parent Impacts Stabilize living situation Establish realistic goals Effectively navigate systems to meet basic needs Broaden social ties and contacts Think positively Share their talents Strengthen their parenting Manage personal relationships Manage adult responsibilities Advocate for themselves and others

Child Impacts Socialize Learn Connect with their own family

Program Impacts Serve as community anchors Contribute to community economic well-being Unleash human capital Broaden size of supportive community Model family support practices for other systems

Emerging Evaluation Tools Results mapping (form of goal attainment scaling) Time dollar contributions Participant satisfaction and range of connections Participatory evaluation, empowerment evaluation, interactive evaluation